Brad Truman is a research analyst at consultancy Canna Markets Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. After four years working as an engineer, he worked as a data analyst in the energy sector. He is a specialist in Tableau, designing and developing dashboards that provide business insights. A Pittsburgh native, Truman is also a DJ, and occasionally dabbles in house flipping.
HempToday: Talk generally about hemp and the information that is out there? What can we say about the hemp industry now, based on what we can see and trust?
Brad Truman: Well, what we can see and what we can trust tend to be very different things at this current point in time. There are a few high-end think tanks putting out white papers and analyses. But they tend to be pretty pricey and therefore inaccessible for the vast majority of people who would otherwise read them.
HT: We see a lot of research reports out there that predict great things and offer data and figures. How trustworthy are the reports that come out of these research mills, which are constantly, and aggressively, flogging these reports?
BT: I come away from some of those reports feeling like they’re trying to will the industry into its next phase. I feel like many are overly optimistic.
HT: What sources can be trusted?
BT: I tend to trust the USDA the most. But, trust and usefulness should not be assumed as synonymous in this context. While I believe the USDA has the resources to put in a fairly fulsome effort to collect and aggregate the hemp-related data, there are cavernous holes in what is reported and collected. The USDA data is based on self-reported survey results where a great many of the survey respondents choose to not report their data.
HT: Why don’t they report their data?
BT: My interpretation of that is, despite the data being entirely aggregated and therefore anonymized, businesses are being protective of their data. They are worried that, by reporting their data, they may be somehow figured out. So, trust? Yeah, I trust the USDA data in some regards as being directionally accurate. Is a complete enough set of data to be making any business or industry decisions on? Good lord, no.
HT: You’re in the midst of accounting for as many companies in the hemp sector as possible through CMG’s HempConnect Business Directory. What stands out to you in that process?
BT: Yeah, we’re trying to do our best to get our hands around every hemp-related company out there. We see this effort as something that will ultimately serve the industry as a whole. But, it’s been a pretty slow-going effort. It requires a good bit of digging to determine what businesses are legitimate. Anybody could ChatGPT themselves into a list of hemp-related companies from the internet. Suffice it to say, we’re putting a lot more effort into it than that. Honestly, I’m surprised how few hemp-related businesses are out there that actually have a legitimate product or service (dispensaries and CBD shops excluded). I think, in some ways, I’ve let the hype shape my idea of what the business landscape in the hemp industry looks like, and I’m finding out – via this effort – that the quantity and quality of hemp-related businesses are not matching my expectations.
HT: How do you approach designing dashboards that cater to both technical users and non-technical types?
BT: Well, in a perfect world, I’d be designing two separate dashboards for those two different audiences. But, again, knowing the audience is critical and that’s always the starting point. Typically staying away from tedious industry terms and acronyms is fairly low-hanging fruit. In so far as it’s possible, you want to take a very hard look at elements that are not critical to getting the point across and removing them or, at the very least, drastically demote their role in the visualization. Effective use of color and font are also useful tools for helping users focus on the high points.
HT: How important are the visualizations that are built into Tableau to communicating business insights?
BT: People are visual creatures. They see and make comparisons and connections far faster than they read and make comparisons and connections. So, it’s not necessarily something specific to Tableau – there are plenty of business analytics and visualization packages out there that can bring complex data into very digestible forms. But, bottom line, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, a good set of visualizations can be worth a thousand words and a hell of a lot of money too!
Anybody could ChatGPT themselves into a list of hemp-related companies from the internet. Read More
