Arlan Hamilton Has Muscled Her Way Into The Boys' Club
Fast Company|October 2018

With her diversity-focused venture firm, backstage capital, and a new $36 million fund dedicated exclusively to black female founders, is working to change the composition of entrepreneurship in America.

 

Ainsley Harris
Arlan Hamilton Has Muscled Her Way Into The Boys' Club

Backstage in the greenroom of the podcast festival where she’s scheduled to appear, Arlan Hamilton is quietly singing the lyrics to Janet Jackson’s “Control.” She’d like to walk on stage as the song plays, but the festival crew has copyright concerns. So instead, she is shimmying offstage in her chair, half-humming the chorus under her breath: “I’m in control / Never gonna stop /Control / To get what I want / Control / I like to have a lot.”

Like everything Hamilton does, the song request is equal parts self-aware and unapologetic. Hamilton knows that she stands out—she is the only black, queer woman to have ever built a venture capital firm from scratch. She also knows that she has a reputation for being direct, particularly when it comes to Silicon Valley biases, and how her own story is portrayed. (Indeed, the song is a jab at Gimlet Media, the podcast festival hosts, who devoted an entire episode of their StartUp series on her to what they saw as her sometimes counterproductive need for control.) But Hamilton exudes calm, even as she attempts, through her L.A.-based firm, Backstage Capital, the near impossible task of disrupting the way that venture investors pick winners and create wealth.

“It was crazy to me that 90% of venture funding was going to white men, when that is not how innovation, intelligence, and drive is dispersed in the real world,” she tells me. “I had no background in finance, but I just saw it as a problem. Maybe it’s because I was coming from such a different place that I could recognize it.”

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2018-Ausgabe von Fast Company.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2018-Ausgabe von Fast Company.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS FAST COMPANYAlle anzeigen
Where the Clean Energy Jobs Are
Fast Company

Where the Clean Energy Jobs Are

A data-driven guide to the skills you need and the opportunities you'll find

time-read
5 Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
CAN WWE PIN THE WORLD?
Fast Company

CAN WWE PIN THE WORLD?

AS IT MAKES ITS $5 BILLION NETFLIX DEBUT AND PREPARES FOR A GLOBAL AUDIENCE, WWE IS STILL WRESTLING WITH THE TOXIC LEGACY OF ITS COMPLICATED FOUNDER.

time-read
10 Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
RADICAL VISION
Fast Company

RADICAL VISION

POLICE DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE EMBRACING AI-ENHANCED SURVEILLANCE IN THE NAME OF STOPPING CRIME. HERE'S HOW ONE SECURITY FIRM IS LEADING THE EFFORT AND PROFITING OFF OUR FEARS

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
Brands That Matter
Fast Company

Brands That Matter

Our annual look at standout brands encompasses 130 honorees in nine categories, including the inaugural CMOs of the Year. Here's how 12 of those brands and three top CMOs stake out the intersection of business and culture.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
The Future According to Google
Fast Company

The Future According to Google

Google DeepMind, the tech giant's internal AI research lab, isn't just racing to beat OpenAI to market. Under Nobel laureate CEO Demis Hassabis, it's the \"engine room\" of the entire company.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Fast Company

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

SEPHORA HAS GROWN SO POWERFUL THAT IT CONTROLS WHICH BRANDS LIVE OR DIE IN THE $30 BILLION HIGH-END COSMETICS INDUSTRY. IN THIS BEAUTY CONTEST, SEPHORA ALWAYS WEARS THE CROWN.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
CULTURE WARS
Fast Company

CULTURE WARS

Brands on the Run Why Harley-Davidson, Caterpillar, and other masculine\" brands are caving to anti-DEI crusader Robby Starbuck

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
WORK LIFE
Fast Company

WORK LIFE

Law Roach, image architect and educator, answers our career questionnaire.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
The AI Gadget Debacle
Fast Company

The AI Gadget Debacle

Here's why you shouldn't expect any mind-blowing AI-powered gifts anytime soon.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025
Why the future workplace will feel more like a hotel
Fast Company

Why the future workplace will feel more like a hotel

REVEALS WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT TO CORPORATE STRATEGY AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Winter 2024 - 2025