Frequently Asked Questions
Ask Elona about Fe/male Switch
Elona's totally stoked to tackle your questions about Fe/male Switch and the startup game. She will dish out answers like it's her job (which, tbh, it is) and even give you advice if you are unsure about something.
We are a women-first startup game, designed to help you unleash your inner entrepreneur and unlock your success. It provides a virtual startup platfprm where you can learn about starting a business, work on quests and challenges, and collaborate with teammates.
Do you need more details? Ok, here goes:
We are also a data-informed serious Role-Playing Game for future female entrepreneurs that is based on our proprietary approach called ”gamepreneurship”.
Even more confused now? Let's fix that.
We use data insights to predict the success of users in the game so that we can offer a personalized track for each woman and, thus, maximize her success not only in the game but in real life as well.
There's just one tiny problem: there's no data about female entrepreneurs. Yep, you heard us correctly. Despite the fact that 50% of the population are women, there's a huge data gap that doesn't take females into account. We are on a mission to fix this and we need your help. We would absolutely love it for you to join the movement to close the gender data gap. You can do this by simply playing the game, learning how to become an entrepreneur, succeeding in life and being happy.
If you want to learn how to build a startup, but you don't have any funding, technical skills or a necessary network, then you are in the right place. Our community of gamepreneurs with "Mean CEO" as the head will become your most trusted supporters.
Think of Fe/male Switch like a startup simulator where you are learning everything by doing, failing and doing better next time. And you are not alone: you will have other users playing with you, you will have Game Mistresses helping you out every time you have an issue, you will have mentors and experts who will share their knowledge with you. Surrounded by like-minded people and role models that you can relate to, success is only a matter of a few iterations.
We will teach you how to build your audience, how to create a landing page, how to write content, how to build an app without coding and so much more.
Our game includes "how to" educational modules in Skill Lab, practical quests in the game, hands-on coaching, video support from the Mean CEO, access to free software from our partners and a vibrant community of gamepreneurs.
You absolutely need to join our movement, because women must show an active position in building the future that we want. And what do you have to lose? Nothing at all.
Do you need more details? Ok, here goes:
We are also a data-informed serious Role-Playing Game for future female entrepreneurs that is based on our proprietary approach called ”gamepreneurship”.
Even more confused now? Let's fix that.
We use data insights to predict the success of users in the game so that we can offer a personalized track for each woman and, thus, maximize her success not only in the game but in real life as well.
There's just one tiny problem: there's no data about female entrepreneurs. Yep, you heard us correctly. Despite the fact that 50% of the population are women, there's a huge data gap that doesn't take females into account. We are on a mission to fix this and we need your help. We would absolutely love it for you to join the movement to close the gender data gap. You can do this by simply playing the game, learning how to become an entrepreneur, succeeding in life and being happy.
If you want to learn how to build a startup, but you don't have any funding, technical skills or a necessary network, then you are in the right place. Our community of gamepreneurs with "Mean CEO" as the head will become your most trusted supporters.
Think of Fe/male Switch like a startup simulator where you are learning everything by doing, failing and doing better next time. And you are not alone: you will have other users playing with you, you will have Game Mistresses helping you out every time you have an issue, you will have mentors and experts who will share their knowledge with you. Surrounded by like-minded people and role models that you can relate to, success is only a matter of a few iterations.
We will teach you how to build your audience, how to create a landing page, how to write content, how to build an app without coding and so much more.
Our game includes "how to" educational modules in Skill Lab, practical quests in the game, hands-on coaching, video support from the Mean CEO, access to free software from our partners and a vibrant community of gamepreneurs.
You absolutely need to join our movement, because women must show an active position in building the future that we want. And what do you have to lose? Nothing at all.
