Des Femmes Newsletter Updates November 2023
A reflection on everything we've accomplished since 2021...and it's a lot
Time can be measured in a number of ways. At Des Femmes, we measure the past three years with a few different metrics:
5000+ of magazines distributed (with 70+ magazine contributors)
820+ community members
450+ mentorship applicants
24+ women who learned how to manage their own keys
10+ conference and event scholarships
6+ companies launched by Des Femmes members, many of whom attracted funding from the community
7 in-person events
While we did not publish a magazine in 2023, there’s still a lot to reflect on from the past year. Considering how far we’ve come, we decided to do a retrospective of what we’ve achieved since the inception of Des Femmes.
It all started with a conversation about tech media for women. Forbes editor Leigh Cuen and The Defiant founder Camila Russo envisioned “a publication that featured stories about women thriving in tech and finance.” Camila launched a Gitcoin campaign in March 2021 and raised roughly $40,000 to launch the initiative. Leigh managed the allocation of funds to create two subsequent magazines in 2021 and 2022, in addition to raising funds from a few angel investors.
Participants in our programs hailed from India, Nigeria, Kenya, Greece, Italy, Israel, Colombia, France, the UK and Canada, just to name a few regions. Overall, more than 800 women (and a few men, too) participated in Des Femmes programs and projects from 2021 to 2023.
2021: Inaugural Issue of Des Femmes Magazine
Our call for content attracted expertise on a wide variety of women’s interest topics, including starting a company, digital and physical fashion, crypto taxes, fitness, family finance, and the creator economy.
We also had numerous community members step up to bring this magazine to print. Editors, designers, photographers, and project managers all wanted to help us bring these publications to fruition. The final product was distributed in more than 700 retailers across North America and made available in our online shop, where folks could purchase the magazine with either bitcoin or fiat thanks to Suki’s hard work enabling payments via OpenNode.
It was high times during a frothy bull market, and within months we attracted hundreds of women to our Slack community. Women were taking initiative to form DAOs and launch NFT programs for artists, joining forces with other members to bring ideas to fruition. We also organized a mentorship program with Visa to connect women with like-minded goals and complementary skill sets.
To close the year out with a festive bang, Melissa launched the first community NFT program for artists in the community, including a holiday art collection.
2022: Second Publication, First IRL Meetup, and Numerous Experiments
At the beginning of 2022, members stepped up to lead projects for the Des Femmes community. Jaye created a Notion for the community, where we documented some standard operating procedures for the next magazine, as well as community progress and wins for the public. BitMeg also designed a line of Des Femmes merch, and Rachel set up a BTCPay server for our Shopify store. Plus, our community LLC donated to the member-founded nonprofit Ladies in Bitcoin, which focuses on educating women about bitcoin and financial literacy.
Additionally, Jaye launched the first bitcoin multisig workshop for the community, and Autumn started the ethereum multisig wallet, which laid the groundwork for the Des Femmes DAO Experiment. We weren’t ready to “DAO-ify” our community, but we did want to set concrete goals for the year and see how a DAO structure may help us achieve them. The year-long experiment led to:
A Layer3 bounty that collected dozens of grant opportunities for members to explore
2 NFTs from community members’ personal projects
A woman freelancer in Japan for the BTCPay server guide in the print magazine (shared online exclusively with community members)
Joint BTCPay Server setup and educational experiments
You can learn more about the outcomes of our DAO experiment in our report.
Community members were also eager to meet in-person as COVID lockdowns lifted and precautions became commonplace. We organized IRL events in Miami and New York, in addition to a week-long retreat at a CabinDAO residence in Austin. Many women met each other in person for the first time after months of online conversations, and some even secured work opportunities during networking events.
During this bearish summer, we also assembled our second (and last) Des Femmes magazine. Our articles again varied in topics such as gun ownership, running a node, NFT art, Bitcoin lifestyle, leadership during war, motherhood, and metaverse fashion. Our refined project management process and established brand identity ultimately led to a stronger second magazine. Our voice felt more standardized, and while the content topics varied, it visually and thematically felt like a cohesive publication.
As we finalized details on the 2022 Des Femmes magazine, we kicked off our mentorship program with Superlunar and Chaincode Labs. It was the first Bitcoin mentorship program in the world with more than 30% female participation, including both mentors and students, and the female graduation rate was higher than any Bitcoin developer program to ever come before it. The women participating learned about Bitcoin and collaborating on open-source projects, many of whom continue to build bitcoin products today.
2023: Going Lean and Moving Forward
With both the DAO experiment and the magazine winding down in an ongoing bear market, our goals focused on becoming more decentralized. In just two years, everyone’s lives—and priorities—had evolved. Career trajectories took new paths, and personal lives embarked on new journeys. We knew that, in order for Des Femmes to continue being a resourceful and strong community, operations needed to slim down. We closed the LLC, which meant the bank account closed and most business expenses were reduced.
