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To coincide with International Women’s Day, we caught up with OMGYES co-founder Lydia Daniller — “VCs don’t fund projects about [female pleasure], the app stores ban anything remotely explicit.”

Our attitudes towards sex may be changing, but female pleasure can still be a taboo conversation topic. Hoping to encourage a shift and create a more open, liberated dialogue for women curious to find out more about sexual pleasure, OMGYES is a platform offering interactive videos of participants willing to share their experience-based (and scientific research supported) techniques on female pleasure.

And it is doing it by integrating new tech — the sex ed videos are ‘touchable’. Participants worked with engineers to program in their unique sensitivities and reactions, and users are able to practice techniques on the screen and receive audio feedback. Find out more in the interview below, where we talk to Lydia about breaking down taboos, scrapping a finished, polished prototype because there was a better solution, and how intense starting your own business can actually be.

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Thanks Lydia!

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

7. What motivates you to keep going? What do you do when you hit a block?

Pleasure is one of the best parts of living, and we want people to explore this stuff and benefit from the collective wisdom of the women we talked to. Women, men, and couples have written in, thanking us for doing this work – that’s always motivation to keep doing it.

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

6. What drove you crazy when building your business?

All the work that we had to scrap. We’d think we had a system or way of presenting content that was dialed in, and we’d build that to a finished polish, only to find a better solution and have to rebuild. Prototypes only go so far when the nuance of execution matters so much, as it does in our case when communicating such intimate information.

7. What motivates you to keep going? What do you do when you hit a block?

Pleasure is one of the best parts of living, and we want people to explore this stuff and benefit from the collective wisdom of the women we talked to. Women, men, and couples have written in, thanking us for doing this work – that’s always motivation to keep doing it.

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

5. What’s the most important characteristic for being an entrepreneur?

Endurance + perseverance + belief in what you’re doing. You should be willing to persevere despite many inevitable bumps in the road. There will be many days when it seems impossible and there could be great, rational reasons to give up… but you must continue!

6. What drove you crazy when building your business?

All the work that we had to scrap. We’d think we had a system or way of presenting content that was dialed in, and we’d build that to a finished polish, only to find a better solution and have to rebuild. Prototypes only go so far when the nuance of execution matters so much, as it does in our case when communicating such intimate information.

7. What motivates you to keep going? What do you do when you hit a block?

Pleasure is one of the best parts of living, and we want people to explore this stuff and benefit from the collective wisdom of the women we talked to. Women, men, and couples have written in, thanking us for doing this work – that’s always motivation to keep doing it.

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

4. How do you unwind or relax when you’re not working on your business?

Haha. That’s tough. It can be hard to switch gears and relax when something you care about passionately is growing so quickly…when there are urgent emails from journalists coming in in the middle of the night with deadlines the next day, bug fixes on weekends, etc. Plus, as entrepreneurs, we are always thinking about how to improve our product and the customer experience. As people trying to take down a societal taboo, our minds are often racing over new research and how best to present the findings. It can be a huge challenge to relax, but listening to music and spontaneous dance parties seem to help!

5. What’s the most important characteristic for being an entrepreneur?

Endurance + perseverance + belief in what you’re doing. You should be willing to persevere despite many inevitable bumps in the road. There will be many days when it seems impossible and there could be great, rational reasons to give up… but you must continue!

6. What drove you crazy when building your business?

All the work that we had to scrap. We’d think we had a system or way of presenting content that was dialed in, and we’d build that to a finished polish, only to find a better solution and have to rebuild. Prototypes only go so far when the nuance of execution matters so much, as it does in our case when communicating such intimate information.

7. What motivates you to keep going? What do you do when you hit a block?

Pleasure is one of the best parts of living, and we want people to explore this stuff and benefit from the collective wisdom of the women we talked to. Women, men, and couples have written in, thanking us for doing this work – that’s always motivation to keep doing it.

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

3. Can you describe a typical working day?

At first, everyone did everything — now we’re learning to tackle the pieces that we’re best at and focus. As a startup, we are consistently looking for ways to connect with our customers and learn from their experiences. On the website development front, our talented engineers create first-of-their-kind AI simulations, and map out ways different people communicate to their partners for the ‘touchable videos’, where users can practice techniques and receive feedback as they go.