We are a bunch of geeks, so here comes a very geeky explanation:
According to a study (“Gender-Based Cerebral Perfusion Differences in 46,034 Functional Neuroimaging Scans", Journal of Alzheimer's Disease), the successful female entrepreneur possesses the traits observed in the male and female brain. The female entrepreneur that enjoys taking risks and competing in a male-dominated world may indicate that the perfusion pattern of her prefrontal cortex may be more consistent with what we observe in the male brain. This allows her to be a courageous, capable leader, while also possessing the ability to foster a strong sense of teamwork given her natural drive towards collaboration. This constant switching from "male" to "female" resources and vice versa heavily relies on executive functioning, aka "internal capacity". In order to be able to switch codes with fewer resources required, one needs to train their brain like they would train a muscle.
That's why we find the name "Fe/male Switch" perfectly fitting for an educational role-playing game that aims to increase the internal capacity of female entrepreneurs.
According to a study (“Gender-Based Cerebral Perfusion Differences in 46,034 Functional Neuroimaging Scans", Journal of Alzheimer's Disease), the successful female entrepreneur possesses the traits observed in the male and female brain. The female entrepreneur that enjoys taking risks and competing in a male-dominated world may indicate that the perfusion pattern of her prefrontal cortex may be more consistent with what we observe in the male brain. This allows her to be a courageous, capable leader, while also possessing the ability to foster a strong sense of teamwork given her natural drive towards collaboration. This constant switching from "male" to "female" resources and vice versa heavily relies on executive functioning, aka "internal capacity". In order to be able to switch codes with fewer resources required, one needs to train their brain like they would train a muscle.
That's why we find the name "Fe/male Switch" perfectly fitting for an educational role-playing game that aims to increase the internal capacity of female entrepreneurs.
In order for you to learn how to build a startup, you need to be a part of building one. From day one, we at Fe/male Switch adopted a "building in public" approach, which means we are sharing the progress every step of the way, the good and the bad. By joining sooner rather than later, you will get instant access to a "startup in the building" and get involved with this game as it develops. Isn't it awesome to be a part of that? You can co-create with us and, eventually, even become a part of our team.
We want to make the best game we can, and even in beta, we’ve learnt that working directly with our community is the best way to do that. Fe/male Switch is a huge startup universe and we have lots that we want to add, and a community is a way for us to receive constant valuable feedback, collaborate with you on what you want to see in the game, and keep you in mind at every step of the development cycle.
At the moment the platform is being prepared for the official launch in the summer of 2023. Make sure you get on the waitlist to be one of the first to play the game.
And meanwhile, join the free startup school to bulk up your startup skills. You are going to need them if you want a chance to win prizes in the game and get microfunded.
We want to make the best game we can, and even in beta, we’ve learnt that working directly with our community is the best way to do that. Fe/male Switch is a huge startup universe and we have lots that we want to add, and a community is a way for us to receive constant valuable feedback, collaborate with you on what you want to see in the game, and keep you in mind at every step of the development cycle.
At the moment the platform is being prepared for the official launch in the summer of 2023. Make sure you get on the waitlist to be one of the first to play the game.
And meanwhile, join the free startup school to bulk up your startup skills. You are going to need them if you want a chance to win prizes in the game and get microfunded.
We have been in development for a couple of years and held two closed beta pilots with around 150 active players who skilled up and learned how to build their own startups. At the moment we are preparing the game for the official launch. The launch does not mean that the game is completely built. For the first year after the launch we will be in open beta, which means that you get to enjoy the early bird pricing while together we make it the best startup game ever. We are planning on up-building the game for years to come, adding new mechanics, expanding the funding aspect, etc. Those who join early will have a lot of perks and discounts.
We currently use our LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram pages as our primary ways to talk to our community, while we are building our own community tool (available at launch). Users that took part in our pilots suggested new features and modifications and we made sure we listened. Moreover, players get rewarded for co-building with in-game tokens that can be exchanged for prizes and swag. Upcoming changes are openly discussed with the community for early feedback. We will continue to develop this process based on the needs and feedback of the community.
Most planned core features of the game have been implemented and we are mostly working on the content and UX. We are currently redoing the design of most of the elements, adding more educational content, adding quizzes and a lot of gamification. One of the biggest updates is a mobile app that is to be used for communication and notifications. And of course, Elona.
Currently, the game is supported only in English. However, we love foreign languages and are open to the idea of a multilingual community in the future. Moreover, we are working on a very exciting track, connected to mastering English for foreign entrepreneurs.
