Hamilton, Arlan

Impact on the world

Founded Backstage Capital in 2015 while sleeping on the floor of the San Francisco airport, with no college degree, no investing background, and no industry connections, building it into a fund that has invested roughly $20-30 million into nearly 200 startups led by women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ founders; in 2021 she pioneered a Regulation Crowdfunding structure that let 6,500 ordinary investors buy ownership stakes in Backstage's management company itself, a first for the venture capital industry.

Life & background

Raised by a single mother near Dallas, Texas, Hamilton worked for years in the music industry as a tour manager before discovering venture capital and teaching herself the field from library books, YouTube videos, and a whiteboard, unable to afford a two-week investing course at Stanford until she crowdfunded the cost on social media. In 2015, while homeless and sleeping on the floor of the San Francisco airport between meetings with Silicon Valley investors, she received the first check that allowed her to launch Backstage Capital, becoming the first Black, queer woman to found her own venture capital firm. Backstage has since invested in nearly 200 companies led by founders the industry has historically overlooked; in 2021, Hamilton used a Regulation Crowdfunding framework to let 6,500 individual, non-accredited investors buy shares in Backstage Management Co. itself, sharing in the fund's carried interest, a structure she developed with her legal team and helped bring before the SEC. She has authored two books, including 'It's About Damn Time,' reflecting her belief that 'underestimated' founders represent a major mispriced opportunity in venture capital.

Sources

1. TIME; ABC7 News; Founded.com; Money.com