4. How do you unwind or relax when you’re not working on your business?

Haha. That’s tough. It can be hard to switch gears and relax when something you care about passionately is growing so quickly…when there are urgent emails from journalists coming in in the middle of the night with deadlines the next day, bug fixes on weekends, etc. Plus, as entrepreneurs, we are always thinking about how to improve our product and the customer experience. As people trying to take down a societal taboo, our minds are often racing over new research and how best to present the findings. It can be a huge challenge to relax, but listening to music and spontaneous dance parties seem to help!

5. What’s the most important characteristic for being an entrepreneur?

Endurance + perseverance + belief in what you’re doing. You should be willing to persevere despite many inevitable bumps in the road. There will be many days when it seems impossible and there could be great, rational reasons to give up… but you must continue!

6. What drove you crazy when building your business?

All the work that we had to scrap. We’d think we had a system or way of presenting content that was dialed in, and we’d build that to a finished polish, only to find a better solution and have to rebuild. Prototypes only go so far when the nuance of execution matters so much, as it does in our case when communicating such intimate information.

7. What motivates you to keep going? What do you do when you hit a block?

Pleasure is one of the best parts of living, and we want people to explore this stuff and benefit from the collective wisdom of the women we talked to. Women, men, and couples have written in, thanking us for doing this work – that’s always motivation to keep doing it.

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

2. What change does OMGYES want to facilitate?

We think the current taboo around women’s sexual pleasure will seem ridiculous to people in 20 years — similar to how things have shifted toward greater comfort and ease with regard to taboos from the past, like oral sex and homosexuality. We want to accelerate that progress and shed light on the realities and details of pleasure.

3. Can you describe a typical working day?

At first, everyone did everything — now we’re learning to tackle the pieces that we’re best at and focus. As a startup, we are consistently looking for ways to connect with our customers and learn from their experiences. On the website development front, our talented engineers create first-of-their-kind AI simulations, and map out ways different people communicate to their partners for the ‘touchable videos’, where users can practice techniques and receive feedback as they go.

4. How do you unwind or relax when you’re not working on your business?

Haha. That’s tough. It can be hard to switch gears and relax when something you care about passionately is growing so quickly…when there are urgent emails from journalists coming in in the middle of the night with deadlines the next day, bug fixes on weekends, etc. Plus, as entrepreneurs, we are always thinking about how to improve our product and the customer experience. As people trying to take down a societal taboo, our minds are often racing over new research and how best to present the findings. It can be a huge challenge to relax, but listening to music and spontaneous dance parties seem to help!

5. What’s the most important characteristic for being an entrepreneur?

Endurance + perseverance + belief in what you’re doing. You should be willing to persevere despite many inevitable bumps in the road. There will be many days when it seems impossible and there could be great, rational reasons to give up… but you must continue!

6. What drove you crazy when building your business?

All the work that we had to scrap. We’d think we had a system or way of presenting content that was dialed in, and we’d build that to a finished polish, only to find a better solution and have to rebuild. Prototypes only go so far when the nuance of execution matters so much, as it does in our case when communicating such intimate information.

7. What motivates you to keep going? What do you do when you hit a block?

Pleasure is one of the best parts of living, and we want people to explore this stuff and benefit from the collective wisdom of the women we talked to. Women, men, and couples have written in, thanking us for doing this work – that’s always motivation to keep doing it.

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!

1. Where did the idea for your business come from?

We found there was an information gap when it came to the issue of women’s pleasure. There’s been a lack of honest and straightforward conversation and education about it in mainstream media. VCs don’t fund projects about it, the app stores ban anything remotely explicit. Tech talent avoids it. No one else was taking this on, yet we knew people were incredibly curious. Just glancing at the quick-tip headlines on every major glossy magazine, you can see there is a demand for more information.

Identifying this need and having a personal desire to meet it, we started a company to conduct the first large-scale research to take a real look into the different ways that women experience pleasure. And we wanted to share those insights with people in an honest, explicit and educational way.