However, we continued to create content and coordinate events for members and allies. We organized a New York meetup at PubKey during the summer, and hosted our IRL meetup in Paris in the fall. Women traveled from the U.S. and the Netherlands to join Paris-based members for a week of dinners, brunches, and exploration in the City of Lights.
“I'm always curious about how relationships are formed. How do we come together as individuals who all have something to offer? And where is there space to rest in relationships where we don't have to offer or do anything at all?” says family constellation therapy facilitator Meenadchi. “During our time in Paris, Des Femmes crafted a space where folks could explore the intersections of sovereignty and community. The Des Femmes community feels like a gift of people I wouldn't have met otherwise, and it's nice to find gentle ways to move outside of one's own bubble.”
Members offered in-person workshops on topics including financial trauma, mechanism design, and business development. We also organized a Money Mentorship educational program with University of Maryland for both in-person and virtual attendees.
2023 has been a particularly quiet year for the economy, and so learning a new financial mentorship skillset was a huge highlight for many participants. “Engaging with fellow participants has exposed me to different perspectives and experiences, helping me refine and solidify my own financial goals,” said program participant and Bitcoin educator Noelyne. “The encouragement and shared knowledge within the community have inspired me to extend my involvement beyond personal development. As a result, I will soon start mentoring others on financial matters too.”
What We Learned from Three Years of Running Des Femmes
These three years have come with a lot of success, as well as a lot of learnings.
Becoming decentralized and autonomous is hard
After publishing the first magazine, we (mostly) figured out how things should work for the following year. We established a tracking system for proofing each article, which included the timeline for the different stages. The editing process felt much smoother, especially when everyone had clearly defined responsibilities.
The publication, however, was the only aspect of Des Femmes that really had SOPs. Since no one works on Des Femmes full time, it’s challenging to put together all the steps it takes to complete any given task. For example, when folks approached us for event collaborations and mentorships over the years, Leigh primarily handled each one on a case-by-case basis
This year we distributed much of the remaining responsibilities, but like most co-founders, Leigh is undeniably at the heart of the Des Femmes community. We hope to relieve her of at least some of the work as we continue to decentralize the operations.
Maintaining a strong community is a full-time job
No one works for Des Femmes full-time. While we have paid dozens of contractors for their services, no one receives a salary or has a certain number of hours they need to dedicate to Des Femmes tasks—myself included.
As a result, it becomes much harder to dedicate resources to capturing sponsors and marketing ourselves. We rely heavily on our community and existing networks to share opportunities and make things happen.
Even our Des Femmes Talent Database requires attention. Although it may populate itself as members fill out the form, we still need to ensure the information is up-to-date and that it’s shared far and wide.
In order to get anything off the ground, those who are active need to take initiative.
Provide opportunities people can’t achieve by themselves
When we shared our original mission—to publish a magazine for women about tech, finance, lifestyle, and business—we had hundreds of women asking to join the community, and once created, we wanted our community to be more than a discussion forum.
Our mentorship programs and in-person events have clearly been the community highlights of every year (other than the magazines). But what makes our programming particularly unique is that women are finding new opportunities for themselves.
“I’d been curious about financial coaching, but was not aware of programs like UMaryland Money Masters,” says Code Sprinkles founder Erin. “Des Femmes provided me with an excellent opportunity to learn about financial coaching alongside other community members. Our program facilitator was experienced as both a certified financial planner (CFP) and Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC)...I am excited to continue learning more about financial psychology and explore offering financial coaching myself.”
As a community for women pursuing personal and financial sovereignty, I’d say we’re pretty accomplished.
What to Expect in 2024 and How You Can Participate
“I don't have hopes of where it goes in the future, except to hope that it continues to exist and that I get to move along with it.” - Meenadchi
Like most non-venture backed, tokenless communities, Des Femmes is a labor of love that we plan to make self-sustaining in the near future.
One of our primary objectives is to create a self-sustaining community for professional women to connect with opportunities that align with their values and needs. Whether they want to be paid in bitcoin, support sex workers, become CTO at a startup, or anything in between, we want to be a top-of-mind resource for our community members.
We will continue to build out the Des Femmes Talent Database, which you should use and share! We’ll also continue to send out newsletter updates and chat up the community, and you can look forward to brunch in Nashville during the Bitcoin Magazine conference in July.
If you’re looking for ways to participate, we have some suggestions:
Want to connect with clients and other tech professionals? Fill out our form
Want to organize an event? DM us on Twitter or Instagram at @desfemmesmag with your idea and location
Want to join and be a member? Leave a comment on this post with your primary social media handle (Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, nostr…) and we’ll reply back.
We’re so thankful to everyone who has made Des Femmes what it is today, including our community members, allies, and partners.
Until next time, stay curious!