Women in Tech Create Their Own 'Hacker House'

Entrepreneurial hacker houses are experiencing renewed popularity as the trend of remote work continues. While some founders are embracing a more comfortable work-from-home lifestyle, a collective of young women in their twenties are proactively seeking an immersive experience even before completing their university degrees.

Womxn Ignite was established by college juniors Coco Sack and Kendall Titus to provide a unique environment for female and nonbinary undergraduate students pursuing studies in computer science. The concept originated from Sack and Titus’s dissatisfaction with the limitations of online learning at Yale and Stanford, respectively. Following periods of remote instruction, they both opted for gap semesters and sought a constructive use of their time.

Titus explained that numerous initiatives aim to encourage young women to enter the field of coding during their high school years, and there are also established networks and support groups for women later in their professional journeys. However, she noted, “There wasn’t a resource available for individuals between the ages of 20 and 25 who are navigating their career paths, finding their voice, and establishing themselves.”

In response, they created Womxn Ignite. The pair secured a venue—a wedding resort in California—and began recruiting women interested in dedicating a gap year to this distinctive lifestyle. With over 40% of students contemplating a gap year, interest was immediately strong: more than 500 applications were received for just 20 available positions.

The program functions as a residential incubator, where participants are organized into teams based on their specific areas of interest and then challenged to address a defined problem.

To facilitate this, teams participate in a series of mentoring sessions. Womxn Ignite schedules mentorship opportunities with a rotating group of female entrepreneurs on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Throughout the week, the program also features talks from prominent entrepreneurs, including Melinda Gates and Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble.

Each week concludes with a team presentation detailing their progress on problem definition, proposed solutions, customer feedback, and product development.

Titus emphasizes that the primary objective isn’t necessarily for every participant to launch a company, but rather to expand their professional network and gain insights into the process of starting a business. Currently, one participant is developing a television series centered on the experiences of a Black woman in the tech industry, while another is working on a platform designed to simplify the launch of programs similar to Womxn Ignite.

Time outside of structured sessions is dedicated to collaborative teamwork and networking. The program includes themed dinners and “platonic date nights,” where participants are paired up to explore the local area or engage in activities together to foster connections. Weekends provide a forum for women to share their specialized interests, ranging from the ethical implications of facial recognition technology to the study of materials at the nanoscale.

Titus and Sack state that program participation costs no more than $5,000, with over half of the participants receiving scholarships funded by anonymous investors.

Building a diverse cohort is crucial for creating a community that genuinely empowers women from all backgrounds. The inaugural Womxn Ignite cohort was predominantly white, but also included participants who identify as Black, LatinX, Middle Eastern, and Asian Indian. All participants attended highly-ranked universities, including Stanford, Yale, Georgetown, Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth, and MIT.

The women involved are not focused on traditional accelerator milestones such as demo days or initial funding rounds, given their current stage in life—many plan to return to their studies. Instead, the program culminates in an optional agreement: will each participant commit 1% of their annual income for the next five years to a syndicate fund? The co-founders report that the majority have already agreed to this commitment.

“We anticipate that number will continue to grow,” Titus said. “We will pool these resources and collectively determine how to best allocate and invest them to support other female founders like ourselves.”

Clara Schwab, a Womxn Ignite participant, believes this agreement will encourage greater female involvement in venture capital, a field historically dominated by men, at an earlier stage in their careers.

“I am unaware of any other setting where 19 other exceptionally talented, intelligent, and ambitious women with a shared interest in technology come together to discuss something like this,” she stated.

The co-founders intend to host another cohort in February and then concentrate on developing a digital community for program participants.