Hi, I’m Joe Vasquez and I’m an SF Global Shaper
What brought you to San Francisco?
I came from New York to the Bay to attend Stanford for undergrad where I was exposed to opportunities at the intersection of technology and social impact. Since coming to the west coast, I’ve been fortunate to work with amazing folks to:
- help co-found StartX, a leading startup accelerator based at Stanford,
- teach high school math through Teach For America in Richmond, CA,
- build iOS math games for millions of students with special needs at Enuma (formerly LocoMotive Labs), and
- co-lead the team at Runway, a startup incubator, accelerator, and corporate consulting firm in San Francisco.
But truth be told, my professional journey pales in comparison to the amazing relationships, experiences, and personal growth I’ve been fortunate to have in my time here; the Bay Area is a pretty special place.
What are you working on?
Currently, I’m a Co-Director at Runway Incubator, a 50+ startup workspace and corporate innovation advisory platform in Twitter’s San Francisco that was recently acquired. We also launched the Michelson Runway Edtech Accelerator at Runway (a joint initiative with the Michelson 20MM Foundation), an accelerator that invests in and supports edtech startups innovating in higher education and the workforce. To date, we’ve invested in five startups and plan to invest in several more this year.
Ultimately, we see Runway as a springboard for global innovation across technology verticals and industries; we’ll be making some exciting announcements in the next couple of months — stay tuned!
What’s your passion/what matters to you? And why?
Broadly speaking, I want to help build a world where everyone has irrevocable and equal access to opportunities to love, learn, grow, experience, and be full human beings–in today’s world, this is far from the case.
More immediately, I see technological innovation as a way to subvert the status quo and I intend on investing in, working with, and supporting impactful entrepreneurs who are rethinking how we approach education, health services, civic engagement, job and wealth creation, and other facets of the human experience.
I’m fortunate in that I live at the intersection of many different identities; I’m deaf, Latino, blue-collar, a former educator, a first-generation college graduate, an entrepreneur and investor, and a creative mind focused on leveraging systems, innovation, and networks for social impact. Its this diversity of backgrounds and experiences that allows me to approach problems from unique ways and truly appreciate other perspectives.
What are you hoping to get out of your Global Shapers experience?
I’m excited about joining Shapers for several reasons: one being the tribe’s commitment to real, inclusive, and local action and the other being the opportunity to join a tight-knit and passionate community willing to challenge and motivate one other.
My other communities are more geographically dispersed and aren’t necessarily focused on collective, local, “roll-your-sleeves-up” impact. The prospect of working to solve challenging problems in a community I care so much about with other young leaders is extremely exciting; it will allow me to augment my local impact, learn new perspectives around local problems and solutions, and build strong relationships with like-minded individuals who want to change the world for the better.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Rather than one piece of advice, I’m opting for a more comprehensive list… hope you don’t mind ;). In no particular order:
- Everyone deserves to be respected. From the janitor to the CEO, treat everyone with respect and take the time to listen to them — sometimes inspiration comes from the least expected of places.
- Know your locus of control. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, especially when external forces are beyond your control. Meditate, exercise, plan and prepare, show up early, and give it your all. If you can’t change it, there’s no point in letting it take up mental space.
- Make great sauces and great lighting. Ever walk into a restaurant and notice a subtle detail that makes you remember it years later? Or an amazing sauce that complemented your meal perfectly and you can still taste it the week after? Well, building companies and relationships is similar–going the extra mile, striving for excellence, and doing things others might not think of can make a world of difference.
- Take (smart) risks. Put yourself out there. Go to a class you’ve been curious about. Ask for an introduction (or reach out) to an expert you’ve been curious to meet. Hike a mountain you’ve been intimidated by. Engage in a difficult conversation you’ve been putting off. More often than not, growth comes when you push yourself and take (smart) risks.
- You’re the average of the five people closest to you. This one’s been on the back of my mind for a while; I’m extremely lucky to know a lot of great people around the world. And on that token, I’m excited to build deeper relationships within SF Shapers to not only better San Francisco, but better myself.
- Activity ≠ Impact. I’ve had days where I had sixteen (!) 30-minute meetings back-to-back. Proud of myself for such a busy day, I looked back and I realized I actually didn’t accomplish much. In essence, I met with sixteen people but didn’t achieve much for the business. Activity should be a means to impact but impact should be the end. For those who work with impact-oriented organizations, I found this particularly powerful. Your activities are not your impact. For example, “three fundraisers completed” versus “$3M raised for local homelessness charities”–which one tells you a more complete story? And really, “dollars raised” paints a limited picture of impact — what was the money used for? Ultimately, this isn’t just semantics; impact-orientation requires a mindset shift that can fundamentally change how people and organizations operate day-to-day.
And thank you if you made it this far! Here’s a quick joke for your time:
“Did you hear the rumor about butter? Never mind, I shouldn’t spread it…”