Primarily, the game is aimed at teaching females the skills that may appear essential both in entrepreneurship and outside of this sphere. We believe that anyone who wants to work in the startup ecosystem (in startups, startup consulting, Venture Capital, incubators/accelerators, Universities) must get startup experience. Dealing with external real-life challenges in the game, users are developing their spatial reasoning, critical thinking, networking, and business management skills, that are essential for any successful person. At the same time you get to master digital skills by using vetted software tools like Make, Tilda, Bubble, Adalo, Canva, Miro, etc.
In just a few weeks, you can learn to create a landing page, build automations, create a video tutorial with visually appealing content, automate social media, build your own AI tool and much more!
In just a few weeks, you can learn to create a landing page, build automations, create a video tutorial with visually appealing content, automate social media, build your own AI tool and much more!
No, you don't need to have a startup idea to participate in the Startup Game for Women. Our AI tool "Little Sister" can help generate ideas for you, and you can choose the one that resonates with you the most. Simply use the generated idea as is or adjust it a bit and add it to your startup card. You can always edit the idea or come up with a new one later on in the game. The most important thing is to have fun and get inspired!
Ideas are not the most important part of building a startup. We urge you to use any idea that looks fun to you and just play around with it. We want you to learn the algorithm of idea validation by going through multiple ideas. It's a game, so play a little. And once that "one and only" idea comes to you while you are in the shower, you will have already learned about all the right steps.
Ideas are not the most important part of building a startup. We urge you to use any idea that looks fun to you and just play around with it. We want you to learn the algorithm of idea validation by going through multiple ideas. It's a game, so play a little. And once that "one and only" idea comes to you while you are in the shower, you will have already learned about all the right steps.
The workload is 5+ hours per week. You can do as little or as much as you want on top of that. We have some scheduled activities that are useful to attend (but can be viewed as a recording in case you cannot be there), but most of the things in Skill Lab and the Game can be done at any time. It's a nice training for a remote work experience. And at times it will be asynchronous, because of different time zones of all the participants.
We know that building startups is not easy, but it can and should be fun. After launch gamepreneurs will have a 24/7/365 access to the platform and can spend as much time as they need. Most of our gamepreneurs will be able to start a company in real life within the first 6 months, provided that they come with zero knowledge about building a company. This includes building an audience as well as building a product.
We know that building startups is not easy, but it can and should be fun. After launch gamepreneurs will have a 24/7/365 access to the platform and can spend as much time as they need. Most of our gamepreneurs will be able to start a company in real life within the first 6 months, provided that they come with zero knowledge about building a company. This includes building an audience as well as building a product.
Gamepreneurship is our proprietary "learning by playing" methodology. And that’s one of the favorite topics of discussion of Mean CEO because she is an experienced educator. In short, our methodology is that we never use one single method, but always blend a combination of the ones that have demonstrated their efficiency. Our users don’t have years to waste on a theory that ends up being outdated by the time of implementation. Users come here to get tangible results in days or weeks. Not years. They build a website instead of learning about building a website. They get their first users instead of learning about getting them. They buy their first crypto instead of learning about crypto. They get stuff done instead of learning about 10 best ways to do stuff. That's exactly how startups get built.
Don't worry if you don't know something. As long as you have the desire to acquire new knowledge, we will help you out. Most of our team members started with no knowledge of startups, so from early on, we had to come up with easy ways to get them up to speed. And we succeeded. And now we want to share that knowledge and experience with you.
Don't worry if you don't know something. As long as you have the desire to acquire new knowledge, we will help you out. Most of our team members started with no knowledge of startups, so from early on, we had to come up with easy ways to get them up to speed. And we succeeded. And now we want to share that knowledge and experience with you.
Joining the pilot was absolutely free. And it was even possible to earn some money if you won the "Best Team" or another award. Check out the winners and the categories here. The best performers were rewarded with prizes. And we are planning on micro-financing your first startup steps as well (coming in the "Build" Tier),
Maybe you are questioning how this is possible, seeing as someone has to develop the platform, create content and offer support to the users. Well, we believe that pilots needed to be free because we asked our users to give us feedback in return. We are both a non profit and a startup and we convince companies and individuals supporting the diversity in tech to sponsor us. That's how we could afford to build the platform and run the pilots. Mostly, however, we invested our own time and money into it. That's called bootstrapping a business.
