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CANNA-BUSINESSES, CONTINUED
Meet This Month's "Marijuana-Preneur"
event. That’s when an idea struck kind of limited where my clients
her: People could get married car- could utilize my services. I started
rying a cannabis bouquet — and building relationships with dif-
then smoke the cannabis after the ferent venues so that I could refer
ceremony. my clients to go to those specific
cannabis-friendly locations.
Just a couple weeks later, in Janu-
ary 2014 — the month cannabis It was during that first summer of
became recreationally legal in the being in business, in 2014, that
state of Colorado — she filed for one of my good friends, who was a
an LLC for Buds & Blossoms. wedding planner in the area, said,
"Bec, you're never go-
Less than five years
ing believe this, but a
later, Bec’s business Two years in I was photographer walked
Bec Koop has expanded to full- able to quit my out — literally left
scale cannabis event full-time job. his clients at the aisle
Over the past couple months, I’ve been planning. The busi-
— because he saw
introducing you to several entre- ness now operates
the groom smoking a
preneurs who have found enormous under the name Irie Weddings &
joint with his groomsmen before the
success in the legal cannabis industry. Events. She has a partner, Madlyne
wedding. He left them high and dry
I have another interview to share with Kelly, and several coordinators on
with a $5,000 nonrefundable con-
you this month. This month’s “mari- staff. Bec and Madlyne are also two
tract." It was all because the man
juana-preneur” proves once again that of the co-founders of the Cannabis
Wedding Expo. was uncomfortable with cannabis.
the booming marijuana industry pro-
vides countless opportunities for those Read on to learn how Bec’s bud I was just like, "Well, I know ven-
creative enough to find them… business blossomed… ues. I know photographers. I know
different vendors, caterers, bartend-
Back in December 2013, Bec Koop How did Buds & Blossoms get ers. I know plenty of people who
owned a traditional floral business started, and how did it grow will be open-minded and friendly if
and worked in the highest dispen- into Irie Weddings & Events? it's done right."
sary in the highest town in Amer-
ica (Alma, Colorado). One day, BK: I started off only doing can- That's when I got the inspiration
she was in the garden trimming a nabis flower arrangements. The to develop the additional business,
cannabis plant when she thought problem I was seeing in the called Cannabis Concierge Events.
to combine some of her trimmings beginning was that not all venues That was strictly the wedding
with some leftover flowers from an were cannabis-friendly yet, so that planning and event planning side,
10 THE ALTUCHER REPORT
to connect the clients with all of the [Madlyne] at the time that we re-
different vendors.We were operat- branded. She has been phenomenal Let’s Deal Drugs!
ing as two different businesses, two to the team. Then we've got several
Making money from the marijuana indus-
different EINs, all that fun stuff, part-time day-of coordinators. try doesn’t have to be illegal or sketchy. As
and decided for sanity purposes these incredible entrepreneurs have shown
and for a fresh new face to create a At every wedding or event, all of
us, there are some awesome, legitimate
one-stop shop. We rebranded both our vendors had so many questions ways to get rich off this trend.
businesses under Irie Weddings & about cannabis that we decided to
develop an educational course to But if you’re looking for an even simpler
Events in January 2017. method, I’ve found one that may be right
train folks in the service and hospi-
tality industry, called High Class Ed- for you… And you don’t even have to live
What were your initial startup in a state where marijuana is legal.
costs? ucation. We developed the SCORE
certification. That means that you All you need is a computer, a brokerage
BK: Because wedding planning is understand Colorado's state laws account, and a few minutes each week…
such an intellectual service, thank- and regulations. You understand
fully the actual startup costs were Click here to learn how to earn cash
cannabis basics. You know how to
from cannabis…
pretty minimal. It was mostly appropriately check IDs. What are
marketing, websites, that kind of safe serving methods? How do you
stuff. On the floral side of our busi- prevent overconsumption? What do specific guidelines and requirements.
ness, I would say my startup costs you do when there's dual consump- Whereas if you are doing an ancil-
were around $1,500. We paid about tion of alcohol and cannabis? We lary business and you are not directly
$1,500 to lawyers to make sure that try to set up these event profession- selling the cannabis but you're sell-
we were compliant, the contracts als for success at any event where ing a service that incorporates it, it's
were up to par and that we were cannabis is going to be consumed. a different type of business model.
doing everything within the law.
Right now we are working to get Under the stipulations of canna-
How has the business grown over the backing from the governor and bis, we can only operate under the
the past four years? from the state so that it actually will model where the clients purchase
become a requirement for anybody the cannabis from a legal dispensary.
