Where there is a phenomenal will, there is a way to market. Thank you for the highlight Cindy Gallop. Also: #FundFemaleFounders
Thanks Olena Petrosyuk for writing this - my responses: when you have a truly worldchanging #sextech startup (like MakeLoveNotPorn), you have to change the world to fit it, not the other way round. Vice clauses and the 'headline risk'? Don't go after VC funding. Advertising and marketing bans? Those barriers fall when you write big enough checks (work with Amy Deneson of Pheno who helps brands that can't advertise, to advertise). Payment processing bans? That's why I'm raising funding to build the Stripe of sextech (and I've found banks willing to underwrite it). Shortage of recruitable talent? Not when you have a mission-driven unicorn-in-waiting people want to work for (people write to us every week at MakeLoveNotPorn asking to come and work for us). Make it about more than sex? You can't hide the fact it's about sex, and trust me, you will NOT want to work with investors who want to pretend it isn't. Prove you've validated your idea? It won't matter, with investors who don't get it. Show you know your way around the industry-related challenges? Absolutely, and even better, build solutions to them (why I'm raising funding for both the Stripe of sextech, and HereForTheAds, the adtech that enables us all to advertise while completely reinventing the existing adtech business model). Create a hyper-relevant investor outreach pipeline? Yes - by ATTRACTING THE INVESTORS WHO GET IT - see my unique investor-finding strategy: https://lnkd.in/exRUTiV9 Prioritize diversity and inclusivity? Not universally applicable - even diverse, inclusive investors will balk at sextech. Have a history of investing in taboo industries? You'd be amazed at how many cannabis/gambling/gaming investors won't touch sextech. Interested in investing in sextech and sexual wellness? What I call a 'hierarchy of acceptability' operates in sextech - eg investors who will fund sex toys/DTC sexual health and wellness products, won't touch MLNP. The best times for sextech are ahead, starting now? ABSO-BLOODY-LUTELY. 2024 is our year - watch this space 🙂 Tech.eu https://lnkd.in/eQEeaz4Z