Work
12 MONEY.COM MARCH^2019
ARLAN HAMILTON WAS HOMELESS, sleeping on the
floor of San Francisco International Airport
and couch-surfing for months when it finally
happened.
The 38-year-old launched Backstage Capital in
2015, a venture capital firm that invests in under-
invested founders like women, people of color, and
members of the LGBTQ community.
Hamilton isn’t your stereotypical venture capital-
ist. She’s the first black queer woman to create her
own venture capital firm—and she did it with no
investing experience, no college degree, and little
money to work with. “Whatever I do, I know I’m going
to achieve it,” Hamilton recalls thinking before sheBackstage Capital
founder Arlan Hamilton
is paving the way for
fair VC funding.A Venture
Capitalist With
Change in Mind
Arlan Hamilton wants to disrupt the
investing system—and she’s doing so
with a radical approach.BY JENNIFER CALFASST
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