![]() Related: Rewriting The Narrative: Noor Sweid, General Partner, Global Ventures ![]() And to me, that is an exciting person to be behind, if they have vision, if they have heart, if they can execute, if they have discernment, and if they have something to prove- you're going to have someone that reminds you of me." But if you have someone who is constantly feeling that way, you either have someone who goes inward and kind of folds into themselves, or you find someone (which I found over and over again in our founders) who has something to prove. And everybody knows what it feels like at some point, no matter what their privilege is. "And I think that's what you get when you have someone who is constantly being counted out, constantly being judged by how they look, when they walk in a room. "That's what every investor is looking for, something that's going to come out of nowhere, and surprise and over-perform," Hamilton says. Hamilton prefers to call them "underestimated" founders- according to her, that's a better description of what makes them such a great, untapped investment opportunity. Add to that the mandate she has for her enterprise, which is to invest in underrepresented founders in the States (think women, people of color, etc.- folks like Hamilton, to put it simply), only serves to boost her particular appeal in the entrepreneurial community, and especially so with the minorities in this realm.Īnd while Hamilton may have had to go down a rocky road to start up her company, she has since proved that she was on the right track all along- the Backstage Capital website today proudly declares that since its launch in 2015, it has invested over US$7 million in more than 120 companies led by underrepresented founders. ![]() Of course, it's easy to see why this bit of poetry resonated with me as Hamilton both wowed and charmed the audience at the event- as a black woman who has built a venture capital (VC) firm from scratch in the US (indeed, she was homeless at one point during her journey to launch the company), Hamilton is a welcome departure from the legions of white men that are particularly predominant in this space. ![]() "Representation is vital, otherwise the butterfly, surrounded by a group of moths, unable to see itself, will keep trying to become the moth." It is these words by acclaimed poet Rupi Kaur that came to my mind when I saw Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton take centerstage at the 2019 Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival in November last year. ![]()
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