Thanks for the kind recognition. My pleasure - thatās one of my favorite shirts!
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Thanks for the elaboration! Iām actually just looking into getting into the cannabis industry (business degree, did a stint in video game marketing for a few years), so no licensed cultivations (yet!?). I figured this would be an interesting thing to listen in on since I was often involved with marketing analysis, which generally delved into working with large data sets/big data-esque stuff - so Iāve worked with Tableau and other data dashboards before, although admittedly I wasnāt building those dashboards.
How granular does this data go? Can users compare stats to particular other grows? Can they segment the data into very specific regions of their grow to isolate potential issues that might not be affecting the whole grow based off of visualization flags in the software?
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Awesome, welcome to the industry!
Data reporting goes as granular as their data permits within their four walls. For privacy and data security, we do not compare any one customer against any other customer.
That said, we are working on a yield benchmarking tool with Growerās Network where folks submit their METRC API key and then we show them how their yields stack up against others within GN. Since folks opt-in directly to this tool, we can anonymize and compare between grow sites
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Do you have any case studies available?
By visualizing data we were able to cut down on spoilage and make sure that we were filling the shelves with correct product mix. There were times where we āthought we knew bestā and would not have correct product to maximize sales. We were also able to sell into new accounts easier by using data to back up our claims and that impressed a lot of buyers.
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Great question, and weāre working on a case study with one of our first customers as we speak. Definitely key to showcase the value of our toolkit.
And yes, weāve seen the exact scenario youāre talking about! Crazy how impactful data can be when itās intuitive and actionable.
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Thatās awesome. I figured for privacy reasons people wouldnāt be able to directly compare, but since thereās an opt-in I bet it can be reduced down to something like āSite Aā, āSite Bā, etc. So you could see the data coming through and who you might be closer in comparison to but wonāt actually know the exact company.
Iād also be interested in seeing any future case studies like @AJGirard mentioned.
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On average, how much time does a user save per week by using your platform?
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Yup, exactly. Itās comparing any given grow against the averages for their category so we deidentify and anonymize the data.
Yup, will definitely publish here when we get it done!
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What challenges have you faced while evolving the Cannabis Big Data platform?
The overall sophistication of the industry as it relates to data. Most folks donāt realize how much their data can increase profits (and decrease stress!) until they have the tool in front of them.
So we spent A LOT of time, energy, and resources educating the marketplace in addition to developing our toolkit.
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Hi @henry have you noticed that accurate public data availability varies by geo such as state-by-state? If so, how do you overcome some of the differences in data availability and is your data constantly updated by crowd sourcing and such ?
What I mean by ācrowd sourcingā, I am thinking of like how data.com works in their particular vertical for keeping the most accurate data to help run reports and validate actual valid license active status and for the particular grow operation and canopy sizes and what not.
Also, What specific challenges have you overcome in making your platform as impressive and intuitive as it is?
I am super impressed with how easy the platform is to navigate.
Thanks
Keith
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Hey Keith,
Thanks for the kind words! I have a background in UI/UX, so I knew that the system would have to be simple and intuitive if we were going to have any meaningful traction. So from that perspective, I constantly hound our developer team to keep things simple (while always giving the rabbit hole to drill in deeper) so that folks donāt have to spend more than 1 click and 2 seconds to instantly see the answer to their core operational questions.
As it relates to data availability, we typically pull from private sources, but the data modeling is always a nightmare. Even two businesses using the same software (like METRC, Quickbooks, BioTrack, Flowhub, etc) can have vastly different implementation strategies so their data sets look pretty darn different.
Thatās a big part of the value of our toolkit - we organize the data in a way thatās simple and actionable, regardless of the format we get it in.
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How did you manage to integrate all that variable data into a āsimple and actionableā format?
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Because thatās our core skill set! I have a brilliant co-founder, Jason, who heads up our integration and data architecture and (despite all the hair heās pulled out over the years) heās created a really brilliant way of organizing the data.
Kind of like asking āHow did you manage to put water and seeds together and actually grow a plant?ā 
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Iād say now is a opportune time to announce Growers Network and Cannabis Big Data are joining forces to offer our members some exclusive access to the CBD platform. Can you share a little bit more about what our forum community might anticipate with this unique pairing?
Hereās a link to get started:
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Absolutely! This is a really exciting partnership for us.
This is what I was alluding to earlier in our conversation.
Growers submit their METRC API key (for our initial rollout weāll restrict this to METRC states, and then expand as we gain awareness and traction). Then we pull in all of their historical cultivation data and showcase their yields and time to grow by strain.
After weāve received 10 submissions, weāll also offer benchmarking reports so that you can see how your strains stack up against others that are similar to the ones you grow.
Iām really excited for this because there is a lot of work tracking POS sales from other data firms, but Iām not sure anyone before Growers Network has invested time and energy into tracking the cultivation yields by strain.
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When users submit their API key, does Cannabis Big Data automatically incorporate the user data into their system, or are there more steps that users need to take to add their data to the pool?
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Great question - all you need to do is submit your API key and we take it from there.
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This is exciting technology! @growopowners, @mastergrowers, and @GrowOpEmployees in METRC states all should have their curiosity piqued by this opportunity.
@henry, are you telling me all they need to do is enter their METRC API key and they can get their own report? Itās that easy?
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That easy!
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