Jeff Abraham: How Do You Build Medical Credibility in Sexual Wellness?

Sexual wellness is often treated like a punchline—until it becomes personal.

Imagine a mid-career founder who’s great at operations but quietly anxious about intimacy. Or a young professional in a new relationship who wants to be a better partner, but can’t bring themself to book an appointment. Or a first-generation entrepreneur juggling stress, sleep, and self-worth—wondering why “wellness” advice never mentions the bedroom.

In my conversation with Jeff Abraham, CEO of Promescent, the through-line wasn’t shock value. It was a business lesson: in intimate health, trust is the product—and medical credibility is how you earn it.

Jeff also names a reality many couples recognise: an “arousal gap,” where one partner reaches orgasm faster than the other. Research backs the broader timing mismatch: one large multinational study found a median intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) around 5.4 minutes in the general male population, while studies on women’s orgasm latency during partnered sex often land closer to the low-to-mid teens in minutes.

So what do you do if you’re building (or marketing) a product in a category loaded with embarrassment, misinformation, and skepticism?

The real challenge: selling in a “high-shame, low-trust” market

Jeff describes entering a market crowded with big claims and low accountability—where customers had already tried “miracle fixes” and felt burned. When trust is gone, even a good product gets treated like the next scam.

That dynamic isn’t unique to sexual wellness. It shows up anywhere people self-diagnose and shop privately: sleep, anxiety, gut health, hormones, hair loss, and more.

The difference is this: sexual health carries extra silence. Many people don’t want a face-to-face conversation, so they search online—alone—hoping for certainty.

Jeff’s differentiator: invest in proof, not hype

Rather than out-shouting competitors, Jeff focused on out-evidencing them: clinical research, physician education, and credible expert advocacy.

In the interview, he’s blunt about the brand’s position: don’t look like a “buy-now” gimmick—look like a clinic that happens to sell products.

That approach aligns with how consumers evaluate health claims in general: people may not read every study, but they can feel the difference between “trust me” marketing and “here’s the data” marketing.

A relevant example from the medical literature: topical anesthetics like lidocaine sprays have been studied for premature ejaculation, including randomized placebo-controlled designs showing improvements in IELT and related outcomes.

And Promescent specifically has been evaluated in published research assessing sexual experience outcomes and ejaculatory latency.

A leadership principle hiding in plain sight: stay close to reality

Jeff’s leadership style is “in the trenches.” He talks about doing frontline work—customer chat, packaging relabels, direct feedback loops—because that’s where truth lives.

This isn’t just humility theater. It’s decision-quality.

When your product touches something intimate, your customers will tell you what they really fear:

• “Will this numb my partner?”

• “Is this safe?”

• “What if I’m the problem?”

• “What if it doesn’t work—again?”

  
  

Jeff summed up his stance on discount-driven manipulation with a line that also signals brand confidence:

“I don’t beg anyone. I don’t throw discounts because our products work and they’re good.”

And he frames a simple growth engine that any founder can steal:

“If we get eyes to our site, we get business. If we get business, we get repeat business…”

FAQ: What actually creates medical credibility?

• Do I need a clinical trial?

Not always—but you need appropriate evidence for your claims. In some categories, consumer perception data may be fine. In others, you’ll need stronger clinical designs. The core is alignment: claim strength should match evidence strength.

• What makes evidence believable to a non-expert buyer?

Three signals:

1. Specificity (named experts, named institutions, measurable outcomes)

2. Transparency (limitations, dosing/use instructions, safety notes)

3. Verifiability (credentials people can look up)

• Is “doctor recommended” enough?

Not if it’s vague. Jeff contrasts anonymous “lab coat” imagery with identifiable experts and credentials—because verifiable authority scales trust.

The “Arousal Gap” is also a brand gap

Jeff’s bigger point is cultural: when sexual wellness improves, people often feel better across life domains—relationships, confidence, even performance at work.

Separate but related research highlights a broader “orgasm gap” in mixed-sex encounters: in a large U.S. sample, heterosexual men reported orgasming “usually-always” more often than heterosexual women.

And women’s orgasm latency during partnered sex has been estimated around the ~14 minute range in self-reported samples.

Whether you’re building products for men, women, or gender-diverse customers, the business insight is the same: serve the real experience, not the old script.

Try this: a 15-minute “Credibility Audit” for your brand

If you sell anything in wellness, run this quick challenge:

1. List your top 3 claims (what you imply, not just what you say).

2. Match each claim to evidence (study, expert review, mechanism, real-world outcomes).

3. Replace vague trust badges with verifiable specifics (names, links, methods).

4. Improve your “how to use” education—because correct use drives results, results drive trust.

   
   

Final takeaway: credibility is kindness

Jeff’s philosophy is refreshingly non-cynical: don’t exploit desperation. Educate. Make the evidence easy to understand. Build community through outcomes, not incentives.

In a world full of health marketing that tries to be “too cute,” medical credibility is the long game—and it compounds.