So I made some BIG asks, secured an all-star speaker lineup (including Telle Whitney, co-founder of the Grace Hopper Celebration, women from Google DeepMind Shopify etc), and now we have 500 women registered to come together and shape the future of AI.

And because this is a community of women who make things happen, I want to invite you all.

This Thursday, 11/12, we're bringing women together at Snowflake in Menlo Park and virtually for Let's Shape the Future of AI.

We're talking big ideas, making meaningful connections, and figuring out what we can actually do together.

If you're building, leading, or just curious about where AI is headed, I'd love to have you in the room (or on Zoom!).

https://luma.com/c3vm4bz7 Who's coming? 💜

P.S. Thanks to all of you for the encouragement to chase no's.

Since starting my company in January 2026, something has been annoying me for quite a while. Every amazing initiative to put female founders at the forefront is always paired with champagne, curly letters, and different shades of either purple, pink, or beige, and I am not here for it.

I want to be in the room where I'm the only woman, inviting other women in, getting away from the old boys' network, and making my own girl gang full of mischief and underdogs. When I read about Feral Founders, I was excited. Can't wait to hear more from you! 🎂

What are people excited about this week? You all are inspiring to me and I miss hearing from you. I'm excited about setting up some "bridge money" (term I heard recently for whatever you're doing for cash while your business gets rolling) by hanging out with other people's babies, which was one of my favorite things I've done over the years. Here's to baby cuddles AND coming home to my wife and cats and clean(ish), quiet house. And feeling less freaked out about getting clients.

Hey Feral Founders! 💜 Building a company is enough work without having to decode what investors actually mean. My cofounder Reut and I are hosting a WOMEN x AI conversation with Lolita Taub, Founder and General Partner at Ganas Ventures and author of What Actually Matters, about: • What investors actually look for • The unwritten rules of venture capital • How AI is changing fundraising and investor screening Bring the questions you’ve been afraid might sound “too basic.” The confusing investor feedback. The “wait, is that actually how this works?” moments. We’ll have Q&A and small-group conversations so you can compare notes with other founders in the trenches. 📅 Wednesday, November 4 ⏰ 4–5 PM PT / 7–8 PM ET 💻 Free and virtual Register: https://luma.com/8jw7yghn Bring a founder friend. Pass it to the woman currently wrestling with her pitch deck. Come as you are. 💜

I swing between having so many great ideas and then completely stumped at what to post. I enjoy all the production parts of it, writing, designing, editing so I know the block is me. me being all self-doubty and in my head about it.

Does anyone else feel building a personal brand / solo business - by yourself - is really hard?

to stop the over-thinking, I had an idea

create some kind of discussion group where it's half content idea prompting ( telling random stories or interview style questions ) and half accountability partner. It would capture opinions and POVs in the moment, giving us a content idea pool to post from.

not sure exactly but wanted to see if anyone would be keen?!

Speaking of tech stacks... I'm so curious what everyone is using to hold it all together! Mostly from the operational side, but also in general. Let's discuss!

Right, feral founders, I need to talk to you 👀

I KNOW a lot of you are vibe coding right now (oooo the wibes ✨). Lovable, Bolt, Cursor, Replit... apps going up left, right and centre. And honestly? I love it. Love the hustle.

BUT. Hand on heart, non devs don't know what's going on under the bonnet. 🙈 And that's fine, they're founders, not developers! It stops being fine the moment real customers start putting their names, emails and card details in.

In case you missed it, at 10am today ASOS customers got an "ASOS HACKED" alert on their phones. ASOS. With a whole security team. 😬

AI is brilliant at writing code that works. It's rubbish at writing code that's secure. Think API keys in plain sight, databases anyone can read, users who can see each other's data...

So come speak to the actual experts 🙋‍♀ My team at N90 are real developers (we use AI to help us, not do it for us) and we'll go through your app, show you exactly where the weak spots are, and give you a plain-English list of what to fix. No judgement, promise.

👉 n90.ai/services/security/vibe-coders, or just drop me a DM

Better us finding the holes than someone else 😉

For Artists: by Tahney Fosdike "I’m running two online art writing workshops through Compass North this October/November  :ribbon: They’re based around two things I spend a lot of my working life helping artists + arts workers wrangle into words: ✿ Writing Artist Statements + Bios — 26 October ✿ Writing Art Grants + Applications — 2 November Both are practical 90-minute sessions, with a handbook to take away afterwards. The grants workshop focuses on the writing itself rather than any particular funding body or country, so it’s designed to be useful wherever you’re applying from. They’re also pay what you like because I want them to stay accessible and I’m keen to meet some new artists + arts workers and learn from you too." https://lnkd.in/p/dw7NzwSM bios + statements / https://lnkd.in/eBKUueiA applications + grants / https://lnkd.in/ep9eKEcm

i've been having wonderful conversations with women in this community. they're all doing amazing things and so generous with their time and expertise. so yay feral founders! thank you Melissa Withorn for building this space 🫶

ps: my background is in marketing & gtm strategy (aka launching products and services into the world) and i'd love to pay it forward. dm me if you want another set of eyes on something or if you'd like someone to think things through!

