Bryony Cole is the founder of Future of Sex and Sex Tech School, and a global authority on the intersection of sexuality and technology. In this episode, she shares how she left a career in corporate tech to build the sex tech industry from the ground up.

She opens up about the personal rebellion that drove her early experiments, from living in a forest commune to launching a podcast that evolved into a movement. Bryony unpacks what it really took to pioneer a taboo space – from getting censored and locked out of banks, to renting out her apartment to fund live events.

The conversation also explores how AI, loneliness, and digital saturation are reshaping intimacy and identity. Bryony shares her view on what’s coming next – not just in sex tech, but in how people relate to themselves, each other, and the tools around them. She calls it the “Future of Self.”

For founders building against the grain, creators navigating cultural friction, or anyone questioning what connection looks like in a hyper-digital world, this is an episode full of clarity, conviction, and originality.

03:12 – Why Bryony left Microsoft to explore the edge of sex and tech

07:30 – From commune living to global stages: Breaking the “good girl” mold

12:50 – Creating an industry brick by brick (and Airbnb’ing her place to fund it)

18:40 – Show your work: What creative momentum really looks like

25:10 – Launching Sex Tech School and building a global founder community

32:40 – Startup hacks: Overcoming censorship, banking blocks, and stigma

39:00 – Sex tech vs. adult: Rebranding the category and gaining legitimacy

43:12 – Deepfakes, AI porn, and the loneliness epidemic

51:00 – Dating the algorithm: AI companions and emotional outsourcing

59:40 – Future of sex, future of self: The coming shift in intimacy and identity

01:08:12 – Burnout at 26: What it reveals about modern culture

01:14:00 – From scale-at-all-costs to self-integration: Rethinking founder culture

01:16:30 – Through-topia, not utopia: What’s next for humans and tech

01:20:15 – The next podcast? Bryony names it on the spot

👩‍💻 Bryony Cole’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryonycole/

🎙 Future of Sex - https://futureofsex.com/

🌐 Sex Tech School - https://www.sextechschool.com/

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