Nina Vaca has grown her business from a single-person operation in her apartment to one with hundreds of employees and tens of millions in revenue. Now, with a new role to add to her resume, Vaca aims to help other entrepreneurs do the same.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson tapped the chairperson and CEO of local IT staffing provider Pinnacle Group to be the city’s first entrepreneur-in-residence, a newly-created position recommended by the Task Force on Innovation and Entrepreneurship that Johnson formed late last year.
“Pinnacle’s evolution over the years has given me a good view into the reality that entrepreneurs and businesses need different things depending on which stage of development they are in,” Vaca said via email.
As part of her duties in the new role, Vaca will advise the Mayor and City Council on ways to serve the local entrepreneurial and startup communities, along with serving as a representative for the city in attracting and retaining talent and companies. Vaca also said she plans to focus on advancing the city’s reputation as an innovation hub, as well as training and educating the next generation of entrepreneurs to build the region’s talent pool.
“By showing young people that entrepreneurship is a viable career and life path, we will benefit by increasing the numbers of those engaged in ‘next generation’ ideas and innovation,” Vaca said.
Overall, Vaca said that while Dallas has what she considers the three keys to early-stage success – customers, funding and talent – it can improve on increasing awareness and access to those things.
“For me, the question is how to create faster and smoother connections between entrepreneurs and customers, and entrepreneurs and funding to really drive progress,” Vaca said.
Immigrating from Ecuador at a young age, Vaca launched Pinnacle in 1996 with $300 of her own funds. Since then, the company has grown to more than 1,000 employees across six countries. In addition to her work with Pinnacle, she has represented the U.S. State Department as a presidential ambassador for global entrepreneurship under the Obama administration.
“Growing up in an entrepreneurial family has given me insight into the upsides and the many challenges that entrepreneurs can face, and I will be bringing that perspective with me to this role,” Vaca said.
The mayor’s Task Force on Innovation and Entrepreneurship – co-chaired by Kanarys CEO Mandy Price and The DEC Network co-founder and Chairman Trey Bowles – was formed in 2020. In May, it released a 40-page report highlighting areas of improvement in the local ecosystem and recommendations to foster the local community. In addition to the creation of the entrepreneur-in-residence role, the task force also called for the creation of a VC-in-residence position, as well as launching new business incubators and forming a private investment fund.
“I am passionate about helping Dallas raise its reputation as a city friendly to entrepreneurs and innovators, and playing a small part in growing it into a global magnet for entrepreneurship,” Vaca said.
Vaca shared her thoughts on the new entrepreneur-in-residence position in an interview.
How do you feel your professional experience will inform and guide you in this role?
What Pinnacle needs today as a high-growth, scalable, multinational organization is far different than what it needed when it was a regional boutique, which was different than what it needed when it first began.
I also have deep experience working with very large companies… this has given me a unique perspective to share with entrepreneurs and startups about how to develop relationships and sell to large companies, which can often be a startup’s best ally in scaling. I believe there is a lot you can learn from working with companies that are ahead of you on the developmental lifecycle.
This perspective – coupled with the experiences of entrepreneurs and companies I’ve mentored and sponsored over the years – will provide exceptional context for spotlighting the many things Dallas does right when it comes to supporting entrepreneurs and startups. However, I also want to draw attention to areas where there is still more work to be done to truly make Dallas a global magnet for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Where can Dallas improve?
While Dallas is known as a great place for big business, now we need to show that we are a great place for scalable, sustainable startups as well. Pinnacle Group is living proof that Dallas is a great city for entrepreneurship and startups – but not enough people know about the resources Dallas can provide. By increasing awareness about these resources, we hope to attract more innovators and entrepreneurs to the city while retaining the incredible talent we already have.
A lot of the task force’s recommendations focused on increasing equity in the scene. How will you do that in this position?
One of the critical points raised in the report published by the Mayor’s task force is that entrepreneurship and innovation are key to a leading-edge, 21st-century economy.
Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and other studies show that minority groups and women start businesses at much higher rates than the national average. By empowering more entrepreneurship and startups here in Dallas, we can expect a high proportion of them will be owned and led by women and minorities. By supporting their success, we will help support the success of entire communities.
Also, I have long understood the power of a role model in helping people expand their worldview and strive for something more than they thought was possible. Sometimes people need to be able to “see it to be it.” I look forward to being an example of what’s possible in Dallas, as a Latina entrepreneur who has been able to build a booming business here.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
