A cannabis industry notable – none other than the inimitable Bruce Linton – is once again back on the streets. Apparently, ‘pushing too hard’ was a large part of his downfall.

That the company won’t be filling the position, it’s looking like Bruce pushed so hard…….he pushed the role right out of the organization. There’s not much to work with here. Nothing said about what Bruce was actually pushing on, except that whatever he pushed, was more than it should have been.

And there is many things that are needed to be pushed at Vireo.

Their final quarter of 2019 saw inventory remain flat ($32MM) with sales of only $9MM. Although those sales were up some 12% QoQ, margin cratered and now rests in the high teens. They wrote off $28MM in Goodwill/Intangibles, and their cash position is a flashing red light on the dashboard. They’re gonna need some real quick. With expenses at $13MM (excluding depreciation), a raise is likely imminent.

Which, brings us right back to Bruce.

A bunch of doctors moving from a medical angle straight into the ‘connoisseur’ category of cannabis products can only be described as a ‘pivot’. And I have little doubt that Mr. Linton’s on-boarding was for one reason, and one reason only: bring in the cash. He was to bring the power brokers and the money and ‘Mr/Ms. Big’ investor class – that would enable Vireo to launch into becoming a large footprint MSO.

My guess is that Bruce’s ship had left the harbour the same time he <ahem> ‘left’ Canopy. And rather than be able to bring investors into Vireo, it turned out his powder was wet.

If a bum in a chair ain’t doing what they were brought into do, that chair turns into an ejector seat. If Bruce was really pushing on something at Vireo Health, it appears that it was on things that weren’t a part of his purview.

The preceding is the opinion of the author, and is in no way intended to be a recommendation to buy or sell any security or derivative. The author holds no position in $VREO