speaker-0: We've given out over $17 million in grants funding with no strings attached for impact on Ethereum. I hope we see a time where we also see women having their earnings and money in crypto and being able to use it. Decentralization feels like theater sometimes. It's a much better journey when you know people versus when you don't and you feel like you're on the solo journey. I liked the idea and the values that the Ethereum space had around access and openness.

speaker-1: skill every web3 woman should learn.

speaker-0: growing and do it yourself.

speaker-1: The future of Ethereum is

speaker-0: is everywhere.

speaker-1: Welcome to ECH Institute podcast and this special series Women Powering Web3. are speaking with women all over the space who are contributing and supporting Web3 and blockchain in particular. Today we are joined by Mashal Waqar. Mashal is CMO at Octant Apps and support DeFi for growth. We are really looking forward to learning more about her journey and contributions in this episode. Welcome Mashal.

speaker-0: Thank you for having me, excited to be here.

speaker-1: It's our pleasure. When I first met you, I believe that was over Discord and then unexpectedly we met at an event. Yeah, it was really great to meet you in person and I had good time participating in all the games that you organized right over there. Thank you for like adding all those creativities around in the ecosystem.

speaker-0: Thank you. Yeah, it was great to me. That was during the summer protocols retreat in EJS Meralda. And I had been an affiliate researcher and I created a game called Protocol Party that would make people that were not in crypto take their first steps in learning what a protocol is and social protocols in specific as their entry point into protocol systems.

speaker-1: And that's what makes it so special. Like we are trying to create ways to involve more people in the ecosystem. So from what we understand, Octant has been a long time supporter of new and existing public good projects. ECH Institute in particular is one of the grantees of Octant. Many thanks to GLM Staker who kind of extended their support and they are kind of sponsors of this podcast also because we live on grants and grants help us bring these content out. Really appreciate the consideration and support in EPOC 10. And thank you again for joining us today.

speaker-0: Of course, I'm happy to be here. And yes, to give a quick overview on Octant. So we're a project that was initially started by Golem Foundation, and now we have our own setup and we are independent. And what Octant does is, I'd say in the last two and a half years, we have been the go-to platform for supporting impactful projects on Ethereum. And the way that we've done that is through an app where if you have GLM, you can lock it and you can get ETH rewards every three months. That was the first version of what we built. And you could take the ETH rewards for yourself, or if you chose to allocate it to a project on Ethereum, we would match it through a matching fund that came from Gwong Foundation's 100,000-staked ETH rewards. Now what Octane does is essentially while Golem Foundation rounds are going to be one of the funding rounds, there's actually a lot more that we're building. And we're focused on different aspects of capital onboarding, distribution and deployment, allocation, and then finally deployment. So what that means is we're building different products, tools, and essentially running funding experiments along with other ecosystems and partners who want to get better at each of these aspects. And so... Yeah, I would say we've had a lot of learnings through a lot of the funding rounds. We've given out over $17 million in grants funding with no strings attached for impact on Ethereum. Funded pretty much a few interactions with any part of Ethereum. We likely have funded it through the grants and really excited for this next phase of what we're building, which is a lot more focused on sustainable funding, on sustainable growth for projects as well, and to be able to play a small role in that journey.

speaker-1: I'm definitely looking forward to V2 version of Octant and see how this comes out for the entire ecosystem. Well, I personally find you too young to be in this space and would love to know more about your journey. Take us back a bit about your origin story. How did you first enter into the blockchain space and was there any specific moment that made you think, this is where I belong?

