I have been getting a lot of inquiries lately from people outside of the marijuana industry who are trying to invest in the marijuana industry. For that matter, I have been getting a lot of inquiries from people inside of the marijuana industry who are looking for advice on what I think are good investments and good people to team up with. I always explain to them that there is an enormous divide between people with excellent ideas, and people that want to fund those ideas.

In between is piles and piles of BS, huge promises, and more ego than any industry ever needs. This is going to become a growing problem for the emerging marijuana industry, because as more and more people get taken advantage of on the investment side and the creator side, a lot of the big money investors and innovators are going to be turned off by the people in between. Some will no doubt get lucky and team up with the right people, but most of the innovators and big money investors that are looking for each other will get ripped off or jerked around by the people in the middle, and become one of the many marijuana industry horror stories that people can easily find using Google.

It would be a breathe of fresh air to see more ‘marijuana industry experts’ under promise and over deliver. I have personally witnessed many extremely talented and smart people get chewed up and spit out by the marijuana industry because someone promised them the moon and didn’t deliver. They had outstanding ideas, and had their product or idea actually made it to the marketplace, it would have been a revolution in the industry. However, sadly, they were bamboozled out of their idea by someone who talks fast. I’m starting to see that more and more on the funding side of the equation too, where people are investing in things that they don’t know that much about, but a fast talker convinced them it was the most amazing thing of all time.

It’s more important to do your homework when dealing in the marijuana industry than any other I have ever heard of. If you Google people’s names, and read horror story after horror story, do some follow up. Don’t just assume that ‘the internet is open to anyone, who knows if it is true or not.’ Ask for references. Find third parties that can corroborate what they are claiming. If possible, get information from outside of the marijuana industry that is non-biased. Like I always say, don’t base your decisions on hype, emotion, and pride. Look at math and history and apply logic!

Please, do me a favor, if you are a ‘marijuana industry expert’ be responsible. You are not only representing your own interests, despite what you think. You are representing the marijuana industry as a whole. Do smart business. Don’t pump people’s heads full of hopes and especially don’t rip people off. I offer up an old saying, “you can sheer a sheep many times, but you can only skin it once.”