CannaInsider’s Matthew Kind interviewed Keegan Peterson, the CEO of Wurk, a Denver-based human resources software company catering to the cannabis industry. Some of the key issues the company addresses include proper payment of taxes and managing payroll expenses. Peterson’s background since graduating college has been working with workforce management with larger mainstream companies, and he realized the opportunity to help the cannabis industry after discussing the operational challenges of running a dispensary with an owner who is his friend. He also went through CanopyBoulder’s 2016 accelerator class, an experience that he found extremely valuable in terms of helping him learn to scale his business.
The company’s platform helps with compliance but is also a productivity tool. Wurk has partnered with several banks and acts as a channel to help unbanked clients, and it operates in 11 different states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. The company isn’t currently raising capital and includes Poseidon Asset Management and Rick Kimball of HExL Capital as investors.
Key Takeaways:
[2:26] – What is Wurk
[2:51] – Keegan’s background
[5:07] – Keegan talks about realizing the need for Wurk
[7:02] – Problems arising from not having payroll software
[7:54] – The birth of Wurk
[9:14] – How to get your cannabis employees paid
[10:07] – What is labor waste
[11:42] – Feedback from current Wurk clients
[13:48] – Wurk dashboard
[17:08] – Metrics in the retail world
[18:28] – How does banking interact with Wurk
[20:07] – States where Wurk is available
[20:49] – Handling state-by-state compliance issues
[21:47] – Wurk in the future
[26:46] – Keegan talks about his experience at CanopyBoulder
[28:17] – Keegan answers some personal development questions
Listen to the interview or read the transcript “How to Get Your Cannabis Employees Paid – Keegan Peterson”: http://www.cannainsider.com/keegan-peterson-wurk/
