How Does Leap Connect Women Working in Tech?

TL;DR

Leap is a private online network where women in tech use their real identities to discuss professional and personal topics openly. By combining social and professional interactions, the community aims to encourage civil, authentic conversations while helping members build relationships that can lead to jobs, investments, and cofounder connections.

Transcript

Next you're going to meet Kadron Cowansage, who I have the pleasure of working with at YC. She's a software engineer, um, on- at Y Combinator, and she's the founder of Leap, an online community that I'll let her, um, tell you more about right now. Hi. I'm Kadron. I- as you heard, I'm a software engineer at YC and the creator of Leap. It's a private... Read More

Key Insights

• Leap is a private online network designed for women in technology to discuss whatever they want, including work, family, relationships, books, and podcasts. Its broad conversational scope is intended to support relationships that are both personally meaningful and professionally useful.
• The motivation for Leap was Cowansage’s feeling that she lacked an online space where she could speak openly. She observed that online conversations often escalated into shouting matches and that people, particularly women, frequently responded by withdrawing from those discussions.
• Leap’s core culture is set by women, and its product and software decisions are also made by women. Cowansage developed the concept because she could not identify an existing community built around that combination and wanted to participate in one herself.
• The idea for Leap began at the first Female Founders Conference, where Cowansage saw a large gathering of smart, driven women. The experience revealed a concentration of technical expertise, ideas, connections, and power that was less visible in her everyday life.
• Leap was initially tested among Cowansage and her colleagues at Y Combinator. After confirming that they wanted to use the product and fixing bugs, she shared it with YC’s female founders, friends, former colleagues, and organizations supporting women of color and women in engineering.
• Real identities are a central feature of Leap because Cowansage associates strong relationships with combined social and professional interactions. Her hypothesis is that a hybrid community built around identifiable members can encourage civil discourse, authentic conversation, and relationships that help women progress in technology.
• Leap members can move naturally between personal interests and professional assistance. A conversation about a favorite book may develop into a relationship through which another member later helps someone identify a job opportunity or connect with a potential investment.
• Leap had grown to about 2,000 members from varied roles, including software engineers, founders, venture capitalists, designers, writers, sales professionals, and operations professionals. Cowansage also reported hearing member stories about finding cofounders and securing new jobs through the network.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is Leap for women working in technology?

Leap is a private online network where women in technology can talk about subjects they choose. Members use real identities and discuss professional concerns, personal relationships, parenting, books, podcasts, career development, and tactical company problems. The community combines social and professional interaction to encourage authentic relationships, civil discussion, and connections that may help members progress within the technology industry.

Q: Why did Cadran Cowansage create Leap?

Cadran Cowansage created Leap because she did not feel that she had an online place where she could speak openly. She believed online conversations often escalated quickly into shouting matches, leading people, especially women, to opt out. She wanted to explore what would happen if women established a community’s central culture and also made its product and software decisions.

Q: How did the Female Founders Conference inspire Leap?

The idea for Leap began at the first Female Founders Conference. Cowansage had traveled from New York and was struck by the number of smart, driven women gathered in one room. Although she knew only a handful of women working in technology in her daily life, the conference revealed a much larger group with technical expertise, strong ideas, valuable connections, and collective power.

Q: How was Leap tested before it reached a wider community?

Leap initially served as a place where Cowansage and her colleagues at Y Combinator could talk, exchange ideas, and get to know one another. She first confirmed that the group genuinely wanted to use the product and fixed some bugs. Leap was then shared with YC’s female founder network, friends, former colleagues, and organizations supporting women of color and women in engineering.

Q: Why does Leap require members to use real identities?

Leap uses real identities because Cowansage found that her strongest relationships grew from a combination of social and professional interactions. She hypothesized that a network blending those two areas could foster civil discourse and authentic conversations. Identifiable participation is therefore part of the community’s effort to develop relationships that can support women and help propel them within the technology industry.

Q: What do members discuss on Leap?

Leap members discuss a wide range of professional and personal subjects. Conversations may focus on career development one day and tactical company problems the next. Members also talk about partners, raising children, favorite books, and favorite podcasts. This breadth reflects Leap’s purpose as a place where women in technology can talk openly rather than restricting participation to narrowly defined professional topics.

Q: How can relationships on Leap create professional opportunities?

Leap is designed so that ordinary social exchanges can grow into professionally useful relationships. A member might first discuss a favorite book with another woman and later receive help finding a job or an investment. Cowansage said members had already shared stories about finding cofounders and new jobs, illustrating how authentic community relationships can produce practical career and company connections.

Q: Who belongs to the Leap community?

Leap had about 2,000 members at the time of Cowansage’s announcement. The community included software engineers, founders, venture capitalists, designers, writers, and people working in sales and operations. Its membership therefore extended across many roles within technology rather than serving only founders or engineers, while maintaining its central focus as a private network for women in the industry.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Leap began as Cadran Cowansage’s response to feeling that she lacked an online place for open conversation. She observed that public discussions often became shouting matches, causing people, especially women, to opt out. She wanted a community whose culture, product choices, and software decisions were shaped by women.

• The idea emerged at the first Female Founders Conference, where Cowansage recognized how many smart, driven women in technology existed despite their apparent scarcity in her daily life. After testing Leap with colleagues at Y Combinator, she expanded access to female founders, personal contacts, former colleagues, and supportive organizations.

• Leap combines social and professional conversation under real identities. Members discuss careers, company challenges, relationships, parenting, books, and podcasts. Cowansage believes these varied interactions can create authentic relationships that advance women in the industry. Members had already reported finding cofounders and new jobs through a community numbering about 2,000 people.