Zynga創始成員投身大麻淘金潮
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????六年前，小型初創游戲公司星佳（Zynga）的創業團隊成員湯姆?柏李赫還在舊金山福蒙特大街的一間小辦公室里工作。柏李赫后來又加入AdExchange和Golden Palace Online Casino等公司，從事軟件開發工作。他作為一名機器人工程師的職場經歷波瀾不驚。2009年，他離開了星佳，在多倫多創辦了一家游戲工作室，還曾涉獵酒店行業。 ????但如今，柏李赫正在從事一項與之前截然不同的工作：在波士頓以北20英里一家小酒店的宴會廳里，他正在向150位授信投資人解釋公司的業務。除了對大麻的共同興趣外，這些投資人與游戲玩家沒有絲毫相似之處。這是ArcView投資者網絡（ArcView Investor Network）最近舉辦的一場展銷活動。這個組織的個人投資者每年支付數千美元，了解大麻行業中那些增長迅速的、最熱門的公司。 ????柏李赫現擔任Surna公司（Surna Inc.）首席執行官。這家公司位于科羅拉多州的波爾得，主要面向商業化大麻種植戶生產室內氣候控制系統。公司之前的名稱是Hydro Innovations，后在本周早些時候被OTC上市公司Surna反向收購。 ????柏李赫在熱情的潛在客戶的簇擁下說：“這就是下一波的淘金熱?，F在的情況類似于星佳剛剛成立時的互聯網游戲行業，只不過大麻行業并不是以流行為主導。人們會厭倦游戲，但我還沒有見過有人會厭倦大麻?！?/p> ????大多數商業大麻種植戶選擇當地的暖通空調來保持室內的溫度和濕度。但Surna公司認為，現有的技術并不是最適合大麻的，因為它不夠全面（比如溫度和濕度），而且氣冷系統的能效遠遠比不過水冷產品。這家公司的小型產品價格為1,200美元，超大型設備的價格則高達50萬美元（Surna公司并沒有公布銷售信息，只是表示，它賣出的系統價值“數十萬美元”）。此外，這家公司自己的系統都由全職Surna員工負責安裝（它目前僅有十幾名員工）。 ????柏李赫解釋說：“由于某些原因，大多數公司為種植戶開發的產品都以燈光為重點。但這只是其中的一個部分。” ????Surna希望向其他行業擴張——包括更廣泛的農業和服務器群組，最終從OTC上市公司變成美國證券交易所上市的公司。但在目前，這家公司的主要任務是，在美國增長最快的市場中謀求發展壯大。 ????筆者結束對柏李赫的采訪后，一位ArcView投資者網絡成員說：“隨著監管的放松，大麻市場只會不斷壯大。Surna這樣的公司要擔心的只有執行，而不是需求。”（財富中文網） ????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓 ???? |
????Six years ago, Tom Bollich was working out of a small office on Vermont Street in San Francisco, as part of the founding team of a small gaming startup called Zynga. It was a natural progression for the onetime robotics engineer, who had gone on to software development jobs at such companies as AdExchange and Golden Palace Online Casino. He left Zynga (ZNGA) in early 2009 to launch a Toronto-based gaming studio, and also to dabble in the restaurant industry. ????Today, however, Bollich is in a very different place: A small hotel ballroom 20 miles north of Boston, explaining his company to a roomful of 150 accredited investors who share little with gamers outside of a common interest in marijuana. This event is the latest pitch session for the ArcView Investor Network, a group of individuals who pay thousands of dollars annually to learn about the hottest companies in the burgeoning cannabis sector. ????Bollich is the chief executive of Surna Inc., a Boulder, Colo.-based maker of indoor climate control systems for commercial marijuana growers. The company previously was known as Hydro Innovations, before being acquired earlier this week by OTC-listed Surna (SRNA) in a reverse merger. ????"This is the next gold rush," says Bollich, in the midst of glad-handing potential customers. "It's kind of like Internet gaming was when Zynga started, except this isn't a hits-driven business. People get tired of games, but I haven't seen many people who get tired of pot." ????Most commercial cannabis growers use their local HVAC supplier in order to keep indoor temperatures and humidity in line. But Surna argues that existing technologies aren't optimized for marijuana crops, are not comprehensive (i.e., temperature and humidity) and that air-chilling systems are not as energy-efficient as their water-chilling products. The company's products run from $1,200 for a small system to nearly half a million dollars for a very large one (Surna isn't disclosing sales information, except to say that it has sold systems valued in the "hundreds of thousands of dollars"). It also installs each of its own systems with full-time Surna employees (of which there are only about a dozen right now). ????"For some reason, most of the companies creating products for growers have focused on lights," Bollich explains. "But that's only part of the equation." ????Surna expects to eventually expand into other industries -- including broader agriculture and server farms -- and to move up from its OTC listing to the NYSE Amex. But, for now, it's working to gain traction in one of America's fastest-growing markets. ????"The cannabis market is only going to get larger and larger as regulations loosen," said an ArcView Investor Network member, after I finished speaking with Bollich. "A company like Surna only needs to worry about execution, not demand." |
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