Since its founding, Backstage has raised nearly $30 million and invested in 200 startups led by underestimated founders. She founded Backstage Capital in 2015 to invest in founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBTQ. Published by Currency, and imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.Īrlan Hamilton, founder at Backstage Capital and, is a serial entrepreneur, author, and master multitasker. Read on for a selection of resources from the book, along with Hamilton’s notes on why these links are essential. Paperbacks are like the back half of a mullet: a party! I love throwing them in a bag and going to the beach, or jumping on a train with one in my hand. When I was learning about start-ups, venture capital, and investing, books were my starting point, so I’d like my book to be the same kind of helpful tool for its readers. My mind, my information, my brain trust became the assets.Īnd as of May 2020, I have a new asset: My own book, It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated Into Your Greatest Advantage. I dedicated time and effort to the thing that fascinated me, and I found a way into this business by using my knowledge as capital.

I learned from relentlessly consuming information that is available to everyone. I learned everything I know from reading, listening, watching, and being intent on learning.

(Another key is I never stopped! I still do that to this day.) I did that day in and day out for years before I ever got one check. Every single day, I read blog posts, books, magazine articles, and newspaper clippings I listened to every podcast I could. I spent the years 2012 to 2015 reading everything I could get my hands on. Honestly, the answer is that I fought insecurity with information.

Sometimes people ask me what gave me the confidence to think that I could be a venture capitalist when everything and everyone was telling me I couldn’t.

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