Introducing the First Edition of La Creme de la STEM ™ Newsletter!
A newsletter about entrepreneurship, community building and inspiring women stories.
Bienvenue! This newsletter is specifically designed to offer resources, insights, and support about entrepreneurship. We will also cover all things related to community building and share stories of inspiring women who deserve to be in the spotlight. Don’t wait, join 3,200+ subscribers 👇
✍️ Current setting ✍️
📍 Writing you from: a coffee shop in Brooklyn, Qahwah House
☕️ Drinking: a latte with regular milk - my favorite
🎵 Listening to: Angele - Flou - she rocked the Olympics opening ceremony!
📝 Today, I: introduce myself so you can get to know me
👋 An introduction word 👋
🇺🇸 🇫🇷 Who Am I?
My name is Marion Siboni, I am a French citizen living in New York City, and I am founder and CEO of La Creme de la STEM ™, a private network for early-stage female founders in STEM.
Over the last decade, I hold pivotal business development roles at Techstars, MongoDB, Shift - AI unicorn - and Cisco. My strategic partnerships skills granted me two Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards, and the Tech & Startup Award from the French-American Chamber of Commerce. I also built a thriving community of 4000+ women in technology in 12 months through in-person panels, a month after moving from Paris to NYC.
In addition of running my own business, I share my knowledge about entrepreneurship and networking through different media:
Public Speaking - I am also a judge for various pitch competitions
Startup Mentor - working with the U.S. Dept of Commerce and Techstars
Investor - community-focused entrepreneurs aka Elephants not Unicorns
Outside of the office, you can find me enjoying good food and wine (after all, I am French), practicing aerial silks, or exploring the world.
🍇 What is La Creme de la STEM ™?
La Creme de la STEM ™ is a global, private network for early-stage female founders in tech and science. La Creme de la STEM ™ brings together the best minds - la creme de la creme - to support female founders in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and build genuine, powerful connections. We offer a holistic support system that includes exclusive insights from exited entrepreneurs and connections to vetted investors.
Female founders - we are building a cohort of 50 Founding Members who understand the power of the community. Reach out if you fit the criteria.
VCs - 60+ VCs, including Techstars and a16z, are already part of the movement - if you are working as an investor and want to receive deal flow, please send us a note.
Kindly note we don’t accept independent angel investors at the moment.
I am very excited to share with you my journey on entrepreneurship. I started my company early June 2024 - I just had a name and a logo before deciding to kick things off for real during New York Tech Week.
🚀 How is my entrepreneurship journey going?
I managed to generate a lot of traction in barely two months:
📈 Gained 4,700+ followers on LinkedIn - a 30% growth in just two months!
📝 Gave two interviews, one in French, one in English
🎙️ Recorded one podcast (scroll down to find out!) - and preparing two more
🎤 Spoke at a conference organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce
👩💻 Got 328 organic visits in three weeks on lacremedelastem.com
💰 Gathered in two weeks a database of 60+ VCs supporting the movement
🏡 Joined a physical community of community builders in TriBeCa, NYC
☕️ Organized a breakfast for 40 VCs and female founders in just two weeks
Now presentations have been done, let’s dive in the categories you will find on (almost) every edition of this newsletter.
🚨 Entrepreneurs - Deadline Alert 🚨
🤠 SXSW Pitch - September 8, 2024
According to Pitchbook, finalists involved in the SXSW Pitch competition have raised more than $23.2 billion in funding since 2009.
Be part of the 17th annual SXSW Pitch competition. Apply for your opportunity to compete live in Austin, TX from March 8-9 during the 2025 SXSW Conference & Festivals. Explore 2025 Categories and eligibility requirements below.
Explore 2025 Categories and criteria for eligibility before submitting your application.
🔗 Community Building Thoughts 🔗
🎙️ Community Building Inflection Points - podcast
In this episode, along with other inspiring community builders, I delve into those pivotal moments that have shaped our communities and our personal journeys.
Listen the podcast to find out what were my inflection points, but *spoiler alert*, I shared my thoughts on the significance of creating a safe space where people can feel comfortable networking. Building a community is not just about personal gain; it is about doing something meaningful for others.
Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
✨ Inspiring Women Stories ✨
Olympic Games Special Edition
The Olympic Games took place this year in Paris, France - am I the only one to have FOMO not to be there? And they have been legendary, becoming the first gender-equal Games. From a mere 2.2% female participation in 1900 to 50% in 2024, the Olympic journey toward gender parity provides valuable lessons for all male-dominated industries. Paris 2024 has already seen many female athletes making history - I cannot wait for the Paralympic Games starting August 28th. It has been hard to keep track of all wonderful examples of resilience, empowerment and sorority., but you can find some below:
🚴🏼♀️ Kristen Faulkner (USA) left her job in Venture Capital to pursue cycling, a sport she learned 6 years ago, becoming the first American rider to win gold in the women’s road race in 40 years.
🤸 Kaylia Neymour (Algeria), won gold at 17 years old, being the first gymnastics medal for an athlete representing an African NOC in Olympic history.
🏹 Yaylagul Ramazanova (Azerbaijan) ha been only the second archer in her country’s history to compete at the Olympics, and is six-and a half-months pregnant.
🏃♀️ Alice Finot (France) proposed to her boyfriend after smashing European 3,000m steeplechase record.
To go further
Is Paris 2024 really achieving its goals for gender equality?
U.S. women on pace to out-medal men in Paris for fourth straight Summer Games
How Social Media Is Making the Olympics Even Better: Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Ilona Maher
💼 Job Board 💼
We showcase jobs from employers who support our mission. Hiring and committed to equality? Reply with your job posting, and we'll reach out if it fits.
NYCEDC: Project Manager, Emerging Tech (NYC)
NYCEDC: Senior Project Manager, Innovation Industries (NYC)
Harry’s: Director, IT Enterprise Systems (NYC)
Headspace: Senior Manager Data Engineering (remote)
Redesign Health: CEOs at Redesign Health operating companies (remote)
Techstars: Operations Associate, Ecosystem (remote)
WEVE: Startup Accelerator Program Manager (NYC)
💸 Perks and discounts 💸
We provide exclusive offers to members of the community. Interested to be featured in this section? Fill up this form.
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Fabrik is a home for communities and where everyone has a place to belong. With spaces designed to feel more like your living room than your office, Fabrik’s third spaces are vibrant hubs where you can come together in real life, explore interests, forge meaningful connections, and enjoy a sense of community.
Come in and enjoy a free week at Fabrik - sign up here
Save $49 on your 1st month of Fabrik membership by using code MARION at check-out. Fabrik Memberships start at $149/month. To enjoy this offer, we invite you to experience Fabrik for at least two months.
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Stay tuned for the next edition of the newsletter! We will be talking about how to turn your story into gold. We will also keep sharing exclusive insights about entrepreneurship, community building and share stories inspiring women.
Thanks for reading me! If you want to keep up with my content, I share things on my LinkedIn profile and the company page, and sometimes post stories on Instagram.