Month: September 2020

Founder Insight: The Power of Informed Conversations

by Mark Nassi, 9/30/20

Imagine you are driving down the highway on a clear afternoon. You have the cruise control set to around the speed limit. You’re listening to some music that puts a smile on your face. Out in the distance, you a see a highway patrol car parked on the side of the road. Instinctively, you tap your brakes, and your cruise control turns off. You slow down. As you pass the officer, you check the rearview mirror, and maybe your heart rate speeds up. Why? You were driving the speed limit. Your... Read More >

Compliance Review: Making Sense Of It All

by Sharon Hanger, 9/23/20

Regulated industries are regulated to protect the interests of consumers and users, to protect employees, and to protect the businesses themselves. The cannabis industry’s fast rise and continued growth presents challenges to the states and localities charged with enforcing regulations that are maturing and evolving along with the industry. This speed of evolution and continued rise requires that regulators have access to the full picture of the market to ensure that licensed operators are compliant, consumers are receiving safe products, and illicit markets are shut down as quickly as possible. ... Read More >

Is The Simplest Answer Always the Right One?

by Mark Nassi, 9/9/20

While Occam’s Razor states that the simplest answer is usually correct, it doesn’t say that it is always correct. At NCS, we pride ourselves on identifying outliers. While it’s easy to say that those who have outliers in their data are all bad actors, that just isn’t true. As an example, we routinely see a cannabis retailer selling an eighth of their flower product for $0.01. This is an outlier because how can a company stay in business if they are selling their products for a penny? ... Read More >

The Importance of Different Data Streams

by Adam Crabtree, 9/2/20

In an ideal world, you could look at the same activity through different data sets and get to the same result, but sadly that is the exception rather than the rule. Inconsistencies could be a result of something simple, like subtle differences in reporting mechanisms or absent-minded mistakes. A more sinister root cause could be complex nefarious schemes built to achieve certain ends. We have seen the gambit over the years, and we aren't alone. Recently, the City and County of Denver released an audit that cited multiple occurrences of different sales numbers being reported... Read More >