2. What change does OMGYES want to facilitate?

We think the current taboo around women’s sexual pleasure will seem ridiculous to people in 20 years — similar to how things have shifted toward greater comfort and ease with regard to taboos from the past, like oral sex and homosexuality. We want to accelerate that progress and shed light on the realities and details of pleasure.

3. Can you describe a typical working day?

At first, everyone did everything — now we’re learning to tackle the pieces that we’re best at and focus. As a startup, we are consistently looking for ways to connect with our customers and learn from their experiences. On the website development front, our talented engineers create first-of-their-kind AI simulations, and map out ways different people communicate to their partners for the ‘touchable videos’, where users can practice techniques and receive feedback as they go.

4. How do you unwind or relax when you’re not working on your business?

Haha. That’s tough. It can be hard to switch gears and relax when something you care about passionately is growing so quickly…when there are urgent emails from journalists coming in in the middle of the night with deadlines the next day, bug fixes on weekends, etc. Plus, as entrepreneurs, we are always thinking about how to improve our product and the customer experience. As people trying to take down a societal taboo, our minds are often racing over new research and how best to present the findings. It can be a huge challenge to relax, but listening to music and spontaneous dance parties seem to help!

5. What’s the most important characteristic for being an entrepreneur?

Endurance + perseverance + belief in what you’re doing. You should be willing to persevere despite many inevitable bumps in the road. There will be many days when it seems impossible and there could be great, rational reasons to give up… but you must continue!

6. What drove you crazy when building your business?

All the work that we had to scrap. We’d think we had a system or way of presenting content that was dialed in, and we’d build that to a finished polish, only to find a better solution and have to rebuild. Prototypes only go so far when the nuance of execution matters so much, as it does in our case when communicating such intimate information.

7. What motivates you to keep going? What do you do when you hit a block?

Pleasure is one of the best parts of living, and we want people to explore this stuff and benefit from the collective wisdom of the women we talked to. Women, men, and couples have written in, thanking us for doing this work – that’s always motivation to keep doing it.

8. If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

Build a single vertical slice of the product and not scale it out until that vertical slice is fine-tuned and focus groups are loving it. Because this was the first research ever conducted and our findings were so interesting, we had a rush mentality…we felt we had to share our insights as fast as we could, which meant doing things at scale before they were completely finessed. Even when reading all the lean methodology books counseling startups, it’s hard to have talented makers sitting on their hands waiting for the green light.

9. Do you have any habits or routines, which help you in your working life?

Coffee in the morning, short walks around the neighborhood in the middle of the day, 1-minute dance parties!

10. What book are you reading, or writing now?

Currently, I’m reading Rebecca Solnit’s A field guide to getting lost – she’s one of my favorite authors.

11. Where do you see your business in five years, and how will you get there?

Having only launched three months ago, we are still in the exciting stages of releasing what we’ve built to the rest of the world. The response has been so positive and we’ve gotten lots of encouragement to continue our research about pleasure.

There’s so much more to explore. And, because of the incredible response (over 40,000 users in the first two months) we have already begun the next series of studies and content exploring the specific ways pleasure changes over a lifetime. Much of the revenue raised will fund future research aimed at de-stigmatizing and demystifying more and more facets of sexual pleasure.

14. How did you get your initial round of funding to get your company off the ground?

Initially, we were working out of living rooms with our own money. Then, when we knew we were onto something truly unique and worthwhile, we talked to individuals (not VCs or Angel groups) and explained our vision. It took time. When the idea really isn’t about money, but about changing things for the better, people take the meeting and get inspired.

15. Do you have any wise words for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Everyone can read (in books and blogs about entrepreneurship) that it’s going to be harder than you expect. That it’s like a rollercoaster, with amazing highs, and stressful lows. You can read that 1,000 times, but until you live it, you don’t really understand HOW intense it can really get. Kind of like reading about heartbreak versus living it. Make sure you love the idea so much that you’re willing to literally go crazy for a while in service of it… and hopefully your friends and family will understand not seeing you as much for the next few years!

Thanks Lydia!