Episode 173 – A Chat With Robert Devore  ## Metadata - Author: [[Hallway Chats]] - Full Title: Episode 173 – A Chat With Robert Devore - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/80a9d757-04b0-4c12-bff2-ca3c4b615704 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Building WP Dispensary** - Robert created WP Dispensary to offer an affordable, open source solution for marijuana menus in dispensaries. - It grew from a hobby project in 2015 to a full product with pro add-ons over time. Transcript: Speaker 3 Is this still a thing? Speaker 2 Yeah, there it is. Put it away. Speaker 1 Yeah, it's still there. Speaker 3 Cool. Want to tell us about it? Speaker 1 Yeah. It's WP dispensary. I built it. The tail ended 2015 and just I kept building it and I have a bunch of pro add-ons that were built for it. And I was transitioning it into a soft, like a whole software company and I was going to offer the hosting. But right now I'm just working through some payment processing issues, trying to get an actual company to accept me to allow me to have subscription payments. So once that hurdles crossed, it'll be back to full running again. Speaker 3 Yeah, I was working at BigCommerce when things started to break loose for weed. And there's a lot of question of which of the big outlets would accept payments and which ones wouldn't. And what it would mean for different shops and different states and all that kind of stuff. It was really interesting at the time. Speaker 2 I think it's about what I met you. Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. I started using Twitter, probably like the middle of 2015. And then like six months later is when I came up with WP dispensary, I was just, I was toying with ideas. I built like random themes and that one just stuck. Because I was, I was a lifetime user and it was legal for medical here at the time. So it was like, all right, I'm going to just jump in. I didn't really see anything that was available other than a few big names. So I was like, all right, I'll give them like an open source solution. I just, the beginning, if you go back to the very first 1.0 release, it was horrible. Compared to what it is now. But I mean, I was just toying around with the time. Yeah, so it just, it built up from there and it just kept building kept building. So I'm forever grateful for it because I feel like that's what actually allowed me to join the space of WordPress on Twitter and have like something that differentiated me. So, and the people that I talked to that would use it but not talk about it publicly. ([Time 0:02:51](https://share.snipd.com/snip/250689ee-4559-46fe-8109-d8a4c40eed67)) - **Legalization Eases Personal Stress** - Legalization has eased personal stress around carrying marijuana in Michigan. - Robert feels safer driving without fear of arrest, which improves his quality of life. Transcript: Speaker 1 You don't feel as nervous driving around now. That's the biggest thing. Just, I got a bag in my car and now I got to worry about getting arrested. And you know, if the cop pulls me over and it smells a little funny in here I'm going to have to go to jail and now I don't worry about that because cops drive up and down the street past these Places it's just, it is what it is now they're focusing or should be focusing on something more important. So that's the one thing that's changed the most for me personally just being able to move about and not stress as much, which makes you know living life a little bit happier because now You're not worried about one extra thing that you don't really want to be. ([Time 0:09:26](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f2cde5e3-c25f-464f-9dab-79e059017db1)) - **Thailand Weed Shop Experience** - Nyasha shared a story about an inviting, friendly weed shop she found in Bangkok. - It featured a warm atmosphere with live music, local craft beer, and a welcoming community. Transcript: Speaker 2 I went with Tofer and I both went to work in Asia and Bangkok. And I was wondering on the streets one night because that's what I do in other countries. And we found a weed shop. And it was their grand opening was going to be the next day so they did like a little song opening that night. I never told you I had the Tofer. No, okay I'm sorry so I'll tell the story. I was trying to go to the WordPress parties and I didn't sign up for any in advance. And so I couldn't get into any of the WordPress parties. And so I was like, you know what, this is a free night. My husband was with me and I said, Hey, let's go to Chinatown. Like I heard Bangkok Chinatown is unreal. Let's go. So we hopped in a cab went to Chinatown and then we started wandering around because it was just so much to do with so many people so much food, so much alcohol so much entertainment. It was just everything. We were just wandering and we saw a shop. And it was kind of dark and it was like glowing green and I was like, this looks so cool. Let's go in. And we see marijuana lined up on the counters and they're like, Hey, welcome. And Tofer can tell you that people were just so friendly in Thailand and like they came in and it was like we were like family and they were like, we are opening a canvas shop. It opens tomorrow. But we did a soft launch tonight and they're like, would you guys like anything? And then they were like, just let us see it's on a tour of the whole shop. They gave us like the local Lee made craft fruit beer. They had a lot like a lot of loft. So we went upstairs and there was a weed loft that video games. And the guy was playing the guitar and it was amazing and so comfortable. I have video of it. I'll send you, I'll send you both the video. Yeah. Yeah. It was just like, I was like, wow, I'm thousands of miles away from South Carolina and you could not have this legally there and you could not have this safety and this comfort. So, but I experienced it in Thailand and who they just legalized marijuana, by the way, I think it was January. Was it? It might not have been if it was a January, it was like recent recent. Speaker 3 Oh yeah, we're in Beijing. It was February. Speaker 2 So, yeah, so it was incredible. And