Despatches from Benzinga Chicago
Another #BenzingaCapitalConference is in the books. The event was well organized and attended, replete with topical sessions and speakers. I had the honour of being a panellist and having many conversations with industry and financial leaders.
In case you were suffering from FOMO, here are my topline sentiments on what I heard and saw:
> The mood in the words of fellow weed traveler, Jay Rosenthal, was “forced optimism”. Todd Harrison also summed it well in his newsletter Cannabis Confidential, “The greetings were like running into an old friend at a funeral. Great to see you—sorry it had to be under such circumstances.”
> The jaded canna community is hoping (praying?) for some good news on the Garland, S3 and Florida’s Adult Use referendum fronts.
> Unlike previous events, there is a realistic sense of what reform means. Battle-hardened cannabis execs know that approved reforms are just the beginning; implementation in whatever form comes months later. As is said in the software industry “never confuse the implementation with the sale.”
> Significant and imminent 2025/26 debt refinancing’s were acknowledged but also played down. I’m sure this will change come January 2025.
> One would expect to hear a lot of M&A talk - and they would not have been disappointed. While I wasn’t privy to every conversation, the operant word at this event was ‘talk’. One ambitious financial strategy – a MSO roll up – was bandied about. I am not sure the proponents truly understand how hard this would be to pull off.
> Oddly, some dreamers still cling to medium-term fantasies around the total addressable market and likely valuation bumps. This is why I minimize my weed consumption at these types of events.
> From a strategy and operations perspective, I heard very little that was original or particularly compelling. Seems like cost cutting, hemp beverages and efficiency are suddenly big ideas. Makes you wonder what many firms have been doing over the past couple of years planning and execution-wise.
> A common lament was the lack of talent in organizations. This was attributed to headcount reductions, industry travails and poor individual performance. Interestingly, coaching/training, cultural rejuvenation or scaling back unrealistic plans rarely came up in discussions.
> The agenda and attendees were US-centric. I get it. #Benzinga is an American event in a major weed State. However, little talk was around other important markets like Canada (a $5B market) or booming international jurisdictions, save brief mentions of Germany. This narrow purview is at odds with an increasingly global sector.
We’ll do this again in Florida in 2025 with - fingers crossed - celebrating some positive news.
#BenzingaCapitalConference #Chicago2024