Now that the pilots are over, access to the platform is going to be paid. Why are we doing it? As entrepreneurs, we don't believe that people value free stuff just as much as something that they invest time or money in. It's that simple: we want you to get the most value out of being in the game. And for that you need to either pay a low fee or perform some community-building tasks and earn your access.
What's important is that we are planning on putting upto 50% of the player fees into a Treasury, which is how we will be able to give out prizes and micro-funding to the best performers.
Fe/male Switch offers a 15 day trial on the Play tier. You can study in the free startup school to bulk up your startup skills, or pay as little as 2.5 eur per month to play as an intern in the game.
Maybe you are questioning how this is possible, seeing as someone has to develop the platform, create content and offer support to the users. Well, we believe that pilots needed to be free because we asked our users to give us feedback in return. We are both a non profit and a startup and we convince companies and individuals supporting the diversity in tech to sponsor us. That's how we could afford to build the platform and run the pilots. Mostly, however, we invested our own time and money into it. That's called bootstrapping a business.
Now that the pilots are over, access to the platform is going to be paid. Why are we doing it? As entrepreneurs, we don't believe that people value free stuff just as much as something that they invest time or money in. It's that simple: we want you to get the most value out of being in the game. And for that you need to either pay a low fee or perform some community-building tasks and earn your access.
What's important is that we are planning on putting upto 50% of the player fees into a Treasury, which is how we will be able to give out prizes and micro-funding to the best performers.
Fe/male Switch offers a 15 day trial on the Play tier. You can study in the free startup school to bulk up your startup skills, or pay as little as 2.5 eur per month to play as an intern in the game.
YES. We do certify users and give out state-of-art “live certificates” that can update themselves (the feature is currently in development and will be available after the launch).
Once you complete at least one (1) module, you’ll receive your “Gamepreneur” certificate. It means that your certificate gets created. You get a link that you can share with anyone. You can also add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Once you proceed further, your certificate gets updated and will continue doing so as long as you achieve results. That’s our proprietary “Live Certificates” technology that puts all of your achievements together and lets you control who can access it and for how long.
The certificate includes a lot more information than a regular certificate does (for instance, homework performance). It means, our certification has actual value and “proof of work” that can be verified by anyone who gets access to your credentials. It’s like your portfolio, but an interactive one.
Once you complete at least one (1) module, you’ll receive your “Gamepreneur” certificate. It means that your certificate gets created. You get a link that you can share with anyone. You can also add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Once you proceed further, your certificate gets updated and will continue doing so as long as you achieve results. That’s our proprietary “Live Certificates” technology that puts all of your achievements together and lets you control who can access it and for how long.
The certificate includes a lot more information than a regular certificate does (for instance, homework performance). It means, our certification has actual value and “proof of work” that can be verified by anyone who gets access to your credentials. It’s like your portfolio, but an interactive one.
More and more companies are taking a skills-based approach in their hiring. University diplomas are no longer the only thing that matters. If our users get certified, it means they have gone through rigorous training and can do the test task that falls within the scope of the platform, with flying colors. Creating an awesome-looking pitch deck, building a landing page, or even a small web application in a few hours, that’s just a few examples of what our users will be able to do. We even tested it on a potential investor and he was impressed!
We are a women-first startup game, which means that the game is being built with women in mind. Eventually, we will have content created for different groups of people, but we are starting with women-specific content and target all our communication towards them. It doesn't mean that others are not welcome, but women are our only target audience at the moment. We are a startup and are choosing to prioritize one specific group in order to deliver the highest value.
The game is designed for users over the age of 18. Games are NOT only for kids, and most importantly, not just for boys.
You are more than welcome to encourage your female friends to participate in the project and grow together! You can form a team and invite your friend or join one together. Moreover, we are planning on setting up an affiliate program so that you can invite friends and both of you can earn prizes.
