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How Tech Companies Get Tangled in Marijuana Red Tape

How Tech Companies Get Tangled in Marijuana Red Tape

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It's a cannabis Catch-22. You create software to help businesses stay in compliance with state and federal regulations, only to find yourself flagged by banks for working with cannabis companies. Senior reporter Tami Abdollah speaks with L.A.-area companies struggling to work within the system. Rachel Uranga previews Santa Monica's big Montgomery Summit. Ben Bergman talks to VR-based Talespin after their successful Series B funding and looks at what's changed for pre-seed entrepreneurs.

As cannabis markets in legalized states continue to mature, troubles with banking and payment processing have impacted growing companies — even if their workers never touch the cannabis plant. Companies up and down the supply chain are finding themselves affected by the lack of federal decriminalization that makes traditional money-handling institutions wary of finding themselves on the wrong side of the law. Read more >>

Culver City-based Talespin, which announced $15 million in Series B funding Tuesday, has become best known for a heart-wrenching training demo of sacking a sad-looking worker. The founders say they deliberately elected to start the company outside Silicon Valley. "We chose L.A. because of its ties to entertainment. All of our modules are designed to be entertaining and fun, and being here we're able to hire incredible storytellers." Read more >>

Investors snapped up shares of Boingo Wireless Inc. on Tuesday, sending the stock up 23% after the WiFi services company confirmed it had "received multiple inquiries" regarding a potential takeover. The Los Angeles-based company, whose WiFi antennas power internet service at airports and on planes, said its board is currently engaged in talks with several suitors. Read more >>

It wasn't long ago that having a brilliant idea or even a "pre-idea" was enough to get someone to write you a pre-seed check. Those were the days.

According to an analysis by DocSend, founders have to be much more prepared when they're pitching investors. Read key findings from the report >>

Jamie Montgomery couldn't sleep for several nights as he weighed whether to move ahead with his annual two-day venture capital-fest in Santa Monica. Facebook's F8 developer meeting, SF's Game Developers Conference and the YPO Edge summit have already been canceled. But the annual Montgomery conference is on. "There'sbeen a lot of anxiety around this," Montgomery said. "We made the right decision forus." Read more >>