Chris Cimino is an attorney with experience in finance and compliance and formerly the Deputy District Attorney for Stanislaus County in California who is now running startup MyStrain, one of the companies in the CanopyBoulder accelerator program class taking place in Berkeley. Brandon David of Investing in Cannabis interviewed Cimino, who explained how his company is attempting to help cannabis retailers. His goals are to help his dispensary customers improve their image, connect better with their customers and even save taxes.
MyStrain is introducing smart labels to the cannabis industry, providing compliant, stylish interactive logos that introduce dispensary branding and help consumers to better understand the products they buy. The MyStrain app scans the customer logo, incorporates strain information and creates a label for the product using a smartphone.
The smart labels can be used for ordering by customers for delivery or pick-up and could be incorporated into loyalty programs and reviews. The company will be able to offer consumers purchase ideas based on their order history. MyStrain has integrated with several POS companies and allows dispensaries to post full menus free of charge if the dispensary works with the POS companies in its network. Cimino says that his technology allows his customers to potentially reduce taxes by shifting marketing expenses into cost of goods, offsetting some of the burden of 280E.