Beyond Coding Episode #86

SexTech Startup with Emilie Wiersma

Xebia Wave Long Background

Description

Tailoring to a user group which hasn’t traditionally been tailored much to, Emilie aims to create the biggest sex-positive marketplace in the world with Konfettie!

Like any other founder, she’s had to overcome challenges, but not everyone deals with being slandered and banned from social media. The way she picks back up in the face of adversity is admirable and I’m really happy she’s sharing her learnings along the way.

Enjoy!

 

Youtube

Full episode on YouTube ▶️
https://youtu.be/Pz3xe4Y10cA

New episodes every Wednesday with our host  Patrick Akil!
Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible!

 

Guest

Connect with Emilie Wiersma:
https://nl.linkedin.com/in/emiliewiersma
https://twitter.com/sextechsavvy

 

Outline

00:00:00 – Intro
00:00:28 – Emilie has 3 mentors
00:03:47 – Emilie’s first business
00:05:24 – Not working for a boss
00:06:37 – Creating fantasies for people
00:09:37 – Sex toys are unregulated
00:11:14 – Etsy and censorship
00:14:10 – Cheap materials
00:15:07 – Onboarding sellers on Konfettie
00:16:23 – Issues with products
00:17:46 – How to set up a marketplace
00:18:48 – Failing to deliver
00:19:57 – Everything custom
00:21:17 – People don’t know what they want
00:24:15 – Emilie was doing everything
00:26:02 – Getting kicked off of social media
00:28:37 – Sex toy collectors
00:30:41 – Marketing that doesn’t scale
00:33:04 – Airbnb was funded with cereal boxes
00:34:07 – Smut Slam
00:36:18 – Finding a co-founder
00:39:14 – Investment rounds
00:42:22 – Different dynamics with a team
00:44:18 – It’s just a company
00:45:54 – Listening to customer feedback
00:50:34 – What is the end goal?