Where Guo, who is 35, sometimes falls short in imagination, he more than makes up for in sex tech vigilance. “Users expect and deserve products that meet stringent safety standards, and any deviation can damage a brand’s reputation irrevocably,” he posted in an XBIZ editorial in September. “Partner with trusted white-label manufacturers rather than gamble on the unknowns.” When I ask Guo about the editorial, he stresses that the success of sex tech is determined as much by the innovation involved in the products as the quality. “We want to be more of a bridge from human to human,” Guo says, “not just from toy to human.” Even with promising market projections—another estimate goes so far as to predict sales could surpass $121 billion in the next six years—industry analysts are not convinced that the future of sex tech is in toys. It’s a “very oversaturated market that is now avoided by many,” says Olena Petrosyuk, a partner at the [...]