Former Microsoft Manager Aims to Create a U.S, Marijuana Brand

In November of 2012, Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana for "recreational use." Now an ex-Microsoft employee plans to create a brand of marijuana to be sold commercially. The goal is to create a brand as synonymous with marijuana as Starbucks is to coffee.

According to Jonathan Kaminsky of Reuters

Jamen Shively, a former Microsoft corporate strategy manager, said he envisions his Seattle-based enterprise becoming the leader in both recreational and medical cannabis.

Shively, 45, whose six years at Microsoft ended in 2009, said he was soliciting investors for $10 million in start-up money.

"It's a giant market in search of a brand," Shively said of the marijuana industry. "We would be happy if we get 40 percent of it worldwide."

A 2005 United Nations report estimated the global marijuana trade to be valued at $142 billion.