8. Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital, Episode Debrief

02/25/21 • 35 min

First Pitches with Lolita Taub and Eric Bahn

In this episode, show hosts Lolita Taub and Eric Bahn along with show producer Hung Pham break down last week's episode with guest Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital, and share their reactions, thoughts, and insights.

Previous Episode

7. Building a New Kind of VC Through Hustle and Grit with Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital

According to author Angela Ducksworth, the secret to success is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.”

In short, it’s the ability to persist in the face of hardship to achieve your goals no matter how long it takes.

When you have this type of grit you become a force to be reckoned with, much like our guest on this week’s episode of First Pitches.

We’re talking about Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital.

You may have seen Arlan before as she’s graced the cover of Fast Company as the first black businesswoman and is the author of an Amazon Best Seller: It’s About Damn Time.

She also happens to be friends with the cast of the daytime soap show, General Hospital.

But just five years ago, it was a different story. She was just another underestimated founder.

In 2015, Arlan was quickly judged as being: an LGBT black female; non-college-educated, and at one point, homeless--sleeping at SFO airport while she raised money.

Since then, she’s managed to hustle her way through all these headwinds and raised a combined $12 million for Backstage Capital and the ArlanWasHere Investments fund.

And through these vehicles, Arlan has invested in over 130 underestimated founders.

Interested in learning how Arlan developed her grit? Listen to find out how.

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Next Episode

9. Making Money by Changing How the World Has Sex with Cindy Gallop of MakeLoveNotPorn

Founders are a rare breed and that’s because It takes a certain kind of person to create a startup.

Not everyone can stomach the financial risk that comes with being a founder, the responsibility of managing employees with an uncertain future, and the constant self-doubt when nothing is going right.

But when you believe you have a truly world-changing startup, it becomes a calling that you can’t ignore.

Our guest this week on First Pitches, Cindy Gallop, has just that. Cindy is the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, a startup making money by changing how the world has sex.

Cindy is also a sought-after speaker on marketing, business innovation, and gender issues and was also voted Advertising Woman of the Year in 2003.

But over 10 years ago, it was a different story.

As accomplished as Cindy was, she could not get a single investor to invest in MakeLoveNotPorn; not because they didn’t believe in Cindy or the business, but because they were worried, “what others might think.”

At one point she almost gave up, but the flood of public emails thanking her for breaking taboos inspired her to carry on.

And in 2018, she was able to raise 2M to continue MakeLoveNotPorn’s mission of disrupting social media by socializing sex and improving our sex lives for the better.

Listen to find out how Cindy is changing the world to fit her mission.