Arlan Hamilton is an investor and the founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital. She's also one of our advisors at Finclusive Ventures!


In May 2020, Hamilton released her first book from Penguin Random House entitled "It's About Damn Time", which is based on her personal journey into entrepreneurship and venture capital. 


Listen to our interview with Arlan Hamilton by Lauren Nham and Kelly Lei on how Arlan spot founders and people that she would want to work with. 

What she defined as underestimated and overlooked
Does she think she's overhyped? 
How she's scaling Backstage Capital
How she invests now and trends that she sees
How she plans to make a difference
What would she would be doing if she was 
She even shared her email address with us. 

Arlan Hamilton is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm 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 $15 million and invested in more than 175 startup companies led by underestimated founders. In 2018, they launched a four-city accelerator program in Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, and London. Arlan has been featured on the cover of Fast Company magazine as the first Black woman non-celebrity to do so, and is the author of “It’s About Damn Time” and host of the weekly podcast “Your First Million”. Arlan and her mother, Mrs. Earline Butler-Sims, announced their scholarship program which kicked-off with scholarships for Black students at Oxford University and HBCU Dillard University.