I just really, I don't really partake in marijuana, but I think it should be legalized. And I think it's just what I just really, what you said it was like, you know, people are comfortable. They're not stressed out about what's going on in the police can focus on more serious things. And that's why I really, really love what you're doing. I think making it easier and safer for people to purchase marijuana and use it. Speaker 1 That should be the goal that we're striving for, in my opinion. So, I think you're awesome for that. Thank you. Thank you. And I bet you, when you were there, you probably didn't see one angry face that whole time. ([Time 0:10:11](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2060ac5c-a504-4e49-9e0d-4f035998d029)) - **Choose Events by Content Focus** - When choosing WordPress events, prioritize interesting topics and people over location. - The relevance of the event content matters more than whether it is a large or local camp. Transcript: Speaker 3 Has there ever been one where you thought boy, I was going to go that's the one I wish I'd gotten to that one. Speaker 1 I can't think of one offhand just because I have I don't I don't really. Yeah, I don't dive too too deep. I see the news when it comes through and I'll remember it or talk about it during that time but then seven other thousand things happen and you know, it just gets lost in the shuffle. Yeah, I can't think of one off the top of my head. Speaker 3 Well, if you get the chance I highly recommend that they really change. They really change things in the word. Speaker 2 They are. I can't wait to go to my first small I've only been to bigger ones. I can't wait to really my first small one my first small one I'm going to work camp Rochester. And I can't wait. Yeah, and I, I guess I can ask you to offer like what how does it feel I feel like they'll be more intimate at a small one versus a major one. How do you feel ([Time 0:15:40](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e8e90d47-72df-40c9-a505-abff8c137e79)) - **Product Progress Amidst Industry Hurdles** - Robert has greatly improved his product's technology and is proud of it now. - However, external hurdles like payment processing and stigma from cannabis association still hinder growth. Transcript: Speaker 3 In a weed camp. Speaker 1 Oh my God. Great. It would be great. I mean, if you like it, you know, if you like it and you're into it or you want to. Yeah. There's, there's a ton of stuff that you can try and a ton of different options so it's not, it's not the same as it was, you know, 40, 50 years ago. It's, there's, there's a lot of different things that are available now. Yeah. Speaker 2 Robert, that, that makes me remember something we talked about. I know you talked about like how the cannabis industry is just, it's just going fast. And like, you know, it's hard to keep up with it. How do you feel about like you had your idea in 2015 and you're still working on it. How do you feel about it like now versus when you had it in 2015. Like overall. Speaker 1 I feel overall technology wise in the way it's built. It's a billion times better. ([Time 0:20:56](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e3a62348-06e2-4ee7-aeef-50ce8df040d3)) - **Cannabis Market Consolidation** - Cannabis pricing dropped drastically due to mass production and market saturation. - High quality or well-known brands will survive, while smaller producers may disappear. Transcript: Speaker 3 Industry. Like we have liquor stores but I don't have four on my street. Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, because if you look at the stock market, most of these companies are way, way under and going down farther every single quarter. Every the product is so mass produced now. You're getting things for like dirt cheap in most places like when it first became recreational here for a regular eight to be like 70 bucks for like a high quality one now you can spend Like 3035 to get a really good quality one. So the pricing yeah the pricing is dropped drastically on everything because there's so much of an available. You can only sell so much. And I think that's going to allow everybody the good quality products and everybody that likes their main state products that you get them ones will be the ones that stick around and All the smaller ones just disappear and do something else. ([Time 0:22:51](https://share.snipd.com/snip/32a7d392-f548-4114-a69c-b735f986cbba)) - **Quality Through Cultivation** - Quality cannabis depends heavily on cultivation techniques like organic growing and proper flushing. - Consumers can detect poor quality through taste and avoid those products in the future. Transcript: Speaker 3 Aside from having a good strain is there something you can do to weed to make it. 10 times the value of something else like it like a super excellent bottle of scotch. Speaker 1 It's just the way you grow it. You'll get certain harvesters that'll use a lot of nutrients that aren't really like organic or, you know, all that healthy they don't flush the products right to get all that out at The end. So when you're using it you can taste a more bitter taste. So when you're doing the right things and you're putting the quality product out a user of this product will know it right away. So you want to see if they haven't seen your name before but if it's not something up the par with what you know they're out and they'll never touch it again. So it's the the good quality. Speaker 2 It's just the way you grow it how you cultivate it in certain strands will actually be. Yeah, yeah, actually. Speaker 1 Yeah. 100% if you can get everything organic for it. It's better. I've done it myself before where I've grown with organ just straight organic product and it worked wonderfully. It turned out great with it and it none of the chemical taste or, you know, if you don't want to ingest a lot of chemicals anyway in your normal day you're vegan or, you know, you're looking At a health conscious like this is something that you're going to be worried about. ([Time 0:24:01](https://share.snipd.com/snip/fa788fc7-8d74-48f3-9764-b4e544a6f64d))