Last night's live session with Asmara was so good!

You can watch it here if you weren't able to make it. Or, like me, you did attend and want to be reinvigorated on this Friday morning.

Can you freakin' believe it? You made it. WE made it. A month of putting ourselves out there and asking for what we have earned!

So, did you keep count? What's the final tally? Post your total NOs, your favorite one, and, if you've got one, a YES that came out of all this asking.

I'll share mine on Monday! Spoiler alert - I got a lot of non-responses, but I sent plenty of asks.

https://garden.feralfounders.com/gnome-garden

Y'all the Challenge is nearing its end. Maybe you're sad. Maybe you're mentally spent and ready for a break. Maybe you just need a break from my yapping.

One thing I don't want you to be feeling is regretful. Even if you filled your gNOme garden with NOs, I want it to feel like it was worth it. And feel some pride in making the ask.

So, let's go for it one last time. A big swing, if you will. What's the ask you'd regret not making this month? Do it. Ask.

AND I hope you join tonight's live session.

https://luma.com/7qn3o4f5

I know I said yesterday's prompt was more of a thought exercise, but maybe we're going to be tapping into whatever you were thinking about then.

Who's your dream client? Or, maybe not even a client, but a potential collaborator. The person you always get a little extra pep from when you see they posted something on LinkedIn.

You should totally message them. You're ready. I have these dream collaborators that I tell myself I'll reach out to when "I'm ready for it," or "I have [whatever I'm working on] done." But like, what even is that? I know what it is. It's me delaying.

That person could be the one to help me get my project over the finish line. And I could use that as my in. "Hey, love your stuff. I am working on [whatever I'm working on] in progress and would love to hear your feedback." See, I just did it.

My husband lives on a different side of the internet than I do, but he shared this tweet with me a long time ago and I try not to forget it:

This doesn't even need to be something you ask someone else. You can save it for yourself if you wish, like a thought exercise (but bonus points if you DO ask).

What's something you've genuinely never asked for before. Mentorship? Funding? A bigger deal? A bigger stage? A partnership?

For me, I have been building CAST Creative on my own, and never considered anything like outside funding. But as I get deeper into this thing (whatever it is) I'm like, someone else's money (and belief in me) could maybe be good. I'm in no place to go out and ask for funding yet, but I'm starting to think that funding should be filed for later in my mental Ask Folder.

So what's it for you? What's something you've never asked for before?

Y’all, we are almost through this scary-ass month of NOs. And I’m sure there have been some times where the asks have felt really big. Like, too big. But this final week’s theme is about walking the walk we’ve been talking. It’s time for The Stretch Asks. The things you didn’t envision being able to ask for before this challenge started. 

We saved these high-upside asks for when your confidence and momentum should be at their peak. Are you peaking? Do you feel peaked? I can’t say that I’m ever feeling 100% any more, but like, you have to be feeling like you can do more now than you could a month ago. 

I’m starting the week off by pitching for something public. Like some press or a speaking gig. Podcasts, everyone has one of those. Find someone in your industry, your niche, and pitch yourself. You don’t need some press agent to do this kind of thing. The people who write news articles or host podcasts are constantly looking for fresh voices. YOU can be that voice.

Y'all this is beyond exciting. Our next live session is coming up on Thursday and it's going to be SO GOOD. Asmara Kazmi is going to lead it and you're seriously going to love her.

Asmara has done a new thing daily for nearly five years and wrote the book on it. Over the course of this experiment in living, she has brought others along through her NO-vember challenge a few years back and a LinkedIn series called 'Thirty Days of Lasts.' In our AMA-style session, she will share what she’s learned, how she applied it, and what ultimately transformed her relationship with ‘NO' (sound familiar?).

Bring your questions and curiosities as they’ve come up during this gNOme adventure. You will walk away with renewed gusto for the final days of this incredible challenge and a roadmap for the way forward as you integrate what you learned and continue to cultivate the practice of saying NO.

https://luma.com/7qn3o4f5

I flooped hard this week. I've had these lovely feedback conversations from last week where people told me how to make a few changes to my website and what customers would feel like is missing & a couple of people mentioned specific market segments that I should be reaching out to.

For context, personal biographer- I record life and career story collections (think memory/legacy books). So, they broke it down for me, here's your target of 40+ folks that have built careers and those that are close to retirement. And the second being, career reflections for those under 50 to reflect on their past and see what they've done.

And I thought, great this is what I've been struggling with is segmenting properly. Now I know what each segment could value and how to approach them. Turns out knowing does not equal doing. & I tried.

Theoretically, yes, talk to customers IS the thing to do. Real life wise, I could not message people. I just snooped on people on threads and what they were doing but no asks have been made and I'm flooping on action, and on confidence. ❤ send help.

Alright NOmies, today is for us.

Y'all have been putting in the hours doing outreach, advocating for your product, and making yourself uncomfortable. Genuinely, I am so proud of every message you have sent the last couple of weeks. Think of me as your own personal Clippy in the bottom of your screen cheering for you every time you shoot off a scary email.

So, I want to hear what the scariest/biggest/most brazen ask you've made this month is. Add it here to the comments for us all to be able to marvel at your confidence and bravery!