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My friend and business partner, Mark Nottoli, mentioned a business tool called the "stop doing" list. It's a list of tasks we are NOT going to do anymore. I've found it invaluable to help prioritize and even more importantly keep a distinct focus. A list is also great to share with the team so they know what NOT to do as well. In the startup world it's all about progress towards definitive goals. Living and dying by key performance indicators (KPIs). The limiting factor is often energy (not time) and most tasks (even the small ones) that don't drive a KPI are distractions that bleed precious energy from the team.

Be Careful What You Wish For….

After reviewing the above, it certainly seems that there were many hidden benefits to running a criminal enterprise. It was much simpler than trying to run a legal business. The only government involvement was whether or not you got arrested, and if you got arrested you’d still get your day in court. You might not be convicted and even if you got convicted you might not go to jail and you might get to keep your ill gotten gains. As a criminal, you also enjoyed many legal rights and protections based on standards for the activities of law enforcement personnel.

Department of Justice’s Law Enforcement Priorities

A good place to begin identifying areas of potential vulnerability for cannabis related businesses is the Memorandum for All United States Attorneys: Guidance Regarding Marijuana Enforcement (August 29, 2013), issued by James M. Cole, Deputy Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice. The Memorandum lists 8 law enforcement priorities or targets for the Department of Justice:

Join us on August 24, 2015 at 5pm at CanopyBoulder's office (3269 28th St., Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80301) to help launch the fall class. Ten pioneering companies are taking the leap with CanopyBoulder, following in the footsteps of the inaugural class. Speaking of that inaugural class, they are well on the way to success with over $2.4 million already raised, only a month after demo day!

Hundreds of people attended our inaugural Demo Day at the Colorado Convention Center. Proceeds went to support the industry's non-profit advocacy groups and everyone had a great time meeting the entrepreneurs and seeing the amazing presentations. Congratulations to all ten teams for a great inaugural class.

It’s summer vacation here at CanopyBoulder. Long sunny days and cold drinks by the water. We took some time away from the office to unwind and recover from our first 13-week program. I headed out to the East Coast for some serious beach time and seafood fix. Patrick headed to the mountains of southwest Colorado. We met back up in Grand Junction before heading to a brilliant conference at Powder Mountain.