In the last decade the world of technology has changed dramatically, with more and more states legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana each year, the cannabis market is taking advantage of these cutting edge technology changes. The Cannabis industry is subject to a number of hurdles when it comes to business, from high taxes, to refusal from financial institutions, steep competition and more. With these hurdles many Cannabis companies have turned to IoT to help them streamline operations and help them focus on budgets and production. We meet up with John Gunn who chats with us about increasing revenue for cannabis businesses by understanding customer behavior via IOT and AI, and facilitating interactive experiences via AR and VR technology, as well as enabling business growth utilizing the latest generation in technologies to keep pace with the most current trends to survive the radical changes in business.
Video Transcription
Harry Brelsford
Hey 420 MSP back with one of my early favorites. John Gunn. John, first of all, thank you before I congratulate you, let me let me thank you, you really helped accelerate my pathway into the cannabis technology space and you realize that’s well over a year ago. How cool is that?
John Gunn
Yeah, that’s awesome. It’s a, it’s growing very rapidly. And I’m very happy to see the direction that even the RSPA group is just growing like crazy and all the involvement. So yeah, congratulations to you actually on on becoming the CannaTech influencer of all the head honcho.
Harry Brelsford
well, I’m trying but hey, we’re here to congratulate you at the end of the day. So we did some research over at Marijuana Venture Magazine in conjunction with for 420MSP, and this was not light hearted. And you are one of the top 200 Plus global cannabis technology influencers. So just want to write gratulate. Thanks. Yeah, we worked pretty hard. The team worked pretty hard on that. So for those that haven’t met you, it’s been a little while since we talked to you. I know you’ve had a couple things going on. Who are you? And what do you do?
John Gunn
Sure. I’m John Gunn, I may. Oh, well, I guess lifetime that of technology. I’ve been been around since the.com. Era, and worked in everything from product design and product management, marketing, sales, partnerships, strategic partnerships, a lot of work from startups to Fortune 500. And while that sounds like a lot, it doesn’t seem like enough for me, because I’m always devouring as much information as I can. And in about 2018, I really wanted to move in the direction of IoT technology, which is the internet of things. And a lot of us think of that, as you know, like, Alexa, don’t talk. The, but it’s really about connecting the world with technology. And it can be everything from from mobile devices to IoT, sensors, people tracking, there’s a there’s a tremendous variety of things that actually happen within that space. And so I created my own company, it’s a consultancy, and I work with a lot with startups and with people that are looking to combine those technologies. And sometimes it’s for m&a activity. And sometimes it’s for strategic alignment partnerships and how to do a powered by strategy. And what is my channel strategy is a whole bunch of things that are involved in it. So that’s kind of what my business is, as a consultant. And I also promote very heavily the concept of repurposing existing technologies and best practices for the cannabis industry. Because one of the things that I learned early on about cannabis and having been around it for long enough, it really is a wild wild west. Sometimes it is you follow what others are doing that are in in adjacent industries, like the retail industry, what do they do? That’s really right. It’s not all right for cannabis. But what do they do? That’s right. What are they doing agriculture? What are they doing warehousing, logistics, those kinds of things. So that’s what I focus on, is those kinds of technologies that cross both, including business best practices that my lifetime experience brings to bear.
Harry Brelsford
Absolutely, man. Well, you check the boxes as an influencer. So a couple questions to wrap us up. And we’re gonna get you back in early 2022. To double click into the, the geek stuff, because I know I know you love it. Yeah. So yeah, yeah, we’ll do that. But uh, assuming all things being equal, what cannabis events have you attended, or might you attend this upcoming year?
John Gunn
Well, mjbizcon is is one but and I hate to say it, but I found another one I put on my calendar. I don’t remember what the name is. I’ve just been so busy lately. But I also attending IoT world and IoT slam, which is where I’m trying to stay up with the technologies that I use to connect with my knowledge with the cannabis industry. And as you know, I worked in cannabis with fast sensor, where we put in behavioral analytics, using sensors in a store to figure out what people were buying and why. And also doing it with digital signage to measure influence to see if what you’re advertising is actually having an effect on them. Yeah. So those are the kinds of things that I’m looking for is going to industry events for both cannabis and IoT to meld them together.
Harry Brelsford
Yeah, that makes sense. Any favorite blogs podcasters magazines and cannabis standout? Besides marijuana venture magazine? Well,
John Gunn
yeah, marijuana venture magazine, and I don’t I basically just search marijuana news. And I just read whatever a lot of times it has to do, what are the laws? What states are going legal? What kind of headway are they having? Because that seems to be like one of the biggest discussion points all the time is, is what’s becoming legal and when. And then also, in particular, I’m very interested in what happens to people that were in the industry that were wrongfully convicted things like that, where where we’ve been judged poorly when we’re winning. Not when we shouldn’t be those kinds of things, I find him interest. So I just I’m just a voracious reader.
Harry Brelsford
No, no night again, I think that falls into what we believe in influencer is that you have the span of influence. That that has some variety, besides the RSPA, where you and I participate, any other trade groups or meetup groups that you go to,
John Gunn
now that I’d like to get into more in 2022. Now that the world’s sort of returning and getting back out on the road and planning, travel, working with some working some new stuff that’s going to have me a lot more involved this year. So anyway, I will talk in January. I’ll give you more info. Yeah. Yeah, sorry. 2020. You plot it out.
Harry Brelsford
There we go. Congratulations. I’ll let you fly by by.
John Gunn
Right. Thanks for your time.
Harry Brelsford
Yep.
