It's damn time

From a Black, lesbian woman who broke into the youth club in Silicon Valley comes an empowering guide to finding your voice, making your way wherever you want to be, and achieving your dreams. In 2015, Arlan Hamilton was living on food stamps and sleeping on the floor of a San Francisco airport, with nothing but an old laptop and the dream of breaking into venture capital. She couldn't understand why the people who founded companies looked the same (white and male), and she wanted the opportunity to invest in ideas and people who didn't fit this stereotypical image of what a founder should look like. Hamilton had no connections or network in Silicon Valley, no background in finance—not even a college degree. What she did have was a fierce determination and a will to succeed. As much as we wish it weren't so, we still live in a world where underrepresentation often means underestimation. But as someone who makes a living investing in high-potential founders who are also female, LGBTQ+, or people of color, Hamilton knows that simply being underrated means there's a huge upside. Because even if you have to work twice as hard to get to the starting line, she says, once you're on a level playing field, you'll hit the ground running. Hamilton argues that despite what society tries to convince you, a privileged background, an influential network, and a prestigious college degree are not prerequisites for success. Here, she shares the hard-earned wisdom of her remarkable journey from food stamp recipient to venture capitalist, with lessons like "The best music comes from the worst breakups," "Let someone shorter than you stand in front of you," "The perils of rave thrillers," and "Don't let anyone drink your Diet Coke." Along the way, she inspires us all to defy others' expectations and be the role models we've been looking up to.