speaker-0: That's an interesting question. I have a cybersecurity background and I was, I'd say I first got into blockchain through Bitcoin. I used to spend a lot of time on Tumblr and Bitcoin was a big part of Tumblr. And so in 2015 with another friend of mine, we were giving Bitcoin workshops, trying to raise awareness about the beauty of decentralization and what the future could look like through that. And I'd say that was my entry into crypto. And after that, I kind of had no business being in media, but ended up in it. for a decade or so, or I'd say like for six to eight years, I did a few different things. I grew and scaled a media company, helped grow it to millions of readers at that time. And it was one of the first platforms of its kind that was focused on bridging the gap between women in different parts of the world. Instead of having people speak for you, you had a platform where you could share your own narrative and own your story. so. There was a lot of impactful storytelling and content, and there were nine editorial verticals focused on different aspects from pop culture to food to travel to tech and science. And so that's what I spent the first part of my career building and growing out is understanding how do you make content scale? How do you make people connect with a platform and stories? And how do you build an audience in a community across the world? From there, I built a D2C startup in the Middle East. It was one of the first ones focusing on women's health. There was a big taboo when it came to fem care or fem tech even. People didn't want to talk about periods. People didn't want to talk about women's health and all the different angles around. I just was able to really learn a lot firsthand around the lack of funding in women's health, for example, and the repercussions of that and the existing research that was not really done for women from the Middle East, for example, based on our genetics and our bodies. related issues and what not. So I got to work on that and help launch a DTC platform and a paired subscription app and really helped scale that out. And then from there, I realized I was really good at building audiences and communities. And I started a consultancy focused on helping clients do exactly that. And that is when I came back to crypto through NFTs. And I would say I was curious about why they were all the rage. And this is when DALs were at their golden glory time. So. I joined a bunch of different DAOs, like Gitcoin, Seed Club, Radar, Protein, Forefront, and I played different capacity roles by contributing to them. And that is how I found my way into Ethereum. It was through getting a better understanding of what was happening in this. And I wouldn't say I felt like I was a part of the ecosystem until very recently, because I felt like for a lot of the time that I was in this space that I felt like I wasn't as smart. even though I had a tech background, but it just felt like the language was different. I had studied cryptography like even a decade ago or more, right? But I just felt like it felt like a different language and culture I didn't understand. So even though I was working in this space, I just still felt like an outsider. And it was really tough. I remember thinking like, do I even want to be in this? But it was, I don't know, for better or for worse, I liked the idea and the values that the Ethereum space had around access and openness and... One of the things I like a lot about this space is it's bureaucratic. It doesn't matter what your background is, where you're from, what you sound like. If you do good work, you can get ahead. And I really appreciated that compared to other industries where I had very deeply built and, you know, had, I'd say built a relatively successful career at that time. And then when I joined Octent, I just was amazed at the kind of work that was being done. And I was kind of confused at why more people didn't know about it. So that was one of my first things to the founders was sharing that I think I love the work that you all are doing. I would love to help get more access and visibility to this work. And that's how we joined the team as one of the first senior marketers. And then my role kept growing and growing where I started helping run the grants programs and operationally basically running the epochs. And I'd say played a role in helping bring Oct into where it is along with obviously everyone else in the team. So that's been my journey here. And I really started feeling like I belonged, I'd say, maybe two years ago when I went to a crypto conference. And it felt like for the first time, everyone that I met, I was catching up with friends. That was the first time I felt like, all right, cool. Like this is different now. Cause I remember my first couple of years when I would go to events and it's scary when you don't know anybody, but it feels like everybody else knows each other. And so I think that can take a little bit of time to cross that bridge and I think the other part was I would always look at things from how are people going to understand this? Yes, this is so cool technically, but why should somebody care? And those questions I thought like I was crazy for thinking those and asking those questions because it felt like other people weren't. I think now a lot more people are asking these questions and they are talking about accessibility, but I remember we would talk about we're going to bring billions access. But I had spoken to people that everybody else was talking about. I've spoken to cab drivers and, you know, I'd say like blue collar workers and basically people at every financial and social status to understand how they see crypto. So I had that information and I could understand what resonated with people and it felt like there was a big world's difference in what people see crypto as, what they're using it for and then what we say it's for and why we're doing what we're doing. So yeah, that's kind of what brought me into this space.

speaker-1: That's pretty interesting backstory and you touched on various points that I would like to maybe expand on a little bit. You talked about your journey from being an explorer and currently you are holding a leadership position. There was a time when you mentioned that you were a little hesitant like being a technical background as well. This is not the space for you. So if you have any suggestions or words of advice for women who have this kind of feeling, how can they overcome this idea of not belonging to a space to be a one of those people in this space.

