Arlan Hamilton, founder at Backstage Capital and HireRunner.co, is a serial entrepreneur, author, and prolific speaker. 

She founded Backstage Capital in 2015 to invest in founders who are people of color, women and/or LGBTQ. Since its founding, Backstage has raised nearly $30 million and invested in 200 startups led by underestimated founders. Arlan is also the founder of HireRunner.co, a startup that connects outstanding employee talent with inclusive companies. 

Arlan published her book, “It’s About Damn Time,” in 2020, detailing her journey from homelessness to venture capital trailblazer. Arlan also hosts the popular podcast “Your First Million”, and in 2018, was the first non-celebrity Black woman to grace the cover of Fast Company magazine. Arlan’s latest book, “Your First Million: Why You Don’t Have To Be Born Into A Legacy Of Wealth To Leave One Behind” is available for preorder and will be out on January 2nd, 2024.

Arlan is a big proponent of paying it forward and supporting other underestimated people in the tech industry and beyond. She’s a limited partner in 27 funds led by emerging, underestimated managers, and she and her mother, Mrs. Earline Butler-Sims, have established scholarship programs for Black students at Oxford University, HBCU Dillard University, and Harvard Law.

Black Enterprise

Black women business owners collected just 0.34% of U.S. venture capital in 2021, according to Crunchbase, and reportedly, 10% of diversity checks by number of deals go to women of color. Plus, they gain less than 1% of venture funding, a lingering obstacle. For her part, Hamilton asserts: "We invest in the very best founders who identify as women, people of color, or LGBTQ+. I personally identify as all three." After starting her investment fund in 2015, Hamilton built a business that invested $20 million in 200 companies in this underserved segment. Those portfolio firms have a combined market value of more than $1 billion in multiple industries, with health, fintech, and sustainability as the top three. Read more HERE

Founder Backstage Capital & Runner, Author, and Venture Catalyst

Arlan Hamilton is a remarkable entrepreneur who built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a VC firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT.  

Speaker Bookings: HERE

Do you dream of quitting your day job to go all in on your side hustle? Or maybe you’ve already started your own business but can’t quite figure out how to take it to the next level. As rewarding as entrepreneurship can be, there’s no doubt it comes with quite a few challenges, too. To help you with common questions and setbacks, Oprah Daily enlisted the help of Arlan Hamilton, founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, a fund focusing on start-ups led by people of color, women, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Read more HERE