So you've heard this one before: Venture capitalists are in San Francisco to hear startup pitches. Well, this time the story's not about tech. It's about cannabis.
The crowd at the grand ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco earlier this week could have been at any tech investment event. Everyone's dressed in business attire and talking startup lingo. But the entrepreneurs are pitching things like a medical marijuana delivery app, gluten-free low-glycemic edibles and $20,000 glass guitars and banjos that double as bongs.
Yes, you heard that right: glass instruments from Seattle's Sasquatch Glass that can make music or be used to smoke marijuana -- potentially both at the same time. I am not sure, as I did not test one.
OK, not every startup at the Fairmont is selling a stoner's dream. Many are agricultural companies that have found a new market in marijuana, like Nutrient Guru, which sells organic fertilizer, or Intelligent Light Source. Founder Jack Abbott says it makes energy-efficient LEDs to grow fruits, vegetables and now cannabis.