speaker-0: I think the first one would be there are communities and spaces that are specifically built for accessibility and where you can experience that journey with other women. And I think that's very helpful. SheFi is one of those organizations. ECH is another one, right? Where I'd say Boys Club is another incredible one. There's a bunch of others too. There's Babes Network, I think that's more of a newer one. but there are communities and places and platforms that both help you understand this space where you can connect with others. it's a much better journey when you know people versus when you don't and you feel like you're on the solo journey. So what I would do is wherever you physically are, look at what is available to you. Where can you go to in person? Try to maybe organize a meetup if you don't see anything happening around where you are. I think that can help. Two, there's a lot of virtual spaces that are inviting and accessible. So try to attend those and understand what is happening. And then I think the third thing would be don't be afraid to ask questions and openly learn. There is no such thing as a stupid question. Of course, do your homework first. I think it's very easy to ask lazy questions. If you can find information, literally do that, like watch YouTube videos. If you don't understand a word, go look it up until you have a better understanding and then come to the table having done your bit of the work. Don't just. One thing people sometimes do is they, it's easy to put ownership and accountability on somebody else to do the job for you. And I think there are ways you can be super prepped and still ask questions. And so that's what I would do is probably do a bit more work into understanding. So you understand better and then ask questions. And I think that will be way more productive for you and it will be way more fruitful.

speaker-1: I think that's super helpful. Self-doubt comes into the mind, but we need to find ways to overcome it and do it. Yesterday we were talking to someone and her slogan was, do it, as Nike says it. So that is great.

speaker-0: I'm coming.

speaker-1: Well, I hope the recordings that we are making here may become inspiration for one or the other women who would want to get into this space. talking about inspiration, I feel like it's always good to look up to someone if you have someone in your surroundings to look up to. I wonder if you had anyone in a specific that you looked up to or kind of got inspired by. Yeah, I just believe in the individuals.

speaker-0: I mean, there are so many people that I look up to and that I respect so much. And I think both men and women, just essentially there are so many folks, even regardless of gender, who I look up to. a couple of people, and it's different people for different aspects. I think the way that Maggie shares her story, Maggie from SheFi is incredible. The rise of media guys, the way they're able to onboard people is so fascinating, and I love that. I really like Yinka's storytelling in short form content. I really like how Bingee has also been sharing more of the Ethereum story. And I think that's been quite inspiring. would say Carol from Matcha, the way that they talk about Dex aggregators and really just make something that's a little bit more complex, more easy to understand and fun is great. I like Dina and Miranda and Natasha from Boys Club and the way that they are able to bring culture into blockchain and crypto and make it super interesting and conversational. So I think those are all people that inspire me. Azim, who is my partner, he was one of the first people who also encouraged me to say, we could use more operators in this industry, you should consider it. And he was one of the reasons why I started more actively looking at the space. So his work ethic and him learning and even his technical journey has inspired me quite a bit. So I would say there's a lot of women who inspire me, a lot of men who inspire me too and who've supported me. And then I think from our own team, like our founders, Julian and Anjay, like the way that they have been in the space for years with their earnestness and wanting to do more without recognition, while being so quiet about their work in a way that nobody understands and knows. But I have spent three years now working with them closely. So seeing that earnestness also really, I appreciate that so much, because I think your character is so much of what you do when no one is looking and no one understands what you're doing and no one is putting a limelight on it. So the quiet work and people who are able to do the quiet work over time. relentlessly, like that's super inspirational. So I'd say all of them have inspired me in different ways.

speaker-1: That's a great story again. I have been like meeting women for a long time in this space. Like wherever I go, I try to connect with women and try to understand their stories. And it is very interesting to know that there are men who are actually supporting their spouse to get into the Web3 world, get into this ecosystem because women empowerment is something that is very special for me. And I feel like getting financial independence as well as like self-confidence is very important for. for someone to be in a space and do the best. So kudos to all those partners, spouses who are supporting their spouse to get into this space. And we hope that we would be in a position to achieve the optimum amount of diversity at one point of time that we would want. We would see that there is no need to talk about this diversity anymore, right? Taking a look at like maybe five years down the line, what do you think? where you would say that yes, this is the desired amount of diversity that we want and we do not have to advocate for women getting into this space anymore.

