Starting in November of 2015, we asked the cannabis community to nominate and vote for their favorite individuals, products, and organizations in the field for the inaugural Laurel Awards.

We weren’t sure what to expect, but we quickly took stock of the major players in the industry as more than 1,100 initial nominations and well over 7,500 official votes were submitted. The top winner by people’s choice in each of the ten categories will hold the honor for one year.

One thing that certainly was unprecedented was the major sweep that occured, with one up-and-coming technology company taking the Laurels in five different categories, including the top-level awards. This company had a small team of employees to vote, but hundreds of supporters, customers and fans throughout the cannabis community.

CONGRATULATIONS TO

Flowhub

Winner of the 2015 Laurels for:

Most Disruptive Technology

Best Enterprise Technology

Cannabis Product of the Year

Cannabis Company of the Year

AND

Kyle Sherman

CEO & Co-Founder of Flowhub

Winner of the Laurel Award for Cannabis Entrepreneur of the Year

Sweeping both the Disruptive and Enterprise technology categories, as well as ALL THREE of the top-level 2015 Laurel Awards, Denver-based Flowhub was the software that made the biggest splash during 2015, and a great example of growth and success as a cannabis company.

Essential Technology

Flowhub is a seed-to-sale software solution, meaning it helps growers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers accurately track the complete life cycle of a cannabis plant, from the day its seed is planted to the day it is plucked off the shelf and sold to a patient or recreational customer.

The entire solution runs on a system of bar codes, which can then be scanned by Flowhub’s signature NUG device. It snaps onto a smartphone for easy scanning and uploading into the corresponding mobile app, creating a giant database of cannabis plants that can be updated in real time.

Using the personalized bar code, a plant’s growth and flowering progress can be easily tracked via mobile app – every time the barcode is scanned, it updates that plant’s profile. Then, once it’s harvested, its bar code will follow it through transportation, manufacturing, and retail process, making it easy for all parties to stay compliant and track inventory much better than with paper and pen.

Fully integrated and compliant wherever medical or recreational cannabis is legal, Flowhub is the community favorite for streamlined, high-tech seed to sale tracking. It’s loved by cultivators and retailers alike and has saved countless hours of needless work.

Good People = Good Times

Started just under two years ago, Flowhub is a young company that has already made a huge imprint on the history of cannabis.

Its CEO and co-founder, Kyle Sherman, was inspired to create Flowhub after experiencing life on a grow, and struggling with the capabilities of existing technologies.

A tech-savvy problem solver, Kyle searched everywhere for a software that could handle the demands of a large grow operation. When he didn’t find it, he set out to create it himself – the ultimate startup entrepreneur move.

Together with co-founder Chase Wiseman, Kyle built Flowhub up from the ground, and they now boast a downtown Denver office and a stellar team of 18 employees.

When it comes to a great company, the culture and employees are huge factors. Flowhub’s entire team worked diligently to nominate, vote, and tell their friends to support their company over the course of these awards.

Flowhub was also recently covered in CNN Money’s fun feature on companies that allow toke breaks during the workday.

His words: “Our philosophy at Flowhub is to get s*** done. If it helps our employees get work done, then we don’t care if they consume at work.”

With this policy in place, they’ve seen top results. Clearly, it pays to have a little fun in this industry.

Congratulations to Kyle and the entire Flowhub team – an outstanding example of a cannabis company moving toward the future.

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Cannabis Reports Provides Comprehensive Tools For Cannabis Businesses

At first glance, Cannabis Reports would appear to be yet another web-based, cannabis consumer platform for reviewing and sharing information about different cannabis strains. However, upon talking with CEO and Founder David Drake, it becomes clear that Cannabis Reports, and their industry leading API, offers a supreme peek behind the cannabis curtain to both businesses and consumers alike. On the business side, Cannabis Reports provides dispensaries with a number of invaluable tools that will improve product listings, pricing and market competition. On the production side, businesses can see what products are being sold at what price, with what THC percentage, and so on, so that they can choose to compete or fill an entirely different niche. Lastly, consumers can research and review strains, as well as search for different purchasing locations.

To sum up, Cannabis Reports, based out of the technology hub of America, the San Francisco Bay Area, is providing local businesses and consumers with a platform that is above and beyond most others in the space. But how does the site work and why are they doing it? I recently had the chance to talk with CEO David Drake, who walked me through a screen-share tour of all aspects that Cannabis Reports has to offer.

