Jason Kuska, an experienced event planner and promoter, launched a new business, Nasstive Entertainment, which specializes in providing VIP tours to nightclubs, drink specials and more for an exclusive price. The concept was born when Kuska, who had previously done promotional events for radio stations, started working at a hostel in Hollywood.
“We had a lot of international travelers, and they always wanted to go out to local bars and nightclubs,” he explains. “We’d organize small groups to go out on the weekend — that’s how I got to know all the club managers.” Eventually, Kuska began advertising the events to the general public. As the business began to grow in 2009, Kuska quit his job to continue to grow his business full-time.
Challenges
Although Kuska had done well promoting the club crawls while working at the hostel in the past, running a business on his own was a new challenge. “I needed some direction,” he said, so he visited the Small Business Development Center hosted by El Camino College.
Client Impact
When Nasstive Entertainment first launched, a typical night’s event included 15 to 20 people. Today, events generally average 100 people per night. In addition to the regular Friday and Saturday night club crawls, the company now hosts holiday club crawls and promotes its own branded events at various venues.
In 2012, Nasstive Entertainment expanded into San Diego and added a new manager for the region in addition to an already outstanding staff of 11 at its Los Angeles location.
Plans include expanding to additional cities, as well as maintaining the quality of the club crawls to stay ahead of competitors that have opened up and copied the company’s formula for success. Say Kuska, “We want to stand apart as being the best.”
“That’s the beautiful thing about working with the SBDC, whether you have a small question or a big question, they have everything you need right there so you don’t have to figure out who to hire to ask the question. I could get help with a few little things I didn’t understand… as opposed to hiring someone at $100 an hour.”-Jason Kuska, Founder, Nasstive Entertainment