BK: I started off just as myself. Two who is serving cannabis at a private We collect a copy of their receipt,
years in I was able to quit my full- event. We're also talking to insurance and we keep that with our invoice.
time job. It was enough to make companies to see if these vendors That shows that they did not pur-
ends meet. Then it's just continu- can get discounts on their insur- chase the cannabis directly from us,
ously grown from there. ance for having their staff all trained because that would be incredibly
around cannabis consumption. illegal. Once it is purchased at the
We went from hosting about five
events a year to 32 events and What are some of the laws and dispensary, it is then gifted to our
counting. We’ve seen a 400% in- regulations you must adhere to as business, as is allowed under Colo-
crease in productivity over the last an ancillary cannabis business? rado Amendment 64. Then we gift
four years. We are literally booking it to the guests. Now, at a normal
as far as 2021 right now. We get BK: It depends on the level of in- alcohol bar, you can set out a tip jar.
phone calls pretty much every single corporation of cannabis. If you are Well, at a cannabis bar, you cannot,
week for people who are looking. going to sell or distribute, or you're because that would be considered a
going to make an edible, or anything financial exchange for the cannabis,
I brought on my business partner along those lines, there are very which is illegal. So understanding
While the U.S. (and Silicon Valley And I’ve found a company that 20 million users. The company has
specifically) has long led technol- could launch the country into a over 152,000 kiosks and terminals,
ogy innovation, countries around prime crypto leadership position… and it processed over 914 billion
the globe are setting up programs Russian rubles (about US$13.4 bil-
to compete aggressively to take QIWI (NASDAQ: QIWI) is a lion) in transactions in 2017.
advantage of the blockchain leading fintech company offering
revolution. payment and financial services It’s also been able to develop a
in Russia and the former Soviet leading position in e-commerce in
Zug, Switzerland, for example, al- Union. Russia, which comprised roughly
lows residents to pay their taxes in half of its revenue in 2017.
bitcoin. Malta has passed laws that Founded in 1999, the
company was an early However, the com-
recognize organizations formed The arms race to be-
leader in electronic pany isn’t content to
by smart contracts. Bermuda has come a world leader
payments in Rus- rest on its laurels.
updated its banking laws to allow in cryptocurrency has
banks to provide services to cryp- sia and in the early
generated momen- Leveraging the cash
tocurrency firms. 2000s rolled out pre-
tum in countries from flow generated by
paid mobile payment
Venezuela to India. its payment services
The arms race to become a world cards.
business, QIWI has
leader in cryptocurrency has
Fast-forward to today in recent years been
generated momentum in countries
and QIWI has over 50 million aggressively pursuing even higher
from Venezuela to India.
monthly customers and has ex- growth opportunities in e-com-
That’s why, in recent months, I’ve panded into other complimentary merce, the sharing economy and
been looking for crypto invest- payment services, such as payment cryptocurrency to help boost its
ments outside of the U.S. kiosks and terminals, online pay- core business.
ments and remittance services. In June, QIWI announced a part-
One of the countries poised to be
a leader in cryptocurrency is none These businesses have grown mas- nership with Otkritie Bank (one
other than the U.S.’ longtime po- sively over the past 18 years — QI- of the largest banks in Russia) and
litical adversary: Russia. WI’s virtual wallet software has over digital payments startup Tochka to
develop a digital banking service
focused on offering services to
small and medium businesses.
The new partnership gives QIWI
access to Russia’s growing freelanc-
ers and small and medium busi-
nesses, which currently account
for more than 20% of the economy.
Apart from SMEs, the company’s
investment in Tochka increases
QIWI’s existing exposure to the
sharing economy, which currently
includes partnerships for process-
ing payments for Uber and Airbnb
in Russia.
14 THE ALTUCHER REPORT
This is an important area for
growth for the company as the
size of the sharing economy is an-
ticipated to increase in Russia by a
compounded 20% annually.
In order to further capitalize on
the trend, the company has also
been investing heavily in a new
installment card called Sovest.
Similar to credit cards in the U.S.,
Sovest allows consumers to make
purchases that are repaid over time.
However, Sovest differs from tradi-
tional credit cards in that it dumps
Have you heard And that’s not all!
the expensive interest charges. Rath- about this? I’ll also shoot you text message
er, retail partners share the profits alerts when your weekly update or
I am now offering VIP text message monthly issues are available. Some-
from the product sale with lenders
alerts for Altucher Report readers.
who carry all the repayment risk. thing like this:
Whenever I have special bonus
In this way, the Sovest product content to share that can’t wait for the
allows QIWI to offload the credit next issue or weekly update, you’ll
risk to lenders while allowing receive a text from me so that you can
consumers to easily finance their view it right away.
purchases.
It’s like you’re getting added to my
Separately, the company has also own personal Rolodex!
been quietly investing in block-
Let me show you a few examples of So far, I’ve really enjoyed connecting
chain capabilities over the past
several years. bonus content Altucher Report read- with my readers in this new format. I
ers have received from me so far: encourage you to try it out!
In 2016, the company joined the
r3 consortium to develop en- Text ALTUCHER TO 31996
terprise blockchain technology
alongside big banks like Bank of 14/Msgs Month. Reply STOP to cancel, HELP for help.
Msg&data rates may apply. Terms: https://slkt.io/qe9
America, Wells Fargo and Barclays.
