The 2019 Makers Conference was a mecca for successful women, people of color and underrepresented groups of all kinds. Three days of talks, interviews and performances with the most powerful women in tech, business and entertainment provided enough content to keep any business woman occupied for a long while, but one interview that stood out was Aisha Tyler's sit down with venture capital investor Arlan Hamilton.
If you haven't heard of her, Arlan Hamilton is the founder of Backstage Capital, a VC firm focused on underrepresented groups in business. Three and a half years ago, Hamilton was sleeping on the floor of San Francisco airport and living on food stamps with one goal in mind — to invest in 100 companies with unique founders by the year 2020. Despite her barriers as a gay Black woman with no college degree, no connections and no money, she beat her goal by a year and a half to become one of the most influential VCs in Los Angeles, and the first Black woman outside of entertainment to grace the cover of Fast Company.
Here are a few essential takeaways from her interview with Aisha Tyler:
Outsiders Wield Strong Voices
Arlan Hamilton grew up as a Jehovah's Witness in Dallas, Texas, with little money. She always felt like an outsider, but rather than becoming detached she used the power of her voice to stand up for other outsiders.
"If I saw someone who was an outsider … I wanted to protect their right to be themselves," she told Aisha.
And her legacy continues today. From a maker of renewable energy in Harlem to the Muslim company making fashionable hijabs, Arlan invests in companies that speak to groups left voiceless for far too long. It's this "pursuit to protect people's dignity" that has pushed her forward and made her into the success she is today.
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It's OK to Be Aggressive
Arlan's background as a protector for those who have less of a voice taught her to be assertive when necessary. As Aisha Tyler pointed out, women are often taught not to be aggressive. But, as someone who grew up with doors slammed in her face, Arlan was accustomed to pushing past the word "no." And although she's disavowed her religion, the lessons she learned growing up helped her to be a success.
Often called unapologetic, direct and likely other names not suitable for print, Arlan isn't afraid to stand out as a strong, clear-headed leader. Like, when she turned down an investment by Peter Thiel after he reaffirmed his support of President Trump. When she started her company, she was laughed out of room after room, but despite all she kept her values, succeeded and thrived.
Don't Discount the Underdogs
For every $42,000 raised by a Black woman in first round funding, $1.2 million is raised by a white man. Those numbers mean that the age old adage of "working twice as hard to get half as far" are untrue. Seeing that Black women receive 0.2 percent of venture funding for their white male counterparts' 97 percent, it seems we have to work 500 times as hard to get four hundredths as far. Despite those odds, women of color are the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs, and Arlan knows that investing in them is a smart bet.
Because their failures are often projected onto their entire culture, underrepresented founders often put in great effort to push forward their business. And because of the bootstrapping strategies they often have to employ to start their businesses, Hamilton believes these founders are more resilient to market fluctuations and more likely to give good returns when put on equal footing with their peers. Backstage Capital is founded on rooting for underdogs, not out of charity, but because of a belief in profitability.
For more inspiration, watch the whole interview here: Aisha Tyler and Arlan Hamilton | The 2019 MAKERS Conference
