Marijuana boom spawns ancillary businesses

By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times

Ben Wu took a six-figure pay cut when he left a career in private equity for a shot at the marijuana boom.

Trained to spot small businesses with big potential, he started this year as chief executive of Kush Bottles, a Santa Ana company that sells child-resistant plastic cannabis containers.

It took some persuading to get his parents and girlfriend to embrace the move. But Wu insists it was a sound business decision. As the pot industry blossoms, he reasoned, a robust supply chain is needed to help grow, package and market legal marijuana.

“The sky’s the limit,” said Wu, 35, a New York University business school graduate and former vice president at Wedbush Capital Partners. “As long as states continue to adopt, we’re going to double growth each and every year.”

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