Bianca Edwards
Elizabeth Santos
Christopher Kilcarr
St. John's University
Charles Wankel
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The innovative coworking space serves as a solution to more than one of the UN's Global Goals for Sustainable Development. By serving as an incubator and cultural hub for underrepresented creatives, Vector90 supports the UN's agenda to promote productivity, entrepreneurship, and innovation and encourages the creation of small enterprises, through access to financial services as outlined in target number eight. The infrastructure alone contributes to the economic growth and development of the community, and the professional training and mentorship foster environments of increased human well-being while providing access to information and communication technology.
Did you know that black startup founders only received 1% of all venture capital funding in 2015? Did you know the Crenshaw area has been plagued by poverty, violence, and limited access to resources for decades? In fact, Vector90 co-founder Nipsey Hussle once told the LA Times that when he was young, there were no structures or infrastructures to support his interest in technology and other industries. He mentioned it again during our interview.
Fast-forward to now: his innovation is a direct response to that. Vector90 is a Los Angeles coworking space and cultural hub aimed at bolstering economic growth and bridging the gap between the inner city and Silicon Valley through STEM curriculum for youth, investment opportunities for entrepreneurs and creatives, and a safe and peaceful environment to work and grow your business.
In the interview, Nipsey said he believes that "the highest human act is to inspire." As previously mentioned, the Los Angeles native was inspired to co-found Vector90 after experiencing his own adversity and limited access to opportunities as a child. In an interview that Nipsey did with 247HH, he spoke about advice he received from a fellow musician. That advice was, “You measure your success with how many people you bless." This comment stuck with him and motivated him later to want to help others in his community.
Nipsey’s inspiration was to give local kids from his area with entrepreneurial aspirations the opportunity to have a space and a support system to help accomplish their goals. Nipsey wanted the Vector90 center in Crenshaw, where he grew up, to bridge the gap between places of opportunity such as Beverly Hills and Silicon Valley. In an area such as Crenshaw, Los Angeles, there are not many opportunities for children to grow up and learn complex and unique skills such as website development. Through Vector90 and the STEM center, the children will have the opportunity to not only learn science and mathematics but also get training in life skills that they can use in the future to help achieve their goals. All of these benefits were things that growing up Nipsey did not have access to, and he understands how hard life can be and how easy it can be to go down the wrong path without proper guidance.
Vector90 is a growing innovation that will continue to help young people chase their goals and aspirations. The overall impact of this innovation is that it positively affects many people and new projects. In the short term, this innovation improves the growth of new businesses because it gives people a chance to start up their company while being able to save thousands on rent for office space and broker/agent fees in specific jobs. In the long term, other large companies, such as Fortune 500 companies, will benefit because of the professional development and innovative ideas being fostered at the hub.
Vector 90 is home to very talented young people that are looking for opportunities to make a greater difference in their organizations and communities. The area this innovation impacted immediately is the neighborhood that the work centers are in. The new work centers bring people from other areas to utilize the resources available, which also helps local shops and restaurants. An increase in the innovation economy of cities has been shown following the placement of new work centers. Other large impacts from this innovation are the creation of a network of cities through the entrepreneurial network that arises from the centers. The growth of these centers will not only continue to impact the cities that they are located in, but also the cities where the startup founders' products and services are being offered. Evidence of this impact is exhibited in the exponential growth of other coworking spaces throughout the country.
Vector90's benefits extend beyond the business aspect and include social aspects as well. The business allows the children and entrepreneurs of Crenshaw the opportunity to reach goals that they may have never thought were possible. In the short amount of time that Vector90 has been in operation, they have made a significant impact on the community.
On 11 June 2018, Shark Tank hosted a casting call for Season 10 at Vector90. The producers of Shark Tank could have held the casting calls at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, but they went with Vector90 instead. Over 100 diverse entrepreneurs were able to pitch their ideas. Krew Konnect, an aviation social club, became the first company to incubate at Vector90, thus increasing its revenue. The membership fees are not too expensive, but the amenities provided prove to be worth it, thus creating customer loyalty.
Vector90 also partnered with Loyola Marymount University on a project called “Rethinking the Marketplace.” It was a competition to get business students thinking about how to achieve Vector90’s goal of making money while at the same time doing good.
Their end goal is to have locations throughout the United States similar to the one in Los Angeles. If you look at their Instagram page, one of their posts shows a video of possible future locations (at least one in every state). As stated in the interview, the Baltimore/Delaware, Maryland, Virginia area was the next targeted region to open a center (before Nipsey's passing). Therefore, this meets the requirement for scalable innovation.
As previously mentioned, the first floor of Vector90 serves as a STEM facility for children and individual families. By having the STEM center on the first floor, it gives entrepreneurs and children alike the chance to learn STEM options as well as interact with like-minded individuals.
During Women's History Month in 2018, Vector90 had a dinner honoring successful women from the local community. Another event was “random acts of kindness,” where they offered white roses to women in the Crenshaw District. Vector90 has also hosted an LA Women in Tech Happy Hour, Elevator Pitch Happy Hour, and Coffee and Convo. By having these events, it links like-minded individuals and expands business opportunities for their members. By partaking in such activities, it qualifies for goals 4 and 9 of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If Vector90 is successful in expanding throughout the United States, the shortage of STEM candidates will decrease.
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Vector90 is a business aimed at bridging the gap between the inner city, Silicon Valley, and beyond. It is a coworking space and incubator for underrepresented entrepreneurs and creatives and is partly dedicated to calling attention to the lack of diversity in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. It occupies the second floor of a Los Angeles multilevel space and offers short-term leases, daily passes, monthly memberships, private offices, commercial-grade IT and business services, along with funding, technical training, professional development, and a comprehensive launch curriculum for startups. The first floor serves as a STEM program for local children's organizations and individual families.