In this case, you can master the digital tools essential for any startup founder (Bubble, Tilda, Figma, etc) and perfect the skills that you already have. Sell your skills and earn tokens so that you can win in the game. You can also play as a mentor or an investor and experience startup life from different angles.
Incubator and accelerator are startup programs with limited duration, a cohort-based program, formal curricula, mentoring, a bundle of networks, and a concluding demo-day or graduation. We do believe that traditional incubators and accelerators are valuable. Particularly, those with connections to investors. However, you can only test one idea per program and you actually already need to have that idea. What if you are just exploring entrepreneurship? What if you want to work in a startup but not as a founder? So many what-ifs that traditional approaches do not take care of. Why does it happen?
- Incubators require a substantial investment of money and time, with uncertain returns. Many take equity.
- Some mentors come from the “traditional business” and lack ‘real startup’ experience and “gender intelligence”.
- Similar content and generic case studies that are “one size fits all” are not very helpful.
- Tedious application processes: whereas with us, you sign up and you start your startup journey right away.
Among the vast universe of online courses:
- They are usually focused on one single niche (e.g. entrepreneurs)
- Most of them are not well-structured and learnings are usually poor
- Too often professors are ‘gurus’ who want to sell their success story that is hard to replicate
- They lack a value proposition other than provision of general knowledge
- There is not enough offline engagement and community
It is a survival game where you find yourself in the middle of a startup village! The game utilizes a skill-level system that ranges from soft to hard. Each skill can be increased (junior, medium, senior levels), and has different effects on the game mechanics.
A “minimum-rules” playground offers a lot of freedom while providing guidance.
You are dropped into the startup village and you try to figure out what to do next. And when you have figured out what to do (beyond surviving), you have almost unlimited options to do other things. You can hang out in the office, do quests and challenges, seek investment or choose to bootstrap, you can get interns or poach talent from other teams.
This sense of semi-guided, yet uncertain, freedom might be scary, yet it is very exciting. It’s all about the possibility of meaningfully progressing your startup team in a virtual startup universe. The game aims to deliver profound and memorable experiences. Fe/male Switch is an adventure, a second life, and quickly becomes something of a community-led experience.
It’s all about intrinsic rewards, progress, and delivering a sense of achievement. It's about growing your inner entrepreneur!
The incentive comes from the fact that the core gameplay is intrinsically fun, and you continuously feel that you are progressing your skills organically, as a side effect of pursuing that intrinsic sense of enjoyment. This virtuous cycle of enjoyment and progression makes you want to explore more, win quests and challenges, get a better office, and a greater team.
The best reward is to be recognized and taken seriously as a person and not a set of numbers.
You would even want to do things that you normally wouldn't. For instance, to “give up your salary” — not because you will be kicked out of the team if you don’t or receive a reward if you do, but because you simply get stronger as a team when you have extra resources and take care of your team members. The credibility of a team is a compound index, consisting of individual team member’s experience and skills, gained in Skill Lab.
Endless exciting startup stories are to be created! Join us today!
A “minimum-rules” playground offers a lot of freedom while providing guidance.
You are dropped into the startup village and you try to figure out what to do next. And when you have figured out what to do (beyond surviving), you have almost unlimited options to do other things. You can hang out in the office, do quests and challenges, seek investment or choose to bootstrap, you can get interns or poach talent from other teams.
This sense of semi-guided, yet uncertain, freedom might be scary, yet it is very exciting. It’s all about the possibility of meaningfully progressing your startup team in a virtual startup universe. The game aims to deliver profound and memorable experiences. Fe/male Switch is an adventure, a second life, and quickly becomes something of a community-led experience.
It’s all about intrinsic rewards, progress, and delivering a sense of achievement. It's about growing your inner entrepreneur!
The incentive comes from the fact that the core gameplay is intrinsically fun, and you continuously feel that you are progressing your skills organically, as a side effect of pursuing that intrinsic sense of enjoyment. This virtuous cycle of enjoyment and progression makes you want to explore more, win quests and challenges, get a better office, and a greater team.
