Yo, pothead investors and founders

This week, my colleague Joseph Gan wrote a piece called “Cannabis tech on the rise in Asia.” Weekly Commentaries Dear {NAME} , This week, my colleague Joseph Gan wrote a piece called “[Cannabis tech on the rise in Asia]( It’s a fascinating read, and it triggered good memories of my time at Y Combinator (YC) in 2015. Being a born and bred average Singaporean, I live in a society where marijuana is a big no-no. I first got to know more about cannabis (or pot, weed - all the same) when I met YC batchmates who founded [Meadow](. During one of the founder dinners, they explained what their company does, but I didn’t quite understand back then. It did, however, give me a lot to think about. Is that shit legal? And why are people back home so against it? Fast forward five years, and marijuana is slowly being legalized in the West but is still largely prohibited in Asia. Oddly enough, though, the continent is home to the highest number of cannabis users in the world, with an estimated 86 million in 2019, according to Future Food Asia. 🤔 I’ve gained more understanding about it over the years, and now I believe that marijuana is just like alcohol or cigarettes - they all give you a good buzz. (Fair warning, however: You should never take the consumption of these substances to the extreme.) Unfortunately, marijuana has a bad reputation because it is [categorized as drugs](. And people generally regard drugs as evil or harmful because they’re highly addictive. Other factors such as [culture, familiarity, and acceptance]( are also at work: “Unlike weed, people have consumed alcohol en masse in the western world for a long time. Alcohol has been very much part of western history. From the bible to other famous literary books they all involve alcohol in it.” [Money]( is also an issue, at least in the US: “Alcohol is legal because states have figured out how to make money off of it. Cigarettes are legal because they are taxable and profitable. Weed is just now becoming legal because (wait for it) states are figuring out they can make money off of it. It’s not really any more dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes, but the way to tax it has been an issue.” If it’s legal and there’s money to be made, would you start a company to ride this wave? And would investors back those companies? Let’s take a quick look at the opportunity and comparables: In short, assuming we are all amoral and believe that the marijuana industry can be at least as big as cigarettes, then this opportunity is too big to be ignored. It could give birth to a number of billion-dollar companies, particularly in Asia. But the timing of entry is always tricky, and just like any other business, it isn’t as easy as it seems. Eaze, one of the most well-funded cannabis startups, reported getting one cannabis order on its platform [every seven seconds]( in 2019, but it still [struggled]( to find a sustainable business model. Even if you are totally against marijuana, I’d urge you to keep an open mind. As detailed in our [deep-dive piece]( the cannabis trend could potentially open up other opportunities in areas including packaging, farm tech, sensors, and even blockchain tracking. Elon Musk smoking weed 😂 You can find my last commentary via this link: “[Yes, powerbank sharing can make money]( You can also read all our commentaries [here](. Cheers, Willis ABOUT TECH IN ASIA Our goal is to build and serve Asia’s tech and startup community. [Join our subscriber community today](. UPCOMING EVENTS Virtual Pitch Night 22 July 2020 [Register here]( Copyright © 2020 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. You have registered for Tech in Asia. Our mailing address is: Tech in Asia 51 Bras Basah Rd #05-5061Singapore 189554 Singapore [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.