Skills_First
Welcome to the Skills First podcast, brought to you by The Apprenticeship Playbook. This podcast is your go-to resource for exploring the transformative world of skills-first hiring and modern tech apprenticeships. Whether you’re part of a community-based organization, a funder, an educator, or a company eager to implement innovative hiring practices, this show is for you. Join host Mike Roberts as he engages with industry leaders and pioneers who are redefining the pathways to tech careers. Discover actionable insights, best practices, and strategies to foster inclusive, skills-based opportunities that empower individuals and drive organizational success. Tune in and be part of the movement that’s shaping the future of work.
Skills_First
Arlan Hamilton: Breaking Barriers in Venture Capital
Arlen Hamilton, the trailblazing founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, shares her profound journey as a Black, gay woman shaking up the venture capital industry—a domain long dominated by white males. Tune in to gain invaluable insights on the critical role of equitable access to venture capital in building generational wealth and how diverse VCs like Arlen are uniquely positioned to recognize and invest in overlooked opportunities. We also navigate through the challenges faced by underrepresented founders, especially in light of the backlash against inclusive initiatives. Arlen’s compelling story underscores the transformative power of inclusive investing and the immense potential it holds.
On a lighter note, prepare for a heartwarming shout-out to Angel White, the culinary genius behind Angel White Cookies, whose homemade treats are becoming an Instagram sensation. We'll share our personal experience of being blown away by her delectable creations, which have already wowed notable figures and rappers alike. Discover why these cookies have earned the top spot on our favorite snacks list and why we're so thrilled to introduce you to Angel's delightful talent. Join us for an episode rich with inspiration, wisdom, and a dash of deliciousness.
HireRunnerco is a recruiting company that I launched in September of 2021 in response to how many requests for help with hiring that I received from founders and from larger corporations, and we essentially, today we match on a marketplace across dozens of categories now. We started with one in operations, but we've expanded and what we are focusing on more recently are people who have been affected by layoffs, so that they can get rerouted.
Speaker 2:Hey everyone, this is Mike Roberts, creator of the Apprenticeship Playbook, and you're tuned in to the Skills First podcast. In today's world, skills First, hiring is revolutionizing the job market and on this show I sit down with trailblazers who are rethinking hiring practices and embracing experiential learning, as well as the people impacted. People impacted Follow along as we dive into tips, innovative ideas and proven strategies to help you navigate and thrive in the evolving landscape of modern apprenticeships. Can you tell us who you are and what is it that you do?
Speaker 1:Sure, I'm Arlen Hamilton. I am the founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, which is a boutique venture capital fund that invests in underrepresented, underestimated founders. We have invested in more than 200 of those founders since launching in 2015.
Speaker 2:Amazing, I've heard the name Arlen, but for those of you that haven't, one way that I got to know a lot more about your background and your story was the book which is called.
Speaker 1:It's About Damn Time and we should say we're in the same room together, which is like post-COVID. Well, you know where we are is kind of rare, so it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:It is. It's nice to be in person because I am mostly talking to people that are far and far away it's great to be in person with. So tell me a little bit about the world of a VC, your venture capitalist, and there's a unique take that you have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was called a venture catalyst on the cover of Fast Company mic drop in 2018, which I'll talk about until 2088, probably, but venture catalyst it perfectly described what I feel like I am. So a venture capitalist is simply someone who takes someone else's money or a group of pooled funds and invest that money into private companies earlier stage than IPOs and later stage in private equity would pick them up, and usually a venture capitalist, when you think of that vision or image, is a white man and different ages, maybe right out of Stanford or MIT, or they have gray hair and everything in between. And especially a decade ago when I started, it was the case, and so, as a gay black woman from the South who didn't go to college, I definitely broke the mold early on, not to say that there were none, but they were so in the shadows and so not given their props. I said, let me kind of kick the door in and make some noise for myself and make some noise for them and therefore make some noise for the founders who are being overlooked, because less than 10% of venture funding is going to anyone who's not white male.
Speaker 1:So less than 10% of the VCs are not white male and less than 10% of the recipients of that venture money, and this is important for a couple of reasons. One reason is that you know we think about generational wealth. This should be ours. We should have as much access to the innovative capital that the Twitters and the Airbnbs and the Googles of the world have had, and it's not for everyone. Everyone shouldn't take venture capital, and that's not what I'm trying to do, but we definitely should have our share.
Speaker 1:The second part of it is that a lot of venture capital money is coming from places like pension funds and you know, teachers' pension funds, right? So there is a case to say that a Black elderly woman who spent 40 years as a teacher, whose pension is is her funds are being used to to fund a venture capital fund, may not take a meeting with her granddaughter, who is a brilliant founder, and that's not right. And that's a simplified version of it, but it's not right. And so I just thought wait, if there's somebody who looks like me, who's also from a different kind of headspace, I can shake things up, get the spotlight on founders.
