MMJ Menus was one of the first cannabis point of sale and menu management systems in the United States, developed during medical marijuana's infancy. When I first opened Medical Cannabis Colorado in 2009, there was no software available to manage patients and cannabis sales effectively. MMJ Menus, based in Colorado, was in its early stages and hardly worked when I first discovered it, but it was the closest thing to what I needed. Through collaboration with the developers, helping them understand the cannabis industry, and working together to improve the system, MMJ Menus grew to become the largest used cannabis point of sale system in the US during medical marijuana's beginning, eventually being acquired by Weedmaps.
When I first opened Medical Cannabis Colorado in 2009, there was no software available to manage patients and cannabis sales effectively. The medical marijuana industry was in its infancy, and dispensaries were struggling to find tools to handle the unique requirements of cannabis retail. I discovered MMJ Menus, which was also in its early stages and based out of Colorado. The system hardly worked when I first found it, but it was the closest thing to what I needed.
I remember meeting with the developers—we went and got Mexican food and talked about everything. They started coming into my dispensary, and I helped them understand how cannabis and medical cannabis worked, how the industry was starting to shape up, and how I thought the software could make sense to work effectively. We worked together for a while, and the system got better and better.
I started helping sign up dispensaries, and I used MMJ Menus to manage all the dispensaries that I ran over the years. This collaboration was really my first taste of development and software collaboration. Fast forward, MMJ Menus got acquired by Weedmaps. It became the largest used cannabis point of sale system in the US during medical marijuana's beginning.
This experience taught me the power of collaboration between industry operators and developers, and how understanding real-world needs can shape technology that transforms an entire industry.