What’s the aim of Cannabis Reports?

DD: Our aim is to improve the relationship between people and cannabis through education, outreach and technology. I graduated with a software and theatre degree, and I was a teacher for many years before getting involved in the cannabis space. I believe that, by providing quality information to people, they will be able to support a very open cannabis future for everybody.

We are the first to put all this information together as comprehensively and as functionally as we have.

How did you go from teaching to cannabis?

DD: In 2006, I left a teaching job on the east coast to head out to San Francisco. On the way out, I picked up a job doing some programming in Montana and that is when I really got involved with the politics of cannabis. Soon after, I started Cannabis Reports so that we could trace the cannabis genetics all the way back to its origin. We realized we could figure out the landraces and seed companies these strains were coming from and that, by doing so, the platform would become a great source of information for both businesses and consumers. The site and the idea for Cannabis Reports has come a long way from where it first started, as I’ve relocated to San Francisco and the site has grown immensely.

Whats The API?

DD: One of the biggest challenges when building software for cannabis is that it’s a very diverse industry with not a lot of definition or precedence. Sure there are other companies in the space who are offering information, in pieces, that is similar to what we do. However, we are the first to put all this information together as comprehensively and as functionally as we have. In addition to our API, which is being updated every day, we came up with a universal cannabis product code and have over 17,000 organized strains, seed companies, extract companies, chocolate companies and other product companies.. Businesses are building apps on top of this technology and using it to do research.

Our tracking goes all the way back to the countries that the strains come from.

How Does SR Work For Consumers?      

DD: We did all the genetics work for all the strains, when you pull up a strain like Jack Herer, you see the seed company it comes from and the various strains that make up the parents. Our tracking goes all the way back to the countries that the strains come from. We ran the genetics as far back as we could for these strains, so users can know exactly what strains combined to form the strain they have now.

With this data and with all of this information, as you start to fill out reviews for strains, we start to build a personal profile for you. When you fill out a review, you fill it out for euphoria, appetite gain, creativity, calming, pain relief, and then anxiety. With our genetics information, we take your feedback and build a profile as to how individual strains impact you.

For example, in my profile you can see an Afghani Landrace, Colombian Landrace and Acapulco Gold. Even though I’ve never actually tried these before, I’ve experienced the genetics a number of times in other strains. We can start to make assumptions about how those will make you feel based on responses to related, or unrelated, strains. If you are searching for pain relief, Cannabis Reports can use your feedback to refresh you as to strains you have used before that may have worked, or even suggest different strains that contain the same genetics. You can even search by country of origin. This whole process really gets us back to talking about cannabis on a more interesting level.

How About Producers?

DD: In addition to being a resource for the average cannabis consumer, Cannabis Reports offers an in depth business platform where we provide plans for producers and dispensaries. You can sign up as a cultivator, chocolate maker, extract maker, delivery service or dispensary business for example. We have a different set of tools designed specifically for whatever side of the business your company is operating in.

Let’s take a company that makes cannabis chocolates for example. Of course they offer a customizable inventory platform, where businesses can track sales and trends. Cannabis Reports takes it further than that though. Businesses are encouraged to upload their lab testing, providing more transparency to the consumer side. Perhaps most important, SR uses a unique identifier called a universal cannabis product code(UCPC), so that businesses can get accurate, up to the minute data and market research.

Easy For Producers

This system tells businesses how well this particular chocolate bar is selling and what the different price points are. Businesses get all this information about their individual items so they can learn what their market looks like and how well their individual items are performing.

Additionally, businesses also get QR codes that they can add to their labeling. Consumers can scan this QR code with their phone and it’ll take you directly to the product’s website, where you can find product information, photos, add a review, find more locations where the product is for sale or get a lab test result. They also get bar codes that they can use for inventory purposes and for tracking purposes. These are all very powerful tools for businesses to have.

And Dispensaries?

DD: Dispensaries get the most data and a couple more powerful tools. They of course get their normal, feature pages where they have the menu listing and reviews. Their menus are set up and live managed by the businesses themselves, providing for real time inventory and product updates. The interface that dispensaries can use to manage their menu and add new products is fantastic. All the outside product information is preloaded, so as soon as you start typing in a name, your products come up. You can then add the product and set it at your price point. The platform pulls in all the other information about that product with no further need from the dispensary.

