Who doesn't want to go to a Build-A-Vibe workshop? That’s right, a workshop where amidst wine, cheese and premium silicon parts you build your own vibrator under the watchful eye of San Francisco industrial designer Ti Chang, co-founder of Crave, a maker of modern sex toys.
Ms. Chang didn't set out to redefine vibrators or to start a company that is now at the center of tech, sex and design. Born in Taiwan, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia with her family when she was six years old. After graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in industrial design, she went on to get a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art in London. Several years spent working for large companies designing everything from hairbrushes to office furniture convinced her to set off on her own, hoping to design products specifically for women.
In 2008 she started a company called Incoqnito (it’s now part of Crave) making high-end foreplay jewelry – think vibrating necklaces and multi-purpose cuffs. Her inspiration was a visit to a sex shop. “I went into a sex shop and thought ‘you must be joking,’" says Ms. Chang, age 34. “This was a category that needed help.” The adult toy industry became her cause.
Then, in a chance meeting in a taxi line at a trade show, she met serial entrepreneur and Stanford graduate Michael Topolovac. Ms. Chang joined Crave as a co-founder in 2010. In 2011 the company raised $104,000 in crowd-funding from 950 backers with the goal of making a luxury vibrator. Mr. Topolovac is chief executive officer and handles the engineering side of the operation. Ms. Chang, whom he calls “a female Jony Ive” in reference to
Ms. Chang’s first priority was getting to know her customer (FYI, there’s a waiting list for product testers, and stiff competition for company internships). She knew women wanted something more elegant than the neon-colored vibrator you might find at a novelty shop next to a hotel that rents rooms by the hour. Likewise, she found that women didn't want to fuss with batteries (who ever has the right size?), cords or loud noises (no one wants to listen to the roar of the motor).
The solution was the Duet which the company launched in 2012. The sleek, tuning-fork design looks like something you might see at the Apple store. It’s not something customers have to hide from the cleaning lady because, thankfully in some cases, it doesn’t look like previous generations of vibrators. It plugs into any standard USB port where it will charge in under two hours. And it’s not just about looks. The Duet has four power levels, four vibration settings and dual motors in the asymmetric tip to achieve maximum results. It’s waterproof and comes in a discreet black leather case. The price of all that fun: $149.00.
The company has since launched the Duet Lux ($349.00) which includes up to 16 gigabytes of storage (use your imagination - Ms. Chang stores her favorite movies on it) and comes with a gold-plated base. They have also introduced the Wink ($69.00) which looks like a tube of lip gloss and the Solo ($139.00) which resembles the Duet but only has a single point of contact.
Last year the company raised another $2.4 million from angel investors. While the founders won’t comment on revenues, they say sales have doubled in the last year. “We are capacity constrained, not demand constrained,” says Mr. Topolovac, age 47.
The factory sits in San Francisco’s ultra-hip SoMa (South of Market) neighborhood, near Sightglass Coffee and a host of tech start-ups. It looks like a machine shop, and it’s here that they produce prototypes and refine designs. Keeping the process in-house makes the company nimble and allows for greater quality control, says Ms. Chang, who stands out not just for her designs but also for being the rare female in the male-dominated worlds of both tech and sex.
Ms. Chang says it’s a challenge being a woman in any business, though she says boundaries and a sense of humor are essential if you want to succeed. When she first started visiting factories in China, she remembers being mistaken for the translator and having factory owners ask when the boss was going to arrive. She would explain that she was the boss, though it took time for that to sink in, she says.
People take her seriously, she says, because of her perseverance. She credits her parents with her work ethic. “Watching my parents, who were immigrants to the US and worked hard, gave me the notion that anything is possible if you work hard enough." Ms. Chang and her siblings grew up helping out in the family furniture business which began in a flea market and eventually became a chain of four stores.
Still, there’s a stigma about the adult toy business. “A lot of people think sex toys automatically equate with porn,” says Ms. Chang. For a long time her father told people that she was teaching English in China rather than explain that she had co-founded a luxury vibrator company.
Crave is working to change the stigma and seems to be making headway. When the California Academy of Sciences, a natural history museum in San Francisco, wanted to spice up a recent event they brought in Crave’s Build-A-Vibe workshop. “The crowd is very open-minded and they expect that surprise factor when they come to our events,” says a museum spokeswoman, adding that the theme that night was the science of craving.
Serene Martinez is the owner of Pink Bunny, a San Francisco boutique that sells lingerie, intimate accessories and more than 30 different vibrators. She says the Duet is her bestseller because of the design and the quality.
“I love the Duet. First and foremost it’s healthy,” says Ms. Martinez, who in an unregulated industry prides herself on stocking items that are phthalate-free. “We have a rigid selection process for toys.” Pink Bunny recently hosted a Build-A-Vibe workshop where each customer assembled their own Duet to take home. Ms. Chang stood at the ready in case anyone needed a hand.
“We’re just at the very start of this and so far it’s been a really great journey,” says Ms. Chang. “I love what I do." As a bonus, she says the trade shows are always entertaining and her friends love her Facebook posts.
