M arijuana executives seeking to raise capital are often in the dark about what investors look for in potential investments. MJBizMagazine mined the minds of some of the most prolific cannabis investors to learn what traits attract them to specific companies. Their answers reveal a lot about why some businesses succeed in landing investor capital and others don't. The factors mentioned most often concerned: * Company leadership. * Product strength and differentiation. * Scalability. * Valuations. While these factors were the most cited, investor views weren't uniform. But these concerns can help marijuana executives better understand their own companies-and help them hone their pitches to match investor objectives and maximize the likelihood of funding. While every investor has individual criteria that attracts them to a company, a few common themes exist. In the following pages, seven veteran cannabis investors reveal what they look for when placing capital, including: * The leadership team is the most important factor in an investor's decision about whether to fund a company. The team must not only be smart and hardworking but willing to sacrifice for the good of the business. * Investors aren't seeking businesses with products and services that are simply good. They want companies that know how to build " moats " and defend those products and services in the form of intellectual-property protection, trademarks, proprietary genetics and other tools. * Businesses that conduct thorough market research and analyses can impress investors, while those that don't, won't. * Donʼt scare away investors with valuations that are too high, and be ready to justify your numbers. October 2021 | mjbizdaily.com 71http://www.mjbizdaily.com