If businesses want to know the market data of Chiesel as a strain, they’ve got it. If they want to add a new edible to their system and they don’t know how to price it, they can hop in and see, “What are the prices around me?” And be able to determine what their prices should be. Additionally, it’s super easy for them to add stuff new products. If they want to add Kiva products, they type it in and we already have all the photos and descriptions loaded up. It’s just a couple clicks away.

Valuable For Dispensaries

Market Data

DD: Another great tool that Cannabis Reports has worked into the backend of its system is comparative market data. Businesses can see how they’re performing compared to other locations around them as well as the market as a whole. Then, they can look for new and exciting products in the area, which locations are selling them and exactly how much they should be paying for that product.

If your chocolate company wanted to come out with a new chocolate, they can look at the area and see price per milligram of chocolates right now. Our data might show that nobody has a 150 or 300 mg chocolate out, so that could be a good gap to fill. Additionally, producers get a list of all the dispensaries around them, so they can have their sales team expand their product availability. Plus, once a dispensary picks up your product, the producers can actually add themselves to dispensaries.

With our genetics information, we take your feedback and build a profile as to how individual strains impact you.

As they start to grow and enter new locations, they don’t have to wait for the dispensary to go update their menu. They can just say, “We’re available here now.” Then they can add the availability and their items to that menu so that that information is up to date. This is a great way for producers to really legitimize themselves and get their lab tests and information out to the public. It’s very inexpensive and we don’t sneak in add-ons. It’s all there for a low monthly cost.

They get this information for edibles, extracts, product, everything. The dispensaries get a whole bunch of really cool data, and then they can get all of their information out through our API. Our API is completely documented so we have 17,000 products, strains and extracts. This is available for them to build on so they can get all of their data out. They can use this platform to power their website and their internal menu.

This is a great way for producers to really legitimize themselves and get their lab tests and information out to the public.

UCPC

DD: Perhaps the most valuable tool to this process is the access to the universal cannabis product code. One the main challenges we faced was how to organize all this data that we were collecting. We worked with producers to come up with a 25-digit code. In it we encoded the location that the strain came from, the strain itself, company who made it, product name and then the batch number. We have the ability to track batches of product so that people can upload new lab tests or new product information.

You really get to track where the actual product came from and get a usable code to use, which is great for consumer safety, if you need to do a recall, you can actually identify it by batch number or by company or by product. This system is currently being adopted by a number of different businesses and we are in talks with a number of different states that are interested in our tracking platform.

For more video information, visit here. What do you think is the best application of a technology like Cannabis Reports? Join the conversation and comment below!

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Peter Barbosa: Grow One

I’d like to give you fair warning that you’re about to meet someone who is quite a powerful force in the cannabis industry. He’s someone who doesn’t seek to compete, but seeks to dominate. He holds himself to an exceptional standard, exemplifies being an entrepreneur in an evolving space, and is committed to creating software that captivates the market. Peter Barbosa is the founder and CEO of Grow One, a Canadian company that develops turn-key software solutions for businesses in the medical marijuana field. He talks about business, about being an entrepreneur, and about what they’re doing to stay on top of this ever-growing sector of the industry.

What was the deciding factor for you to join this particular industry?

In early 2014, a few licensed producers and MMPR applicants in Canada approached me to consult them on their IT systems. Some requested that they wanted to potentially build their own seed-to-sale tracking and ERP software so they could remain compliant with Health Canada’s Record Keeping regulations. I did my typical investigative work and my interest for software peaked and allowed me to see a gap in the market and capture it early on. This led to the founding of Grow One, and allowed us to identify immediate pain points in the industry. We now have a few competitors in the Canadian market that have entered since Grow One was founded, but our traction remains extremely organic and our customers still rave about us. That being said, we have a massive influx of customers and have populated a waiting list for our seed-to-sale ERP solution – happy problems.

What skills from your previous experiences helped you in what you are doing now?

Prior to the founding of Grow One, I operated an IT firm where we were experts at integrating IT systems and software. I always had a strong taste for good software and business processes. I was always the one in the company who was stringent on everyone following a fixed procedure and staying organized with our records. Since Health Canada is so strict on record keeping, this, combined with my eye for beautiful and elegant software, system processes, and organization has placed our software second to none.

