Marijuana Business Magazine April 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2020 52 E xecutives from Kellogg’s, Molson Coors, Nike, Pfizer, Whole Foods Market, Wrigley and a slew of other companies with household names have migrated to jobs in marijuana, a trend likely to continue as cannabis legalization spreads and the stigma of MJ declines. While it might be getting easier to hire talent from big mainstream companies, a growing number of executives caution others against looking exclusively for talent with experience at large corporations. Rather, look for people who have worked in cannabis and in the mainstream—ideally at startups. That’s a relatively limited talent pool but one that is growing fast, thanks in part to the industry’s maturation and the growing number of erstwhile mainstream executives who also have cannabis experience—not to mention the recent wave of cannabis industry layoffs. Indeed, the pool of candidates who can offer the best of both worlds—mainstream and marijuana work experience—has never been bigger. Several executives already are taking advantage of this development. At Harborside, recent hires that fit the mold include: • Chief Financial Officer Tom DiGiovanni (hired in December), previously co-founder and chief financial officer at Canndescent, whose pre-cannabis resume BEST OF BOTH WORLDS By Omar Sacirbey Executives say experience at startups can be just as valuable as tenure at large corporations “It’s really hard to parachute in an executive that has no cannabis experience. … If you can find somebody that has the cannabis experience and also has mainstream experience, they’re a gem.” –Margot Micallef CEO of Gaby’s COMPENSATION CONTEMPLATION