Minnalife's long table in the office of San Francisco's former industrial center-Dogpatch
Full of hardware: mechanical, sensor, and 21-inch desktops.
On the side table away from the large machine, the company's main products are placed: a small pink-colored lemon-
A shape personal vibrator called Limon. “I wanted it (
Personal vibrator)
Become a product that reminds users of other things (
Except the vibrator)
Grace Lee, Limon's designer, said. The 25-year-
Old design graduates chose this shape after many studies and consultations with friends and colleagues.
Brian Krieger, founder of Minnalife, simplified the operation of Limon.
He installed it in memory in order to be able to record and play back the previous feeling.
He also uses his mechatronics background to remove the vibrator button (
For different intensity of Happiness)
Make it squishy.
"No one will press the button when using the vibrator," Up, up "or" down, down ", soft explains
Graduated from Stanford University in engineering.
Therefore, the harder it is to limit being squeezed, the greater its vibration.
In mainstream culture, the adult toy industry is shaped by an image that combines bawdy with risque.
For example, their products are mainly sold by plump blonde beauties.
The products themselves are a combination of shapes and colors.
A group of entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are challenging these stereotypes.
The clean bold lines replaced the clumsy shape.
The tone of the tulou shows a terrible color.
Rachael Ray is talking about adult toys, not blonde.
At first glance, cooperation between two seemingly different industries seems strange.
However, they have a lot in common.
A good adult toy is a consumer product that integrates aesthetics and machinery.
They need a deep understanding of design and engineering.
As many products such as smartphones and tablets have already shown, Silicon Valley is good at creating and marketing these products.
It also has the necessary ingredients.
Rich engineers, great designers and investor ecosystems that support and encourage risk --
Drive innovation in this lucrative industry.
Given its size (
Estimated from $5 billion to $15 billion)
For entrepreneurs eager to "subvert" the established industry, the adult toy industry should be a natural choice.
However, the focus on software startups, high hardware costs and taboos related to the industry prevent entrepreneurs from entering the field.
Changes have taken place in recent years.
Hardware revival
Related startups create a thriving manufacturer ecosystem that they work in the cross-cutting areas of design and engineering.
The development of advanced technologies such as 3D printing also reduces prototyping and manufacturing costs for hardware startups.
Greater social trends have further reduced barriers to entry.
The success of books such as "fifty-degree Grey" and "Girls" and other TV programs (
Both ways are frank discussions about sex and sex)
Attitudes towards sex are becoming more relaxed, even experimental.
New audiences are eager to explore their sexual orientation further and flock to adult toy stores, the main distribution channel for adult toys.
Mainstream retailers such as Wal-Mart have joined in bringing adult toys into their products.
According to Agata Kaczanowska, a research analyst at IBIS standard, the simple and anonymous supply of adult toys through the Internet has also helped the industry to popularize.
While the recession has slashed household budgets, the size of the adult toy industry is growing as consumers spend more time at home.
Kaczanowska wrote a report with an estimated annual growth rate of 6% for the industry by 2017.
However, encouraging prospects and growth figures are offset by the absence of well-known brands and quality products.
The vast majority of products in this industry are a combination of human anatomy and lack of imagination in standard packaging.
This makes entrepreneurs like Krieger more attractive.
"If there's a bunch of bad products, it's a big market for us," he said . ".
Back in 2003, Ethan Imboden founded JimmyJane, Silicon Valley's first adult toy startup, when he met a dormant market.
"Conversations about sex, especially in the United States, are trapped in Jurassic Amber and frozen in time," he said . ".
"There is a huge gap between people's expectations and the existing products in the market.
"The engineering and design context has cultivated his ability to discover opportunities for design improvement.
Then there's a self.
He started a business trip in this field.
After a few years of growth troubles (
Many of them include logistical and funding issues due to taboos related to the industry)
Jimmyjane has finally grown into a well-known brand.
Imboden has been a lone ranger in the taboo industry for several years.
Other entrepreneurs have joined him recently.
Michael Topolovac's shirt, rolled-up shirt sleeves and wrinkled hair look unlikely to be an advocate for lifestyle products.
In his conversation, he often quotes the spirit of Steve Jobs to compare his designer, Ti Chang, with Jony Ive.
Famous industrial designer of Apple
He said he hopes to make Crave an apple in the adult toy industry ".
"The table conversation with friends about the poor quality of adult toys has aroused the interest of the serial entrepreneur on the topic.
He then spent a year researching the industry.
At a trade show in China, Topolovac hit Chang, where she promoted her startup --
Incoqnito is a company that combines jewelry with erotic colors.
Chang is opposite to Topolovac.
Georgia Tech graduates are organized and petite and have burned savings and credit card bills when she meets topolowac.
He convinced her to work with him, and later Chang moved to Silicon Valley to design for Crave.
Crave's entry into the adult toy industry is a thoughtful choice.
Adult toys are a fulcrum for others.
Kreiger, for example, has entered the field since a product design consultancy.
Robin Ellen, chief executive of Revel Body, added during a consultant to develop an electric toothbrush for another company to find inspiration for the company's sonic vibrator. "The (toothbrush)
"Prototypes are faster and more fashionable than anything you 've ever seen before," he said . ".
