In honor of Black History Month, we have invited Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital to share her success story in conversation with Randi Zuckerberg, the former director of market development at Facebook and the creator of Facebook Live. She is also the founder of Zuckerberg Media, an organization focused on building a pipeline of promising students, entrepreneurs, and business innovators poised to change the world.

Arlan built a venture capital firm from the ground up, while homeless. So far, Backstage Capital has invested in over 160 companies led by underrepresented founders with co-investors Sequoia Capital, Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, Techstars, and many more. Just this week, Backstage Capital shattered records by raising over $1M on Republic in less than 9 hours for one of its investment management entities. Her story is unconventional, inspiring, and powerful. During the fireside chat on February 18 at 3 pm ET, Arlan and Randi will discuss the following:

• How founders can effectively position their brands to the media

• Her unique perspective on closing the investment gap for minority founders

• How to turn being underestimated into an asset

Please join SheWorx for an interactive discussion on January 21 at 3pm ET. During this event, Charlie O’Donnell of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures will address hard-hitting questions on every founder’s mind. As a previous investor in Wethos, Petal, goTenna, and Clubhouse, among many others, Charlie will share his unique perspective on early-stage companies and cover the following: 

• How first time founders can optimize their fundraising efforts

• What areas are saturated and played out

• What the ideal founding team looks like

• What to expect from venture capitalists vs. angel investors vs. strategics

• What traction looks like for an early-stage company

Join us for an interactive discussion with two seasoned angel investors, Sapna Shah and Seble Tareke-Williams, who will share their perspectives on all things angel investing. During this SheWorx event, you'll learn more about what angels look for when investing, how angels differ from venture capitalists, and the value angels add to the startup ecosystem. Sapna and Seble will provide insights into some of the deals they've invested in, some they've passed on, and will provide guidance for founders interested in tapping into angel investor networks to raise capital. 

What to look forward to from our panelists:

• Sapna's expertise in the retail space—she'll highlight some of the investments she's made including Silk + Sonder, Robyn, Findmine, Stantt, and Iterate, among others. 

• Seble's background in real estate entrepreneurship—she'll dive into some of her past angel investments including Motivo, Goalsetter, Cosynd, TimeStudy, and more. 

Please join us this Wednesday for a conversation with NEA Partner Vanessa Larco as she shares her invaluable experience as both an operator and a VC, and provides her insights on the following topics:  

• Building and scaling consumer tech companies

• How working at various startups has shaped her perspective as a VC

• How to spark VCs' interest and make the most of VC relationships

• What makes a strong, successful founder

• Trends in VC worth paying attention to

• Why promoting diversity in entrepreneurship is crucial