Darren Walker, founder and CEO of the social network app BEAN Now, just launched a new Clubhouse-like feature called Beanstalk. This feature allows users to have live, audio only conversations on topics that they’ve chosen with friends or followers in pods, which act as a group chat, on the BEAN Now app. BEAN Now, which stands for Black Economic Advancement Network, was created to address what Walker pointed out is a disturbing trend in Black household wealth: the median Black household’s wealth in the US will fall to zero by 2053 at current rates. In other words, Black people are losing ground financially in the US.
Walker came up with a plan to combat this by creating BEAN Now. Not only is this a social network created by Black people and for Black people, it is created with the goal of fixing the wealth inequality and declining wealth among Black people. Unlike Facebook, Twitter or Clubhouse, BEAN Now was created from the ground up to focus on Black economic empowerment. The app aims to accomplish this by connecting users of BEAN Now to Black-owned businesses so that they can circulate their dollars with Black-owned businesses. The social network also wants to allow users to network with Black entrepreneurs and various professionals in different industries. This is a great way to help Black newcomers get a foot in the door and to also help Black professionals meet each other. Lastly, BEAN Now will provide users with a variety of tips, tools, and advice to help them start their own business.
BEAN Now launched back in November 2019. Darren Walker is the founder and is currently the CEO as well. But he always wanted to address Black wealth inequality. His first attempt was to start the NOLA Black Pages in order to help Black people in New Orleans find Black-owned businesses. But he decided that he needed to set his goals higher, that he needed to attack the problem on a national scale instead. He then went on to create BEAN Now, which lets users find and interact with Black-owned businesses nationally.
You can find the social network app BEAN Now on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
BEAN Now, the Black-owned Clubhouse Alternative
