The Female Company

Why did you found your start-up, what problem are you addressing and how are you solving it?

My co-founder Sinja and I traveled to India in 2016 and recognized a big taboo around female menstruation. When women and girls have their period, they are not allowed to visit sacred places or go to school. When we came back to Germany, we realized that even modern women in our modern society still behave strangely when they are menstruating: For example, we hide our tampon in a fist on the way to the toilet. The initial idea was to finally end the taboo around this topic by launching a loud, positive and well-designed brand that ends the shady feeling you get when you buy your tampons in the back corner of a drugstore.

How did you come up with the idea of founding The Female Company?

As I said, the idea for a "new brand" was born. But when we talked to women, or "our target market", we realized that no one really knew what was in the product. We were kind of shocked that no one seemed to think about what tampons are made of. Delivering a transparent and reliable solution was key and we decided to work with organic cotton. There wasn't a great D2C service yet either.

What is special about your business model, what do you do differently?

What we are currently as The Female Company is the perfect periodic service. What we want to become in the future: The number one online drugstore for women, offering organic and sustainable solutions to our daily challenges. We were the first tampon subscription in Germany and have built a strong brand over the last two years. And we never stop innovating: In addition to organic pads and liners, we recently launched the first organic tampon in a paper wrapper. At the same time, we are a social enterprise: With every subscription, a woman in India also receives a washable cloth sanitary pad.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome at the beginning?

Probably our supply chain. You have to imagine: It's a product that is regularly used and needed, so the manufacturers haven't really seen any changes in the past. There was just no reason to. During our first few months in business, it was even difficult to find anyone willing to make organic cotton tampons. It took over a year to switch from plastic wrappers to paper.

What was the most valuable advice someone gave you during your start-up phase?

One of our former start-up colleagues told us: "Being a co-founder is like a marriage. But without the make-up sex". Sounds a bit funny, but it's basically true. A co-founder relationship can make or break the success of a company.

What has been your greatest success so far

Quite simply: we fought against the unfair tampon tax with our so-called tampon book. What started as a crazy marketing idea went through the press all over the world and tripled our web traffic within days. That's already great, but what makes it a real highlight: we were invited to the German Bundestag a week after we published the book and spoke to several politicians. And now: The German Finance Minister has decided to reduce the tampon tax to 7% by January 2020. It's just great to have a real (political) impact on your business!

What's the next challenge for you?

We are currently moving to Berlin and starting in a new city with lots of new employees will be exciting. I think we are in that phase where we need to build a fundamental and sustainable organization that will last. So far a lot of interns and young talents have been part of the company, I think 2020 is more about hiring the best team that will really drive growth in the future.

What would you recommend to other founders?

Choose the right co-founder and never stop following your vision.

Where did you meet?

We met at university. We became very close friends and ended up not only traveling together but also becoming business partners.