The best reward is to be recognized and taken seriously as a person and not a set of numbers.
You would even want to do things that you normally wouldn't. For instance, to “give up your salary” — not because you will be kicked out of the team if you don’t or receive a reward if you do, but because you simply get stronger as a team when you have extra resources and take care of your team members. The credibility of a team is a compound index, consisting of individual team member’s experience and skills, gained in Skill Lab.
Endless exciting startup stories are to be created! Join us today!
Fe/male Switch is designed as a women-first experience, but anyone interested in learning about startups and entrepreneurship is welcome to join
No, previous experience or knowledge is not necessary. We will guide you through the entire process, and the game is designed to accommodate players with varying levels of expertise.
To get started, simply register on the platform, create your avatar, and begin exploring the various features, such as the Skill Lab, the Marketplace, and the Startup Village.
Skill Lab is where you gain knowledge about starting a business through micro-modules. It's a great place to learn new skills, do assignments and track your progress.
The Marketplace is where you can buy and sell expert sessions, tutorials, and unique avatar items using in-game tokens.
You can earn tokens by completing quests, finishing Skill Lab modules, and contributing to the platform in various ways.
The Lounge is a space to relax and catch up on news. It's also a great place to network with other players via the Forum. We have an anonymous feature so you can ask any sensitive question that you want without identifying yourself.
The game simulates real-life startup situations, allowing you to learn and practice a wide range of skills, such as problem-solving, decision-making, team management, and networking.
Yes, you can develop your own startup idea or use the AI-generated ideas provided by the platform if you don't have one. You need to subscribe to the "Play" tier to be able to create your own company.
No problem! The game is all about testing and validating ideas until you find the right one. You can change your idea or switch to something different at any time. Remember, that if other people depend on you, you need to make sure you discuss that with them first.
Yes, you can try out different roles such as start-upper, investor, or mentor to get a complete understanding of the startup world and its processes.
As a startup founder, you will act as a founder or co-founder of a startup, working on tasks like creating a business idea, assembling a team, building a landing page, and pitching to investors. This role is perfect for those who already have an idea or are crazy enough to want to be a leader and pioneer. You got to have ambition and accept responsibility for your team.
As a startup team member, you will act as an employee of a startup, working on a specific part of the business, like, building an app, designing visuals, digital marketing, etc. This role is perfect for specialists who don't want all the drama that founders need to deal with.
As an intern, you will need to find a startup to join in order to learn from other team members. It's a perfect role for a complete rookie who doesn't know anything about startups and wants to learn first before deciding which way to go further.
As an investor, you will provide capital to startups in return for equity, help validate business plans, and ensure that invested capital is used properly. This role is perfect for those who are curious about investment, finances and/or want to work in Venture Capital, startup incubators/accelerators.
As a mentor, you will guide and support startup teams by providing advice, helping them build a strong network, and assisting with strategy development. This role is perfect for people with some startup experience, teaching experience or anyone who wants to see if they would make a great mentor.
The Fe/male Switch Metaverse is a virtual environment designed to create a fun space for women to connect, learn, and grow together. Currently we have the Lounge and startup offices built. The Fe/male Switch Metaverse can be accessed through Spatial.io, a platform that enables users to experience virtual environments through a 3D interface.
Fe/male Switch offers AI tools like Annie (product description tool), Aiden (product naming tool), Little Sister (startup idea tool), Boris (logo creation tool), Elona (AI startup expert tool), entrepreneurial potential and bias detection tools.
Yes, the AI tools can be used independently of the game. They are designed to help you with various aspects of starting a business, regardless of whether you're playing the game.
Yes, your progress in the game and Skill Lab can be tracked and you can check it in your Profile as well as in Live Certificate.
You can level up by completing game quests with your team, earning tokens, and paying rent and salaries for your virtual office.
Fe/male Switch is a browser-based game, so you can access it on any device with an internet connection, including mobile phones, but functionality on mobile devices is limited as we are constantly developing new features.
You can reach out to Fe/male Switch support by visiting the Contact Us page on the platform or by emailing the team directly at team@femaleswitch.com.