006 | "Only Vibrator in the World that Tracks Your Orgasms" (Anna at Lioness)

Jun 28

Today’s guest on the “Phil with Forbes 30” podcast is Anna Lee – CEO of Lioness

Forbes List: USA
Year: 2020
Category: Consumer Technology

Anna Lee, is a technical co-founder of Lioness, the women-led sexual wellness startup that built the world's first, and only, vibrator that tracks your orgasm so you can learn how to make them better and better.

It uses precision sensors and an app to track your orgasm and see what factors make your orgasm better or worse; stress, alcohol, sleep, partners and more.

Before starting Lioness, Anna was a UC Berkeley engineer at Amazon, launching the Amazon Dash Button’s original concept.

She is an advocate in Lioness’s mission to expand understanding and research in sexual health, while destigmatizing female sexuality.

Phil’s discussion with Anna is conducted with respect, compassion, sensitivity, and a bit of humor. The highlights include:

Anna’s own expectations to get a corporate job, stay there until it’s time for child rearing years etc.
She never expected to be making a “sex toy” or having to explain that to her mom.
Anna tells of overcoming her own fears and sexual trauma experienced in childhood; trying to understand feelings of self-worth and being unworthy of sexual pleasure.
A chance encounter with a sex toy founder made her question the intentions of building intimacy products.
Anna explains how her passion for the product is a way of healing.
The sensitivities of explaining her career choices to her religious, immigrant parents and the surprising revelations from her mom.
The lack of research concerning women and their bodies. - Anna continues with the challenges of speaking on a “taboo” subject, especially in the startup world in the Silicon Valley.
The difference in presenting sexual health verses sexual pleasure.
Becoming one of the leaders in creating studies with medical academic researchers; taking a scientific approach to sexual health.
Anna gives a description of how the technology works; measurements of rhythmic pelvic floor moments; how women differ in orgasms and how the biofeedback works.
How sex education does not touch on the opportunities to self-explore.
Anna promotes the product as a self-experiment tool but also thinks it’s great to bring in partners and have fun with it.
Anna’s advice is to put yourself in the mentality of “if I don’t do it, who will.”

“Under 30 Seconds Round”

1. What is the book you’ve gifted more often than any other book, and why?

The Toaster Project, Thomas Thwaites

2. What’s one of the best investments and one of the worst investments you’ve ever made and why?

Best - My therapist
Worst - My 2007 car

3. What’s the most impactful thing you do in your Morning routine and most impactful thing you do in your Evening routine?

AM - A really green smoothie
PM - Using my product to find tech bugs

4. Pretend you won the Peter Thiel Fellowship and you were going to get money to start a business instead of go to college, what’s the very first thing you’d do to start a new business?