Recently, while scrolling through Twitter, I noticed a pretty interesting phenomenon: many female models and internet celebrities in the Web3 community are claiming to be co-founders. At first, I really believed it, but then I realized there are quite a few tricks behind it.

Honestly, the Web3 ecosystem indeed provides a breeding ground for this kind of identity packaging. Because many projects are inherently decentralized, the boundaries of the team are blurry, and there’s no strict organizational structure like in traditional companies. As long as you’ve participated in project promotion, fundraising, planning, or even just managing social media, in theory, you can label yourself as a co-founder. This has led to the title “Co-founder” becoming an easy-to-use tool for branding and quickly boosting personal reputation.

What I’ve observed is that many people claiming to be co-founders are mainly involved in marketing and social media operations, with no participation in core technical development or business decision-making. But this title really works—it enhances professionalism, makes it easier to connect with VCs and partners, and can even be monetized through influence. Some models and influencers with a solid following leverage this to craft a “female KOL + project founder” persona, attracting Web3 users’ attention and investments.

Of course, not all female entrepreneurs are like this. There are truly women entrepreneurs in Web3 doing real, substantial work. But on Twitter, you can definitely see a lot of people riding the co-founder hype for marketing purposes.

So next time you see someone claiming to be a co-founder of a project, ask yourself—are they actually the project’s real operator, or just someone putting on a front to ride the wave of traffic? This distinction is actually very important.