We were walking down Lincoln Road in South Beach three weeks ago, coffee in hand, when Jon said something that stopped me mid-step.

"I legit hated my life for most of the last four years of our relationship."

He wasn't being dramatic. He meant it. From the moment we met until recently, there have been maybe six months—max—where he was truly at his best. The rest of the time? Grinding through jobs that drained him, questioning everything, stuck in that particular misery that comes from knowing you're not where you're supposed to be.

And here's what I want you to understand: we built something beautiful anyway.

Here’s what I learned about relationships. There's your life. There's your partner's life. And then there's a third thing—this separate entity called your relationship. And that third thing? It can thrive even when the individuals inside it are struggling.

I think about this when women message me saying, "I wish I had a Jon in my life." They see someone supportive, someone who gets on stage and hypes me up, someone who shows up for my ideas with his whole chest. That's real. But here's what you don't see: we're both incredibly imperfect people.

We met when we were both living in apartments that could charitably be called "character-building." Jon's East Williamsburg place was a sunless cave with mold in the walls. We weren't two polished people who found each other at the top of our games. We were two messy humans who decided to build something together anyway.

When Jon was miserable at his job, I didn't start looking for the exit. But I also didn't try to control his life. My job wasn't to fix his career—it was to be there when he finally figured out what he needed to do. You want to support your partner in their own life, but you still want them to be agentic over it.

That's the dance of the third thing.

I never once asked myself if Jon was successful enough or happy enough or moving fast enough. I already knew the answer to the only question that mattered: we could build something beautiful together.

I don't think either Jon or I could have achieved what we've achieved without each other. SheFi is monetized because he helped me push through my fear of rejection. He makes decks, thinks through strategy, shows up in a thousand ways that have nothing to do with whether he loved his job in 2021. And I've supported him through career pivots and dark seasons and all the messy middle nobody posts about.

When you have 10,000 people on Hinge ready to take you on a date, you don't have a lead problem. You have a qualification problem. And it's easy to start screening for the wrong things—does he love his job, does he have it figured out, is he at his best right now?

Here’s the only filter I trust: is this person willing to commit to building something as hard as I am?

It has to be mutual. If you're both committed to the third thing, it'll work. If either of you is constantly scanning for the exit, it won't.

Jon and I have had seasons where one of us was thriving and the other was drowning. We've had exactly zero seasons where we were both simultaneously at our best.

And still—the third thing held. The third thing grew. The third thing became a life neither of us could have built alone.

The third thing is where the magic happens. But you have to tend to it, even when the individuals inside it are imperfect.

Especially then.

What Actually Happens in Season 16 ✨

Not “learn crypto.” More like:

Week 1: you stop feeling confused
Week 2: you actually own something (Trezor hardware wallet)
Week 3: you do a real onchain action (Base App)
Week 4: you stake to back Bitcoin projects you believe in (RootstockCollective)
Week 5: you own your identity and avatar in the metaverse (Decentraland)
Week 6: you leave with a personal operating system + community (with AI)

Not theory. Real experience.

It's not too late. Season 16 starts March 17, 2026. Apply.

Network School Discounts for SheFi Members 🎟️

SheFi community members are invited to apply for a 25% scholarship to attend Network School — a month-long residency for founders, operators, and researchers building in crypto, AI, and emerging tech.

Network School combines focused work time, daily talks and workshops, co-working, fitness, and an intentional builder community — all in one place. Housing, meals, education, and shared programming are included.

SheFi scholarship pricing:
• $1,125 double occupancy (from $1,500)
• $2,250 private (from $3,000)

If you’re looking to deepen your skills, build alongside ambitious women and founders, and experience an immersive month of growth, we encourage you to apply.

Crypto + AI Roundup — SheFi Edition 🏇

Crypto Roundup.

• Federal judge dismissed Uniswap class action with prejudice—DeFi protocols can’t be held liable for third-party scam tokens. Sets precedent: code isn’t culpable.

• Real-world assets on Ethereum hit $15B—up 200% YoY. Tokenized gold ($4B+), US Treasuries, private credit. Ethereum holds 58% of global RWA market. Wall Street’s going onchain.

• Venice AI hit $640M valuation as OpenClaw’s recommended model provider. VVV up 300% while broader market tanked. Decentralized AI outperforming centralized.

AI Roundup.

• Anthropic refused Pentagon’s demand for unrestricted AI use, got blacklisted, then hit #1 in App Store. Free signups up 60%, paid subscribers doubled. OpenAI signed Pentagon deal hours later. 700+ Google/OpenAI employees signed letter supporting Anthropic.

• DeepSeek V4 launches with 1 trillion parameters on Chinese chips. Cuts inference costs 50%. Training cost: $5.6M vs hundreds of millions for Western models. China’s winning on efficiency.

• ChatGPT Projects now has “living sources”—paste Slack/Drive links, save responses. Agent Mode more persistent. Context window: 256K tokens.

✨ SheFi Takeaway: Anthropic chose principles over Pentagon money, became #1 app. Wall Street’s tokenizing assets on Ethereum at $15B scale. Courts ruled code isn’t liable. Onchain finance infrastructure is live.

Celebrating SheFi Successes 🎉

• Mewtwo’s Junohauz is now Thailand’s Community Partner for SheBuilds on Lovable.

👉️ Share your wins so we can celebrate them 👈️

SheFi & Crypto Events 🌎

Going to ETHCC, Token2049 or Devcon? Join our Global Events Telegram Chat: https://t.me/shefisummit

SheFi Events:

• 03/06 London: IWD: Co-working with SheFi: RSVP here

  Celebrate International Women’s Day with an exclusive SheFi London co-working day at Somerset House. Join phenomenal women from our community to connect, share ideas, and build together — with flowers, sweet treats, and skincare gifts for early arrivals. Limited spaces available.

• 03/08-10 Prague: ETHPrague 2026: Use this link to get 30% discount

  Join builders, researchers, and designers for three days of talks, workshops, and hands-on hacking. Come to learn, meet collaborators, and ship real projects that push Ethereum forward.

• 03/17-19 São Paulo: Merge São Paulo: RSVP here

  SheFi Brazil is officially an Educational Partner of MERGE São Paulo 2026! Our community gets exclusive perks, including a free Discover ticket for March 19 and 20% off Standard tickets with code MERGEME20.

  Grab your FREE ticket here.

Other events:

• 03/04-05 Virtual: Women of Bitcoin Summit: RSVP here

• 03/08 Bangkok: Bangkok x SheBuilds on Lovable for International Women’s Day: RSVP here

• 03/13 India: Cake Wallet Privacy Mixer - ETH MUMBAI: RSVP here

• 03/21 Uyo: WWW3 2026 - Women, Web3, Wealth: RSVP here

• 03/22 San Francisco: Build & Brew — SF: Spring Edition: RSVP here

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