August 2018

EMPLOYMENT TIPS ¬ n the startup world of the cannabis industry, you need a software engi- neer who can wear a lot of hats. Larger companies can look for engineers with specific talents to build one tiny piece of their software infrastructure. But in the cannabis industry, an engineer needs to be well-rounded and able to work on all parts of your product. “A good software engineer is someone who can put themselves in the shoes of a customer who’s using the software,” said Ben Curren, CEO of Green Bits, a San Jose, Califor- nia-based, point-of-sale software company. “We like to have full-stack engineers.” “Full stack” means the engineer can code in HTML, CSS and JavaScript but can also create APIs and conduct state traceability reporting. “It’s really breadth versus depth,” Curren said. By Bart Schaneman WHAT TO LOOK FOR Rick Matsumoto, chief operat- ing officer for Simplifya, a Denver- based tech platform that helps marijuana businesses with compli- ance, agrees about hiring full-stack engineers. “We’re looking for more well-rounded folks who can navigate the full spec- trum of our technology,” he said. He wants a minimum level of proficiency from the front-end user interface to the back end, where the database lives. There are too many different tech- nologies in the software sector to be an expert at everything, Matsumoto said. “What you want is someone who knows how to teach themselves very quickly,” he added. “I’ve always had success with people who are very good self-learners.” Aside from well-rounded knowl- edge, Curren prefers new hires to show some mettle. Grit is a desirable characteristic in a candidate. He likes people whose achievements seem to have been challenging. “I don’t care what it is,” Curren said. “If they decided to run a marathon, that’s the attribute we’re looking for.” Hire LEARN¬NG How to Hire and Manage a Software Engineer for Your Cannabis Company ( ) 102 • Marijuana Business Magazine • August 2018