Elenga used his learning at this stage to help develop the sonic vibrator series for Revel Body.
The vibration range provided by the vibrator is three times that of the conventional battery
Power vibrator.
In addition, the team at Revel Body eliminated the "buzz" associated with the electric toothbrush ".
According to Elenga, the noisy vibrator will expose women to the prying of "dirty old man next door. ".
Located in a trendy neighborhood in San Francisco, Good Vibrations is the oldest adult toy store in the city.
It stores a combination of novelty and premium products.
The former is stacked on the shelves in chaos of similar shapes and colors.
On the other hand, quality brands (
Such as Jimmyjane and desire)
In a glass box or on a table.
Product Launch reflects the dynamics of an industry that is still developing.
Novelty products using standard materials and shapes disrupt the low end of the price range.
Most startups in the adult toy industry are consciously positioning their products away from riff --raff.
"There is a pile of garbage in the novelty space, and it is difficult to try and distinguish in this space," said Topolovac from Crave . ".
Instead, startups in the field prefer to look at sexual fun through prism of design and lifestyle choice.
In terms of the product, this means a smooth surface, an unorthodox shape and an excellent design.
However, design needs to understand consumer preferences and use cases.
In the adult toy industry, neither exists.
Instead, entrepreneurs rely on a mix of personal intuition and research.
Crave's Chang is especially outspoken about breaking the status quo. “Women want (adult toy)
Like any other product, products that fit their lifestyle, "she said.
Her products incorporate sex into everyday life and challenge existing concepts and shapes related to the industry.
For example, the company's Duet vibrator is like a harmless USB stick.
The vibrator, which has five different speeds and 16 gb of storage space, is a flash memory device that is rolled into one. It is water-resistant (
"Make sure it can be used in the shower "), quiet (
"Can be used privately ")Cautious (
"It can be packed in a handbag and can be carried through airport security check ").
The product is developed through feedback iteration.
For example, several respondents to the original prototype of Duet said the battery was a ordeal.
Other options-chargers -
It will cause the charger of the consumer device to be overloaded.
Instead, the Crave team focused on USBs as a common platform for their devices.
Similarly, Imboden recently partnered with the famous industrial designer Yves Bihar as part of a happy project to make the tongueVibrator in shape. The Form-
The 3 vibrator is made by Super
Thin silicone, designed to make sure that couples don't like "they use kitchen appliances for a threesome ".
Most adult toy startups follow the Silicon Valley model in production practices.
So their products are designed and prototyped in the US and made in China.
Usually, this will bring affordable prices to consumers and bring more sales to manufacturers.
Adult Toy start-up companies have higher product requirementsthan-average prices.
This value proposition transforms their goods from goods to brand lifestyle products that consumers are willing to associate.
Imboden himself admits that customers pay for the Jimmyjane experience.
He equates the price of adult toys from Jimmyjane to movies and dinners to a good restaurant.
The average price is over $100 and the experience is not cheap.
Crave's Topolovac has also adopted a similar strategy to compare Crave's products to accessible luxury goods such as ipod.
He believes women are willing to pay more than $150 for their products.
However, the statistics available tell a different story.
Jackie Strano, executive vice president of Good Vibrations, said their highest level
The price of the product sold is between $50 and $100.
Kaczanowska adult toys in IBIS terminology are discretionary expenses and indicate that the product category is unstable and vulnerable to price fluctuations in times of financial difficulties.
Like a hint, Jimmyjane recently entered a novel space with Hello Touch, an adult toy that can turn your fingers into a vibrator.
With a group of social embarrassment and self
Conscious geeks, the Bay Area is usually not the first choice for lifestyle --
Focus on starting a business.
Fashion and fashion in New York and Los Angeles are more obvious choices.
During Jimmyjane's evolution, Imboden from San Francisco once considered moving the company to New York City.
"The connection between our brand and fashion, design and the expression of more extensive sexuality seems to resonate more with the emotions of New York and its Europe," he said . ".
However, despite the idea, he insisted on the Bay Area.
For years, however, an ecosystem of manufacturers, manufacturing organizations and the world --
The first-class designer proved Imboden's decision to stay in the Bay Area.
The ecosystem enables startups to iterate and expand their products.
For example, Topolovac has invested in CNC routers and 3D printers to improvise prototypes based on user feedback.
"The people here say we are going to do something difficult," he said . ".
"There's not much you can say.
"Because it's located in Seattle, Revel Body is an exception in the tech industry for adult toy startups.
However, Elenga took this opportunity firmly.
Recently, he was verified when a company ordered 1,000 vibrators (
Instead of the original 200)during a call.
He expects this demand to increase the company's prospects.
"If your sales are right, the return should be great," he said . ".
In the end, he said, it increased the chances of his company getting an acquisition.
Imboden's startupJimmyjane -
Created a market for advanced adult toys produced in Silicon Valley.
But he was hesitant to call himself a "vandal.
"This is a world we have already predicted and we want to accelerate the arrival of this world," he said . ".
Others prefer to see starting a business as a reflection of changes in social attitudes.
"From this point of view, of course we do not have the Napoleon complex that saved the world," Krieger laughed . ".
"Much bigger than us is happening and we are dealing with these cultural changes," said Topolovac . ".
"The market has been destroyed and we support this here.