speaker-0: I mean, I think the usage will be one of the biggest deciders and I already see a lot of work being done to do like to get to that point. Five years from now, I mean, a very personal use case from my background is when I think about the hurdles I have to go through to get a bank account in Pakistan, where I need a guardian and I need them physically there and the amount of work that gets into being able to get that is so tough. If I see a big percentage of women in Pakistan using crypto, and keeping their money in stable coins because the currency inflation is horrible. So what a lot of people do is they have foreign currency for their money and that's what they use for safety and just because that's the right thing to do if you're earning. Seeing more people, women, men, but women in particular, right? We come from a background where of course you're told buy gold and keep that as your safe, you know, your safety net. And this happens when you get married and during important aspects is that's the thing you're told as you grow up. I hope we see a time where we also see women having their earnings and money in crypto and being able to use it, being able to send money in crypto to see more foreign transactions in crypto as well, because there's so much of foreign's remittance that goes through Western Union and other traditional monetary channels, but the amount of money deducted is so much more. And so if I actually see crypto leading to even savings happening because it's cheaper, faster, effective, and efficient, that to me will be success. And I think if I see more women just transacting in crypto in a seamless way and mom and pop stores being able to charge in crypto as well and to be able to pay for that, I will feel like we've reached that point of adoption. And I see that as a very good use case. The way we see it in Latam right now, even in 2022 when I went to Columbia for DEF CON, regular stores had crypto symbols. I haven't seen that in Pakistan yet. And so I would love to see that. And I think that would be to me a success.

speaker-1: That's a pretty good benchmark here. yes, crypto adoption is not for a small community, it's for worldwide and different countries have different policies. The other day we were also talking about how policymakers can help us increase the adoption so much. Yeah. Seeing that point where people are using crypto as their currency and as a reserve as well, like just we used to do it for gold would be nice point. Yeah. Thank you so much for that. And with that, we have concluded all the short answer questions. The next section is the rapid fire round. Here in this round, I would love to hear from you something that comes to your mind the first one word, one phrase, sentence, whatever way you want to take it.

speaker-0: Okay, sure.

speaker-1: I write one word that defines women in Web 3.

speaker-0: inspiring and cool.

speaker-1: Blockchain in one word.

speaker-0: dedicated.

speaker-1: One skill every web3 woman should learn.

speaker-0: growing and do it yourself.

speaker-1: one myth about women in tech you want to break.

speaker-0: they don't exist.

speaker-1: DeFi, governance, or infra? What is your favorite space?

speaker-0: DeFi because it can be sustainable.

speaker-1: Copy your code.

speaker-0: Both, I love coffee. I do love code too, but I'd say probably coffee if I had to choose one of the two.

speaker-1: Or maybe we can change the question, coffee with code. Right. White paper or podcast? Online or in person events?

speaker-0: Yeah, that's a perfect combination. White paper. in person.

speaker-1: Layer 1 or Layer 2. One word, decentralization feels like.

speaker-0: Layer 1. Decentralization feels like theater sometimes.

speaker-1: And the final question, the future of Ethereum is?

speaker-0: is everywhere.

speaker-1: Awesome. You successfully have answered all the questions. Sorry we didn't have any gift hampers for you right now, but congratulations.

speaker-0: No, thank you for asking. Those are good questions. I wasn't sure what I would get, so I was like, ⁓ my god, yeah, I hope it's not a tough one, but these are great.

speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, all these are fun. just want to have the conversation ongoing. All right. Michelle, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today and sharing your journey, your work, your perspective so openly. It's really inspiring to see how Octant is making impact on new and upcoming projects and seeing you, a women in leadership position, is even more inspiring. Thank you so much for taking our time today. Thank you.

speaker-0: for having me and for allowing me to share my journey. This was so cool.

speaker-1: Dear listeners, thank you for tuning in to this special series, Women Powering Web3 by ECH Institute. If this conversation resonates with you, do share it within your communities. And if you are a woman looking to step into the Web3 space, we hope these stories inspire you and you'll be able to take that first step. Look forward for many more stories coming up on your way. Thank you. Cheers.