August 2018

Jeremy Jacobs, chair of Enlighten, a cannabis-centric digital technology company based in Bowling Green, Kentucky, takes the opposite tack. “We’re looking for the experts within a specific hardware setting or specific programming language,” he said. Jacobs has several specific tasks he expects his engineers to perform, such as programming the advertise- ments they sell on monitors in dis- pensaries, and he needs specialized knowledge from his engineers. You also want to make sure the candidate is comfortable working with the cannabis industry. “That does become quite important as a follow-up question,” he added. BACKGROUND Matsumoto prefers candidates who have been forced to apply their training and education practically. “I’m biased toward people who have done some independent, voca- tional training,” he said. By that, he means new hires who have come out of one of the immer- sive boot camps like Galvanize or General Assembly. In his experience, the candidates who typically choose to go through those programs have spent a few years in the marketplace and “prob- ably have some scars to show for it,” Matsumoto said. “They under- stand that they need to become well-rounded.” Curren doesn’t put much stock in a college degree. Instead, he wants one or two years of experience. “Some people are really particular on schools and pedigrees,” he said. “I’m not that way at all.” He wants proof that the candidate “built something that you can show us that you care about.” Preferably the candidate can point to a project that’s hosted on GitHub. “That’s great,” Curren said. “They can come in and say, ‘This is what I tried to build, and this is how I built it.’” Jacobs is looking for a balance of field experience and a demon- strated capacity to teach. By that, he means the candidate has a built-in network he or she leads, for example. “Not only do they do (the coding), but they can show you how it works and work with other people,” he said. WHERE TO FIND THEM Matsumoto said the candidate pool is strong enough that he hasn’t had to hire away from another company yet. His go-to site for posting job ads is LinkedIn. “You can post an ad almost any- where and get plenty of good candi- dates coming in,” he said. The West Coast is a different story, according to Curren. In the Bay Area, most engineers aren’t looking. “Everyone we hire, generally we’re taking away from another job,” he said. “We actively go after them.” He looks through the networks of his current employees. Green Bits has an internal tool that will analyze GitHub, LinkedIn, Twitter or other social media networks to then ask for referrals. “Referrals are our best way of hir- ing,” Curren said. Jacobs will seek out people on forums and cast a wide net. His tech team does the recruiting and trolls a specific resource base, depending on the programmers they’re looking for. For example, if they need an expert in WordPress, they’ll find WordPress forums online and recruit from those. “You’re going to clearly see who is answering most of these people’s questions,” he said. Seek out the thought-leader on that forum and recruit that person. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Software engineers are important for many cannabis companies, particularly those that are tech- related businesses. When hiring one, look for candidates who: • Are well-rounded enough to work across multiple coding languages. • Can teach themselves. In the upstart cannabis industry, it’s important to be a self-starter. • Have enough grit to accomplish challenging, difficult tasks. It shows a person can solve problems. • Knows how to apply their education and training practically. Book learning isn’t enough. • Exhibits a capacity to teach and lead others on their team. Jeremy Jacobs is chair of digital technology company Enlighten. Rick Matsumoto is chief operating officer of cannabis compliance platform Simplifya. 104 • Marijuana Business Magazine • August 2018