We're Here, We're Queer, and We've Got a Newsletter!

Welcome to product qties, a community for LGBTQ+ folks in product

About 5 months ago, I asked folks on different social media platforms whether they’d be interested in a queer product meetup. The initial idea was to set up an in-person event in Berlin, as I was starved for more live interaction and felt like I missed a community of LGBTQ+ folks working in product and tech outside my own contacts and network.

The response was overwhelming — I wasn’t the only one who had the idea. It soon became clear that this was more than a meetup: this had all the makings of a budding community.

So here we are, several months later, when I finally found the time to do something about it.

And so ✨ product qties ✨, a community for LGBTQ+ folks working in product was born.

I splashed together a logo using a sticker in FigJam, shared it with LinkedIn, and a day later, we got 27 member signups, 5 of whom expressed an interest in co-organizing events. 🤯

But it didn’t stop there! Only 8 hours after the original post, we had 3 confirmed speakers for a panel event on queer leadership. More on this to come very very soon! ✨

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, a former coworker and buddy reached out and offered her store as a community event space.

To say I was left speechless and overjoyed is an understatement.

Our little community was already growing, and it looked like this idea won’t remain just an idea.

I spent the next 3 days researching community building principles, tools, tech stack, and what-not. After an exhaustive (and exhausting 🥱) online search, I ended up deciding to keep things simple:

• I bought productqties.com 🎉

• I tried and messed up registering a Google Workspace with the above domain. Their support team and I are in the middle of a long chat now 😅

• I registered a new Zoom account

• I set up a product qties Slack (but I’m a bit skeptical about using it)

• And after becoming annoyed at a couple of email newsletter tools, I went for what I already knew and understood — and so this Substack was born

Most of the above tools have limitations on their free tiers, and since for now I’m just doing this out of pocket, I’m looking for free tools that do a good job.

If you have ideas or experience with community tooling, please reach out by replying or leaving a comment!

What Comes Next?

Over the next few weeks, the plan is to organize a panel on queer product leadership with three incredible speakers whose names and faces you all already know. They are product hotshots and inspirational leaders, thinkers, writers, and queer folk!

This will be followed by an in-person meetup in Berlin, probably in April.

I will keep you posted about dates, times, and formats.

But until then, let’s celebrate the birth of this new community. I can’t wait for us to get to know each other, learn, grow, and build!

Yours,
Mirza