Will built a tool so Lani could build their own website. Then it turned out other people wanted it too. Hi.
“I'm glad you're here.”
I spent a decade in global philanthropy and a decade at McKinsey, and I kept coming back to the same question: who’s building real support for diverse women and queer leaders? That question led to co-founding Our Space Berkeley, and eventually to Lanlan. I coach leaders at lanimarsden.com. Lanlan is named after me — it was my childhood nickname.
"I'm the one who makes things work."
I spent 15 years at early-stage startups — Pulse, Medium, Range, Productable — building engineering teams and the culture around them. More recently I co-founded Noodle Labs to bring embedded leadership support to startups, and I write about engineering leadership at jeanhsu.com.
“I care deeply about the world and the people in it.”
For the past decade I’ve run LittleFeminist.com — a social enterprise that publishes and promotes diverse children’s books. I’m the co-founder of Our Space Berkeley and also work as a fractional Chief Marketing Officer for mission-driven businesses. Lanlan is that: a tool with a mission, for people doing real work in the world.
“I built the prototype because I wanted Lani to have it.”
I’m a developer with a background in civic tech and participatory design. I built the first version of Lanlan because I wanted Lani to have it — and then it turned out other people wanted it too. I stay involved as a technical advisor and occasional bug-fixer. Also Lani’s spouse, which makes team meetings interesting.
Britt and Lani co-founded Our Space Berkeley, and Jean was a Founding Member. When it came time to build our website, Lani asked Will — software developer, spouse — for help. Will didn't build the site. He built a tool so Lani could build it themselves. Then it turned out other people wanted it too. So here we are.
You're not meeting us. You're meeting three or four AI specialists we built — a brand strategist, a visual designer, sometimes a copywriter or audience researcher. Each one has a point of view and opinions they'll defend.
They talk to each other about your project. They push back, disagree, ask you questions, find consensus. The conversation sounds like a real design meeting — except the specialists are AI personas.
The site you walk away with is the one that conversation produced. Not a template. Not a wizard output. A real design conversation, for the kinds of businesses that don't usually get one.
This page was built with Lanlan, in about an hour. So can yours.
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