In this episode we chat with Arlan Hamilton about her newly released book "It's About Damn Time". Arlan is an unapologetic Gay Black Woman that built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She has invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders–People of Color, LGBTQ & Women. We talk about why she has chosen to invest in these underestimated founders and her journey to building her business, Backstage Capital.


Arlan Hamilton built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT. Started from scratch in 2015, Backstage has now raised more than $10 million and invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London. Arlan was featured on the cover of Fast Company magazine in October 2018 as the first Black woman non-celebrity to do so, and her new book "It's About Damn Time" was released on Penguin Random House's business imprint Currency in May 2020.