ArlanWasHere Investments

What ArlanWasHere Investments does

ArlanWasHere is a direct-to-consumer e-commerce and content platform operated by Arlan Was Here, LLC, an entity registered at 6121 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. The platform monetizes the personal brand of Arlan Hamilton — founder of Backstage Capital, a venture firm that has backed 150+ companies led by underrepresented founders — through branded merchandise, digital products, online courses, and live events. The core technology is a Shopify-powered storefront (arlanwashere.com) with worldwide shipping and broad payment coverage including Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, Bancontact, and iDEAL Wero.

The catalog is narrow and price-elastic: apparel items (tees at $10-$25, hoodies at $40) and accessories (stickers at $1, mugs at $12), with a free-shipping threshold at $60+. Several items are sold as pre-orders (e.g., 'Be Yourself' Tee, 3-4 week delivery) and at least one apparel SKU is noted as sold out. Digital offerings include eBooks, templates, and downloadable resources, supplemented by online courses on business growth, entrepreneurship, investing, and recurring revenue, plus live events and workshops with non-transferable tickets.

The go-to-market is purely direct-to-consumer via organic social (Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok) and an email newsletter, with no enterprise contracts, no B2B channel, no disclosed investors, and no parent company. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the customer base is a long tail of individual consumers — fans of Arlan Hamilton and underrepresented founders/aspiring VCs — purchasing low-AOV items. The business is structurally a founder-brand monetization vehicle rather than a venture-backed technology company, with limited operational scale signals in the source data.

Name

ArlanWasHere Investments

Legal name

Arlan Was Here, LLC

Website

https://arlanwashere.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ArlanWasHere is a direct-to-consumer Shopify storefront and content platform operated by Arlan Was Here, LLC, monetizing founder Arlan Hamilton's personal brand through apparel, accessories, digital products, online courses, and live events for individual supporters and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Merchandise and Physical Products: Sale of branded merchandise including apparel (t-shirts, hoodies), accessories (stickers, mugs). Physical products sold through e-commerce storefront with shipping to customers worldwide. Products are offered at various price points from $1 to $40.
2. Digital Products: Digital products including eBooks, templates, and downloadable resources sold to customers for personal use.
3. Online Courses and Training: Online courses and training programs on business growth, entrepreneurship, investing, and recurring revenue.
4. Live Events and Workshops: Live events and workshops where participants gain direct insights from Arlan Hamilton. Event tickets are non-transferable unless otherwise specified.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

ArlanWasHere operates a Shopify-powered e-commerce storefront selling branded physical merchandise (apparel such as t-shirts and hoodies, accessories including stickers and mugs), digital products (eBooks, templates, downloadable resources), online courses and training on entrepreneurship and investing, and ticketed live events and workshops. The offering targets supporters of founder Arlan Hamilton and the Backstage Capital ecosystem.

Product overview

ArlanWasHere.com is an e-commerce merchandise store operated by Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital. The offering includes physical merchandise products (Apparel and Accessories) such as the 'Be Yourself' Tee, 'It's About Damn Time' Hoodie and Tee, Backstage Capital Tee, 'Underestimated' Sticker, and Forget 'Imposter' Syndrome Mug, plus digital products including eBooks, templates, downloadable resources, and online courses on business growth, entrepreneurship, investing, and recurring revenue. Live events and workshops are also offered for direct engagement with Arlan Hamilton. The store operates on the Shopify e-commerce platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 'Be Yourself' Tee Short sleeve t-shirt made of 100% Airlume combed cotton with super soft, water-based ink, featuring serif font typography and new branded neck tags. Available in unisex sizing XS through 4XL. Sold as a pre-order with 3-4 week delivery.
• 'It's About Damn Time' Tee Black short sleeve t-shirt made of 100% cotton with unisex sizing and regular fit, printed in the USA. Priced at $20.
• 'It's About Damn Time' Hoodie Black hoodie made of 52% Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton, 48% polyester fleece with white drawcord and pouch pockets. Priced at $40.
• Backstage Capital Tee T-shirt featuring Backstage Capital branding. Available at a promotional price of $10 (down from $20), with an offer of complimentary shirts with shipping-only charge, limit 3 per person.
• 'Underestimated' Sticker Durable vinyl sticker measuring 3 inches wide by 1 inch tall, featuring the 'Underestimated' design. Priced at $1.
• Forget 'Imposter' Syndrome Mug 12oz ceramic mug with C-handle, part of the MESS x Backstage Capital collaboration collection. Priced at $12.
• Digital Products (eBooks, templates, downloadable resources) Digital downloadable content including eBooks, templates, and resources available through the ArlanWasHere platform for personal use.
• Online Courses and Training Online courses and training programs covering business growth, entrepreneurship, investing, and recurring revenue topics, offered on a subscription/recurring basis.
• Live Events and Workshops Live events and workshops where participants gain direct insights from Arlan Hamilton. Event tickets are non-transferable unless otherwise specified.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Backstage CapitalcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerBackstage Capital is Arlan Hamilton's venture capital firm that has invested in 150+ companies led by underrepresented founders (women, people of color, LGBTQ). The partnership includes a dedicated merchandise collection (MESS x Backstage Capital) and the Backstage Capital Tee. The collaboration promotes diversity in venture capital and entrepreneurship.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Shopify: E-commerce platform provider that powers the ArlanWasHere storefront. Not a competitor but the underlying infrastructure enabling the business; relevant for benchmarking platform-fee exposure.

Broad incumbents

• Kajabi: Established all-in-one platform for creators selling courses, coaching, memberships, and digital products. Comparable to ArlanWasHere's online courses and digital products offering but serves a broader creator-economy portfolio.

Direct peers

• Fourthwall: End-to-end platform for creators and YouTubers to launch branded merchandise stores with memberships and digital products. Overlaps directly with ArlanWasHere's mix of physical merch plus digital content monetization.
• Podia: Creator platform for selling online courses, digital downloads, webinars, and memberships. Comparable to ArlanWasHere's online courses and live events/workshops revenue streams.
• Spring (formerly Teespring): Platform enabling creators and influencers to design, produce, and sell custom merchandise. Directly comparable to ArlanWasHere as both monetize personal brands through e-commerce apparel and accessories stores.
• Thinkific: Platform enabling entrepreneurs and creators to build, market, and sell online courses and digital products. Comparable to ArlanWasHere's online courses, training programs, and live events monetization.
• Gumroad: Direct-to-creator digital commerce platform for selling eBooks, templates, courses, and memberships. Comparable to the digital products and online courses streams on ArlanWasHere.
• Stan Store: All-in-one storefront platform purpose-built for creators selling digital products, courses, merch, and bookings. Highly comparable to ArlanWasHere's combination of merchandise, digital downloads, courses, and event tickets.
• Bonfire: Custom merchandise platform for creators, nonprofits, and brands to design and sell apparel. Comparable operating model to ArlanWasHere with Shopify-integrated store, print-on-demand fulfillment, and creator-led sales.
• Teepublic: Marketplace and platform for creators to sell graphic apparel and accessories, with a strong community-driven design model. Comparable to ArlanWasHere's community-empowerment themed merchandise business.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/arlanwashere
• Instagraminstagram.com/arlanwashere
• TikToktiktok.com/@arlanwashere.v2.0

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ArlanWasHere Investments