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On the Founder's Story podcast, Promescent CEO Jeff Abraham shares how a friendship with the late Dr. Ronald Gilbert, a tragic loss, and a promise turned a sexual wellness startup into a national brand. He talks about moving from semiconductors to sexual wellness, building medical...
Some companies start with a spreadsheet. Promescent started with a friendship, a tragedy, and a promise. On the Founder's Story podcast, host and entrepreneur sat down with Jeff Abraham, CEO of Promescent, to trace how a retired semiconductor executive became the steward of a sexual wellness brand - and why he still calls the company his "third child." It is a story about grief, purpose, and the unglamorous grind behind what looks, from the outside, like overnight success.
Promescent was founded by the late Dr. Ronald Gilbert, a Huntington Beach physician who was also Jeff Abraham's neighbor, friend, and doctor. During a routine visit, Gilbert mentioned he had developed an over-the-counter treatment for premature ejaculation (PE) and wanted Abraham's advice. Abraham, then 55 and freshly retired, tried the product, believed in it, and invested.
Then the unthinkable happened. As the company began to gain traction, Gilbert was killed in a case of mistaken identity. Abraham took over not out of ambition, but out of obligation to his friend's memory and family.
"The only two things in my power would give him a legacy and honor him, and also provide for his family economically."
That second commitment was literal. Gilbert's family still owns a portion of the company and receives dividend checks four times a year. Abraham mentions Dr. Gilbert by name in every interview he gives - including this one - because keeping the founder's memory alive is, in his words, a tremendous source of pride.
Abraham had spent his career running a semiconductor engineering business. Moving into sexual wellness meant learning an entirely new field - he candidly admits that, growing up, "PE" meant physical education to him. But he argues that the traits of a good CEO transcend any single industry.
"A good CEO has a couple traits. Number one is passion. If you're not passionate about something, you'll never be good at it. The passion is there. The work ethic has to be there. And this is probably the most important, is don't have preconceived notions."
That last principle - resisting the urge to assume you know best - shaped everything. Rather than forcing his own assumptions onto customers, Abraham immersed himself in the problem, talking to physicians, therapists, and the men who actually live with PE. What he found reframed the entire mission.
Promescent's first product remains its hero product to this day: a delay spray designed to help men last longer. As Abraham dug into the category, he realized there were two distinct audiences. Some men have clinical PE and struggle to have satisfying sex at all. Others have satisfying sex but want to close what he calls the arousal gap, or orgasm gap - the mismatch between how quickly partners reach climax.
That gap is a real and widely discussed phenomenon in sexual health, and it is part of why premature ejaculation is recognized as the most common male sexual concern. Abraham positioned Promescent to serve both audiences at once, pairing medical credibility with a message about better intimacy for everyone.
In a category crowded with dubious claims, Abraham chose a harder path: clinical validation. The company invested heavily in an IRB-certified clinical trial and recruited leading sexual medicine physicians to its advisory board rather than relying on stock photos of actors in lab coats.
The bigger surprise for Abraham was learning how serious and how common the condition is. According to clinical sources such as the Cleveland Clinic, premature ejaculation is the most frequently reported form of male sexual dysfunction. Abraham also points out a connection many men do not realize.
According to Jeff Abraham, more people suffer from PE than ED - and an estimated 10 to 15% of erectile dysfunction is actually misdiagnosed premature ejaculation, because chronic PE can eventually undermine a man's ability to maintain an erection.
The most personal thread in the conversation is Abraham's frustration with the shame surrounding PE. He notes that roughly 80% of cases involve a physical component such as prostatitis, penile nerve hypersensitivity, or low testosterone - not a failure of character or caring. He draws a pointed comparison.
"If you're a diabetic, no one would ever be ashamed of taking insulin. So if you have a hypersensitivity of the penile gland and you use a product, why are people so ashamed?"
That destigmatizing message - you are not alone, do not suffer in silence, seek help - is the heart of what keeps Abraham going. He says the testimonials from men who credit Promescent with saving their marriages or restoring their confidence are the real reason he does the work. For anyone trying to understand the condition before exploring options, Promescent's guide to premature ejaculation is a useful starting point, and the broader Promescent resources cover the full product range.
Abraham bristles a little at being called an overnight sensation. Between 2023 and 2024, Promescent expanded from roughly 2,500 retail shelf spaces to about 20,000 across Target, Walmart, CVS, and other chains. But that growth rested on more than a decade of unglamorous effort - and on a quiet promise made during a drive past a Target in Huntington Beach, shortly before Dr. Gilbert's death.
"I was killing myself for 14 years to become an overnight sensation."
The lesson he keeps returning to is the same one that built the brand: listen to your customers. Nearly every product Promescent has added - lubricants, supplements, and more - came directly from customer feedback. It is a fitting through line for a company born from a conversation between two friends, and carried forward as a legacy.
Watch the full episode on YouTube.
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