Marijuana Business Magazine July 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | July 2019 78 What would you tell someone on Wall Street considering a move to the cannabis industry? For folks who are thinking about making the jump from capital markets and pursuing an operating position in the space, it’s important to surround yourself with tenured and experienced cannabis operators. If you’re joining from capital markets or a private equity firm, and the roots of the company executives are steeped in finance, that’s probably not a great match. I think the ideal match is one where you can tie your experience to folks who are tenured in the space, because getting up to speed quickly is paramount. Are more people from Wall Street coming in? No question. Over time, there’s going to be less and less opportunity (for cannabis industry executive posts). One reason I took this position now was the timing. I don’t know that 18 months ago this industry and this company would have been able to bring on someone like me. And 18 months from now, there might be far fewer opportunities for people to come into the cannabis space at the C-suite level. I think 18 to 24 months from now, it’s going to be more challenging to get into the space. You’re going to find that a lot of people with backgrounds in finance as well as operations will have made the jump. And your medium- and larger-sized cannabis companies will have had that much more time and experience as operators, and the need might not be as great. CURRENT COMPANY Medicine Man Technologies, cannabis consulting and management firm, Denver CURRENT POSITION Chief operating officer WALL STREET COMPANY The Beekman Group, New York City WALL STREET POSITION Industry partner JOE PUGLISE ″One reason I took this position now was the timing . I don’t know that 18 months ago this industry and this company would have been able to bring on someone like me. And 18 months from now, there might be far fewer opportunities for people to come into the cannabis space at the C-suite level .″ Hustle America