R3 seeks to define new standards for
interbank collaboration by develop- blockchain consulting services to give employees voting rights on
ing new blockchain technologies other companies. managerial decisions and co-
that allow banks to more efficiently worker performance.
trade and settle transactions. The company has already had
some small early success with this. And while all of this is very excit-
Through its involvement in r3, Earlier this year, the company ing, it really represents a cherry on
QIWI stands to define the next- announced that it was collaborat-
top compared with the company’s
generation technology standards ing with a cryptocurrency-focused
investment bank called Hash, with lucrative existing business.
for financial infrastructures. And,
to top it off, QIWI is the only Rus- the intention of providing technol- For years the company has relied
sian member of the r3 consortium. ogy support for new ICOs.
on its core cash cow: its existing
Apart from r3, the company also The company has also been network of payment services.
created a new subsidiary in 2017 experimenting internally with
called Qiwi Blockchain Tech- blockchain. Earlier this year In June, QIWI reported that net rev-
nologies (QBT), which develops the company announced that it enue for the payment services group
blockchain technology for QIWI’s intends to compensate employees had grown 28% since the prior year,
various businesses and provides in cryptocurrencies, which would with net profit up by 22%.
THE ALTUCHER REPORT 15
It has consistently been growing its sive investments the company has This gives the company a hefty
payment services revenue by 20% been making in Sovest and Tochka, arsenal to use for investments in
annually since at least 2013. among others. expanding its business and new op-
And while QIWI has experienced portunities such as Sovest, Tochka
But even with this spending, the
phenomenal growth, the market is and blockchain.
company was able to rake in nearly
nowhere near saturated. According $60 million in profits to add to its Although the company sold off ear-
to the company, 80% of payments balance sheet. lier this summer as earnings failed
in Russia and the former Soviet
Union are made in cash. This disciplined style of investing to meet Wall Street expectations,
has allowed the company to invest I believe much of this selling is
Additionally, the company sees aggressively in growth opportuni- overblown. The company currently
potential to expand this business ties while building a considerable trades at just under nine times for-
by capitalizing on growing de- ward earnings, a major value com-
treasury.
mand for remittance services and pared with U.S. peers like PayPal
further increasing its market share Which is to say, as far as the bal- (31 times) and Square (96 times).
in e-commerce. ance sheet goes, the company is in
great shape. Takeaway: Given QIWI’s lucra-
However, even without these
catalysts, the company’s payment tive payment services business, its
The company has in recent years investment in high-growth oppor-
services continues to spin off gener- been socking away cash generated
ous cash flow. Last year, payment tunities such as Sovest, Tochka and
through its lucrative payments busi- blockchain, its considerable cash
services generated close to $110
ness and amassed a cash hoard of
million in profit. reserves and its relatively low valu-
roughly $350 million with no debt.
ation, I’m generally pretty bullish
It’s worth noting that in 2017 the on QIWI. I advise readers to buy
company’s total profit actually For a company with a market cap
currently just over $800 million, QIWI (NASDAQ: QIWI) up to
shrank for the first time in years.
this means that almost half of its $14, with no more than 2–3% of
This is largely due to the mas- market cap is cash. their portfolio.
Stocks
QIWI QIWI NEW NEW NEW NEW Buy up to $14 per shae
Facebook FB 1/3/17 $116.86 $175.90 51% Buy up to $125 per share
GW Pharmaceutical GWPH 10/2/17 $98.51 $147.80 50% Buy up to $103 per share
Check Point CHKP 5/8/18 $99.93 $117.68 18% Buy up to $110 per share
Xunlei XNET 6/4/18 $12.52 $10.06 -20% Buy up to $12.25 per share
Aptiv APTV 7/3/17 $87.80 $90.78 5% Buy up to $120 per share
Visa V 4/9/18 $117.70 $147.03 25% Buy up to $128 per share
ServiceNow NOW 1/5/18 $135.01 $200.23 48% Buy up to $140 per share
Natural Grocers NGVC 2/1/17 $12.54 $18.39 47% Buy up to $16 per share
Cypress Semiconductors CY 4/3/17 $13.51 $16.71 28% Buy up to $16 per share
IBM IBM 11/1/17 $154.03 $147.54 -1% Buy up to $160 per share
SM Energy SM 5/1/17 $22.55 $29.95 33% Buy up to $25 per share
Radware RDWR 12/1/17 $20.29 $27.80 37% Buy up to $26 per share
SBI Holdings SBHGF 7/10/18 $23.80 $25.80 8% Buy up to $28 per share
Aerovironment AVAV 3/1/17 $27.43 $86.21 214% Buy up to $29 per share
AT&T T 6/1/17 $38.87 $32.23 -11% Buy up to $40.50 per share
Line Corp. LN 8/6/18 $43.71 $44.80 2% Buy up to $48.25 per share
Granite Construction GVA 8/1/17 $51.47 $45.72 -10% Buy up to $56 per share
Activision Blizzard ATVI 9/1/17 $65.12 $74.91 16% Buy up to $75 per share
Crypto
Bitcoin BTC/USD 9/1/17 $4,923.54 $7,035.40 43% Buy at market
Ethereum ETH/USD 9/1/17 $387.25 $288.48 -26% Buy at market
Updated on 8/29/2018