The latest episode of the Secret Leaders podcast hosted by Dan Murray-Serter welcomes Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital, a LA-based fund dedicated to investing in minorities, and author of ‘It’s About Damn Time’.
On the podcast, Arlan shares her incredible journey into entrepreneurship and venture capital. She talks about why her love for community guides every decision she makes. “All of the things that I get into are about community,” Arlan says. “It’s about building something from scratch, having moonshot ideas, doing something that I haven’t put my feet into before, and then building a community around that, whether that’s local or global,” she adds.
As an advocate for BAME and LGBTQ communities Arlan highlights that the inspiration behind Backstage Capital was to shed a light on a sector which historically hasn’t encouraged diversity, she says: “I came across a statistic that said 90% of the investments behind venture capitals go to white men in the United States. I’m a gay, black woman living in Texas, and I don’t really have connections with anyone in that world.
“Being aware of that statistic threw me off, and it felt like a punch in the gut. I always reference the venture capital Silicon Valley when I think back, because back then, I thought it was supposed to be the land of dreams, it was supposed to be this place that was different, and that was forward thinking. I thought that diversity would be the first thing they had figured out, and then everything else like the hard stuff would follow.
“I looked clearly at the landscape back then, and rather than being taken aback, and just leaving the problem there, I said, well, let’s look at it.”
The latest Secret Leaders podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and all major podcast platforms, from Tuesday 10 November.