Speaker 2:Want it, so to me it sounds kind of like very similar to impact investing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I used to not like to be called an impact investor because it felt like I was being put you know, having someone kind of tap me on the head and say, oh, you're doing such a cute thing, that's nice of you Instead of the sharky opportunity that there's also there, right. So, in addition to it not being right, there's also this opportunity of so many people being overlooked. That deal flow is king, right or queen, and if you can see things and attract people, other people aren't able to. You might discover that diamond in the rough, and it's happened over and over again backstage. But impact, I finally had to tell myself of course we're making impact, of course there is a ripple effect and reverberation that will be felt for decades and centuries from the work that we do, from the work that the founders who will be back are doing. Again, that's where the catalyst comes into play.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I know I've seen that you've done a few interviews in the wake of the SVB campaign sort of thing. That kind of fell apart maybe all witnessed. One of the hard things that I've seen in the wake of that is that there's this narrative that's being pushed about anti-woke or woke as part of the reason why the bank failed. Give me your thoughts on that, because I feel like my take on it is that. Why do people feel so comfortable saying some of the quiet parts out loud, and I'm curious about your thoughts there.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that mainly comes from a Wall Street Journal article, from some dude who wrote an op-ed who said that he was saying you know I'm not saying what I'm saying. You know I'm not saying that they should have had an all white male board, but I'm, and they would have not been the situation, but I'm kind of saying that and he said it really stupidly and blatantly. And then they printed it, which is a whole other thing, which free press and I definitely am a big free press person, so I don't want to ever mute someone like that, but deservedly so. He got a lot of backlash and he was essentially saying that if they had 12 white men on the board, this would have never happened, the decision would have never been made, and that they were distracted somehow distracted by their one black board member and one LGBTQ board member, who I still believe is the same person. I still think they're just one person. And, of course, so many people across the board have said they called foul.
Speaker 1:And it's not that SVB was distracted by being woke. They were definitely saw their logo on a lot of different events and places where there were underrepresented people, founders, but this was more just like what we're doing backstage. This was strategic. This is we're going to be places other people are not and we're going to get their business. And at the same time, you saw the same logos at the usual suspects, so nobody needs to be up in arms. You know they're everywhere. They were just making a business decision to to be everywhere and I can tell you that the hundreds and hundreds of black founders I know who still can't get a loan, no matter what bank it is, will tell you that there's no such thing as a woke bank. That doesn't exist amen to that.
Speaker 2:That's true, yeah, um, tell me a little about this project Runner that I keep seeing on my LinkedIn feed. What's this Runner?
Speaker 1:Runner, so Runner, if you go to. Hirerunnerco is a recruiting company that I launched in September of 2021 in response to how many requests for help with hiring that I received from founders and from larger corporations with hiring than I received from founders and from larger corporations and we essentially today we match on a marketplace across dozens of categories. Now we started with one in operations, but we've expanded and what we are focusing on more recently are people who have been affected by layoffs so that they can get rerouted affected by layoffs so that they can get rerouted.
Speaker 2:I think it's admirable that you've kind of put your heart into helping people that at this point they need that. You know they need someone to kind of step in and create that opportunity for them to move on to the next phase of their career.
Speaker 1:Thank you, appreciate that. Thank you very much. I mean, let me be clear, it's a for-profit and I am thinking about strategically, the opportunity. But I just don't find any joy in doing something only for money, even though and I think it has to do I was going to say even though but I think it's because of the fact that for 80% of my life I was poor. I think that's why, I mean, you would think that I would want to always have a lot of money, or kind of put that first, but do you focus on the impact and the money happens?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that's so true that there's that double bottom line right, You're doing good by people and that results in that's that impact, yeah. Last and most important question what is your favorite snack?
Speaker 1:My favorite snack would be Hershey's Hugs New favorite snack, though, I have to say and I'm going to give a shout-out to my brother's fiancée, so soon-to-be sister-in-law, angel White we always knew she was an amazing chef, right, we always knew she could throw down with wings and all kinds of things that she made. She has been hiding the skill of making cookies. She has her own Angel's Cookies. They're on Instagram now Angel White Cookies, I think they're called. They are so good, like when she has videos of people eating them. And these are people who are like. Most of them are like rappers or different people and they're like all kind of serious and like, okay, yeah, they open it and they're just like what? This is so good and I had that moment too. So, yeah, I got to say that that might be in the running Homemade cookies For.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I got to say that that might be in the running.
Speaker 2:Homemade cookies. Number one yeah, Appreciate you on the program Arlen. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. You've been listening to Skills First, the Apprenticeship Playbook Podcast. By the way, if this is valuable to you, don't be lame. Share the game. This is how we know you love it. If you're a company thinking about changing how you hire, please share it so we know this type of stuff is what you want.