How I Launched: Maude

Dina Epstein and Eva Goicochea were united by their experience of work in the sexual health space to take on a legacy industry that felt very tired. Here, the duo share the story behind Maude, their modern sexual wellness brand, and their drive to revolutionise sex lives around the world.

1. The big idea
EG: “In this liberated era when you can have access to almost anything relating to sex, sexual health is still completely outdated and dominated by legacy brands. I mean, there are only 23 condom manufacturers in the entire world, and Trojan owns 70 percent of the US market. Prior to being one of the first employees at Everlane, I worked as a legislative aide in healthcare, while Dina — who had majored in industrial design at RISD — also worked in the sexual health space. Both of us had this passion to take on a legacy industry and make sexual wellness better for everyone. ”

2. Forming a plan
DE: “There wasn’t really one ‘aha’ moment or a concrete plan. After our initial chat about the concept, it was simply about the evolution of the idea and figuring out what we could do with the resources that we had. There was never any hesitation about whether or not this should be happening. As soon as we spoke, we decided that we were doing it: creating a modern sexual wellness brand to replace outdated products with easy-to-use, thoughtfully designed basics such as condoms, lubricants, a ‘vibe personal massager’ and massage candle.”

3. Securing funding
EG: “We raised money twice, which probably took about 18 months of our lives and hundreds of rejections. Interestingly, in all the conversations we’ve had about Maude, we’ve never been told that the idea itself was bad or that it doesn’t make sense. There have been a lot of nos based on fear around sex in the tech industry, but we let these outdated ideas just run off our backs. There’s no amount of rejection that could actually change our convictions or dent our feelings about moving on and moving forward.”

4. Naming the brand
DE: “The name ‘Maude’ appealed to us for several reasons. First off, its Germanic root literally means ‘powerful battler,’ which we’ll need as we take on legacy behemoths like Trojan. It’s also a nod to the golden age of condoms between the 1920s and 1940s, when companies used beautiful packaging and brand names such as 3 Merry Widows to skirt US laws banning all things obscene. In the 1970s, Maude was also the name of a trailblazing sitcom with Beatrice Arthur that dealt with reproductive rights, civil rights and gender equality. Finally, we like to think of it as a play on modern (maudern), which to us means simple and inclusive.”

5. Creating an identity
EG: “When we first started working on the brand, we had a really strong idea around the visual identity — our mission was to create better packaging for condoms, lubricants and vibrators, with a nod to vintage branding. Currently, the industry still plays to an outdated design formula of pink for women and blue for men. Maude’s look and feel really evolved once we solidified the company’s basic tenets; what are our core values? Who believes in these things, regardless of gender or age? We extended those principles into everything we do; from the pared-back packaging and tone of voice to the universal (rather than gendered) names of our customer service team.”

6. Building the brand
EG: “Early on, the responses to a survey we sent out gave us a real sense of validation. We got feedback from more than 650 people, aged 18 to 80, and 98 percent of those people had no brand affinity for existing sexual health companies. They kept saying the same things over and over, regardless of age range, sexual preference or gender. That’s when we knew for sure that this wasn’t just something that we alone were feeling. There’s a real need in the marketplace for what we’re building.”

7. Dealing with drama
EG: “The gender bias was probably our biggest challenge. We’d walk into a room and the automatic assumption was that we must be creating a company for women. Our response was: a) just because we’re women doesn’t mean we’re creating something just for women and b) we’re about sex and sex only. That bias is frustrating, but we just kept repeating our message: people make companies for people. Leave gender out of it.”

8. Eye on the future
DE: “It’s not about expanding to have 20 sex toys in our lineup. It’s not about having different types of lubricants or products — this is about feeling comfortable with your sex life. We want to make a global impact. Our industry is in a similar state to many others: it’s large, male-dominated corporations telling you what your life should look like. And that doesn’t make for an inclusive, positive relationship with sex. We want to make tools that are easy to use and products that will help you get to that place.”

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