????作為這個領域內的一位女性設計師，你覺得自己有優勢嗎？

????我想這給了我一項優勢。當然，我的身體構造也是。開個玩笑。哦，不，不是真的這樣。成人玩具市場雖然有很多是女用玩具，但基本上都是男性構想出來的。這一行沒有太多像我這樣的人。我是真得繪制產品設計圖，打印3D模型，進行人種調查和訪問。

????從創業變成共同創始人，這個過程怎么樣？

????案頭工作可能是增加了。但從籌集大量資金和進行風投推介來看，我認為自己并不是硅谷嚴格意義上的創業家。這是邁克和我聯手的一個重要原因。

????必須要說，作為Crave的一位共同創始人，這個轉變非常自然，我的理念沒有打折扣。

????你如何根據這各理念來凝聚員工？

????事實上這比你想得要容易多了。我們這里有不到6個人，實習生和其他喜歡我們這項事業的人們總是不斷地來來去去。我們希望招募的人員積極主動。為什么成人用品不能像打印機和筆記本電腦那樣有著高質量的設計？

????你面臨的一些問題可能是打印機和筆記本電腦生產廠商從未遇到過的，是嗎？

????有些人認為，成人玩具意味著你身處色情行業，事實并非如此。必須承認，我父母剛剛聽說的時候也是這么想的。幸運的是，后來他們基本上不再糾結。我開一家公司時，我母親就非常支持我。我父親非常猶豫。

????這個行業正在發生變化，但當你說出“成人玩具”時，人們立刻會想到的是超大陰莖，不會認為這是一款奢侈的玩具。不會自然而然地產生這種想法。

????作為一個企業領導人，你如何在這樣一個遮遮掩掩或被人詬病的市場中發展？

????我們最初創立這家公司時就進行了一個眾籌項目。我們曾經想在Kickstarter上為我們的（成人玩具）Duet籌資，結果遭到回絕。因此，我們轉向另一家更加注重設計的眾籌網站。我們在Techcrunch和Gizmodo上引發的關注令我驚訝。最高峰時，我們每分鐘都會收到一條微博。從這件事，我也意識到了人們的期待。我們打造了有史以來第一款眾籌成人玩具。如果我們沒有做這個項目，我可能也不太相信。

????如今，我們有很多的粉絲郵件。人們很高興看到我們正在做的事情。（財富中文網）

????譯者：早稻米

????Do you feel like you have an advantage as a female designer in this space?

????I think it gives me an advantage. Anatomically also. Just kidding. Well no, not really. In the sex toy industry, even though a lot of these toys are for women, they're pretty much conceived by men. In this space, there just haven't been too many people like me. I'm actually CAD-ing products, printing 3-D models, and also doing the ethnographies and interviews.

????What is it like to move from entrepreneur to co-founder?

????More paperwork, probably. But I really don't think of myself as an entrepreneur in the strict Valley sense in terms of raising tons of money and doing VC pitches. That's one of the main reasons Michael and I joined forces.

????I would say, as a co-founder of Crave, it was a very natural transition in that I didn't feel like my philosophy was being compromised at all.

????How do you rally a team of employees around that philosophy?

????It's actually a lot easier than you think. We have less than half a dozen people here plus a constant revolving door of interns and people who just love what we do. The people that we tend to attract are motivated because they believe there's no reason why there shouldn't be just as well-designed sex toys as there are printers and laptops.

????Do you still face some hurdles that makers of printers and laptops don't?

????Some people think sex toys mean you're in the porn industry, and that's just not the case. I have to admit, my parents did think that when I first told them. Luckily, they kind of got over that. My mom was so on board with me having my first company. My dad was a lot more hesitant.

????This industry is changing, but still, when you say "sex toy," immediately people think of huge dongs, they don't think there's such a thing as luxury toys. That's not a natural search term.

????How, as a business leader, do you work within a hidden or stigmatized market?

????When we first started the company, we did a crowdfunding project. We wanted to fund our [sex toy] Duet on Kickstarter but we were not actually allowed on the site. So we went to another more design-centric crowdfunding site. And I was shocked at the kind of coverage we got on Techcrunch and Gizmodo. At our peak, we were getting one tweet a minute. That was one of the things that made me realize people are looking for this. We actually made the first sex toy to be crowdfunded ever. Had we not done the project, I would have been a lot less sure.

????Now, we get quite a lot of fan mail. People are really glad that we're doing what we're doing.