Tell us about the point in the time you realized the coming of the ‘green rush’?

A few of my close friends are cannabis enthusiasts and medicinal and recreational users. Ever since high school, they talked about this day as if it was inevitable. I knew it would happen, but never knew how soon. Again, everything came to me naturally. After watching the recreational industry explode in Colorado and Washington, then watching the Canadian medical marijuana regulations change to a more commercial approach, I realized that history was fast in the making. I knew that if I didn’t start building a marijuana seed-to-sale ERP solution for the MMPR, someone else would. I guess I was right on all counts.

Describe your work ethic to us in one word.

Three words – Whatever It Takes.

Who is a person that you consider as a role model? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life?

I’ve been fortunate to have plenty of inspirations in my life, but my role model would be my father, bar none. My father never ran his own business and never had the luxury to complete high school, but he was able to demonstrate to me that everything starts with a vision. He taught me that I could change my own life and reality – going from a vision in your head, to writing it down on paper, to executing and building it out. Remember, there would be no Mona Lisa if Da Vinci never pursued his vision. Nothing is impossible. People built roads; People built houses; People built automobiles and airplanes. Humans build their own reality and can choose their own outcome in life. I’m still fascinated when I think about it.

Nothing is impossible. People built roads; People built houses; People built automobiles and airplanes. Humans build their own reality and can choose their own outcome in life. I’m still fascinated when I think about it.

How do you find inspiration in this industry? What have you found that has inspired you?

Simplicity, minimalism, and meaning. Everything we build and everything we do at Grow One has meaning, and it must make sense to everyone; even our customers. If it doesn’t, we nix it, and find a better way of doing it. We always look for problems; ask “What’s the most simple and elegant way of solving this problem? What makes sense? Does this have meaning?”

 Tell us about an esteemed achievement of yours.

I had to stop and think about this one for a few moments, but I believe that the #1 achievement for any entrepreneur is being a risk taker because that holds you responsible for your own actions, whether it results in success or failure. Your success counts on yourself. Everything comes back to the entrepreneur and what they did to make an impact on their own life and the world. My entrepreneurial path started when I was 15. I used to make websites for local businesses in my town. I remember coming home from school and heading back out to knock on doors until my knuckles bled. To this day, I choose to work only for myself and in doing so, I am held responsible for my successes and failures. To finish at the end of the day and look at how far I’ve come and say, “Yeah, I did that. All on my own too” is the greatest achievement I can hold myself to.

How would you advise someone who wants to join the industry?

Quit talking and making excuses – and just do it! Don’t come up with excuses on why you haven’t started yet. Start taking risks, start putting yourself out there, and start making industry contacts. Talk to as many people as you can and think of how you can dominate and innovate in the cannabis space. Remember, everyone wants to work with people who dominate, not compete.

Where do your great ideas come from?

I challenge virtually everything. Every action I take, I always ask myself “Is there a better way of doing this?”, “What if I did it this way? Or that way?” Before I know it, I’m caught up on crazy ideas that I believe could change the world. Do you think I’m crazy yet?

What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader in this space?

We’re always building, always testing, and always collaborating with clients. We have the benefit of having an advisory board, so we can include our clients while we continue to improve Grow One and our seed-to-sale ERP system. We’re always looking at new things, reaching out to other industry leaders, and always seeing if we can collaborate. Lastly, we’re not afraid of failing. To be successful, you must fail elegantly along the way. But most importantly, we only celebrate our successes. At Grow One, we don’t believe in competing – we believe in dominating! Champions dominate!

Lastly, we’re not afraid of failing. To be successful, you must fail elegantly along the way. But most importantly, we only celebrate our successes. At Grow One, we don’t believe in competing – we believe in dominating!

If we are sitting across from each other a year from now, how will our conversation about the ‘green rush’ be going?

We have the luxury of being in a fast-paced industry. In the United States, I think we will continue to see states allowing for the medical use of marijuana and we will see representatives pushing for legalization on a federal level. In Canada, the medical marijuana boom will continue at a federal level and hopefully the Canadian government will allow for the use of extracts for medical purposes. I also believe that there will still be a push for the home and independent growers. We will continue to see progressive research, while the baby boomers and doctors begin to put down the traditional pharmaceuticals and see the true benefits of cannabis.

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