A Silicon Valley Pot Deal
Imagine, for a moment, a marijuana producer. See his Crocs. Admire his hacky sack. Inhale his earthy musk. Whoever comes to mind—it’s not John Russo.
Stepping to the podium in the San Jose Hilton’s tasteful ballroom earlier this month, Russo, a real-life marijuana manufacturer, looked a lot like my gastroenterologist: white ring of hair around the periphery of his head, wire-rimmed glasses, stylish-but-sensible shoes. “This morning I’m going to tell you about a company that’s poised to be the largest independent producer of high-quality, low-cost concentrated cannabis in the industry,” Russo told the crowd. He was the first presenter at CNvest: Terps and Tech, a gathering in the heart of Silicon Valley where entrepreneurs pitched their pot start-ups to more than one hundred investors, executives, and journalists. At the end of the
