It’s About Damn Time Review

From a black, gay woman who broke into the boys' club of Silicon Valley comes an empowering guide to finding your voice, working your way into any room you want to be in, and achieving your own dreams. In 2015, Arlan Hamilton was on food stamps and sleeping on the floor of the San Francisco Airport, with nothing but an old laptop and a dream of breaking into the venture capital business: she couldn't understand why people starting companies all looked the same (white, male), and saw the chance to invest in the ideas and people who didn't conform to this image of how a founder is "supposed to look." She had no contacts or network in Silicon Valley, no background in finance - or even a college degree. What she did have was fierce determination and the will to succeed. As much as we wish it weren't so, we still live in a world where being underrepresented often means being underestimated. But as someone who makes her living investing in high-potential founders who also happen to be female, LGBTQ, or people of color, Arlan understands that being undervalued simply means that a big upside exists. Because even if you have to work twice as hard to get to the starting line, she says, once you are on a level playing field, you will sprint ahead. Despite what society would have you believe, Arlan argues, a privileged background, an influential network, and a fancy college degree are not pre-requisites for success. Drawing on her remarkable journey from food stamps to venture capitalist, she inspires us all to defy other people's expectations and become the role models we've been looking for.

Review

An e-copy of the book has been provided by the publisher, Penguin Random House International, in exchange for an honest review.

“Self-belief alone will not achieve your goals, but achieving your goals without self-belief will be almost impossible.”

Self-help books are always interesting in such a way that they tend to become quite exhausting and repetitive. Most of the time, the central theme is laid down in the first few chapters of the book. The consequent chapters, then, becomes nothing more than a filler to make the book long—falling into a digression of impertinent or redundant subjects.

‘It’s About Damn Time’ placed itself well enough to not feel arduous and surplus of unnecessary stories and information. Does it offer something fresh, new, and unique? No, it does not. But it executed the dissemination of information in a provoking approach.

The way Arlan Hamilton wrote and spread her topics made the book interesting. Reading it never felt like a chore. And the sense of connection she elicits is extremely powerful; regardless if you’re directly connecting with her or you’re feeling a sort of resonance with her story.

An effective book that will impart an understanding of welcoming your genuine self and the exact magnitude of self-love, ‘It’s About Damn Time’ is truly a good investment for a book.

About the Author

Arlan Hamilton is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a venture capital fund she started in 2015. Today, Backstage Capital has raised more than $7 million and invested in over 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders who identify as Black, women and/or LQBTQ.

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