Book: Itâs About Damn Time
My digital sabbaths are often running, reading, and napping days. Thatâs tomorrow for me as Iâm feeling fried from another week. Iâve ordered (and received) most of the books from the NY Times Antiracist reading list along with a number of other recommendations. Most are physical books and will be my digital sabbath reading this summer.
A month ago, I read Arlan Hamiltonâs book Itâs About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage. Itâs been on my to blog list since, which is kind of lame on my part since I usually write about books right after I read them, so Iâm just going to own that I missed here.
Arlanâs book is outstanding and everyone should read it, especially if you are in tech as an entrepreneur, investor, or aspiring entrepreneur.
Arlan is also outstanding. She first emailed me in January 2013, I was an early investor in her first fund, and have tried to be available anytime sheâs reached out. Iâve been an avid listener to her, especially when sheâs called me out on something I missed, was stupid or ignorant about, or just needed to change my perspective on something around gender, race, or sexual orientation.
That said, I havenât invested in any of the Backstage Capital companies. Iâll own that. Iâve committed to Arlan to get to know her portfolio better and try to be helpful with some of them. I understand that ultimately investing in them is the key goal, so Iâll engage with that perspective.
Back to Itâs About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage. I love books that combine memoir with personal philosophy with life lessons with deep and personal experience. I prefer storytelling over lecturing or prognosticating. And while straightforward biographies can be informative, I prefer autobiographies (which I often refer to as memoirs.)
Arlan completed rocked it. Like Jerry Colonnaâs book Leadership and the Art of Growing Up and Melinda Gatesâ book Book: The Moment of Lift, Arlan navigated the challenge of an autobiography and wrote something that will stand the test of time. Itâs her story, but itâs a story that everyone can learn from. Itâs not a linear biography, but a book full of experiences and lessons, including for the reader. Itâs crisp and easy to read with endless moments that stopped me in my tracks, even though I knew some of Arlanâs story.
I count Arlan as a friend and mentor. I hope she does also, as peer mentors (where both people learn from each other) is my favorite type of relationship. And, I look forward to doing a lot more with her over what hopefully will be a long future for both of us.
My book recommendation for this weekend, if you havenât read it yet, is Arlan Hamiltonâs Itâs About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage.