99% Invisible Backfired: The Vaping Wars
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Jun 25, 2024 
Join James Monsees, co-founder of Juul Labs, as he navigates the stormy seas of vaping innovation. He discusses how his Stanford venture aimed to revolutionize smoking alternatives but inadvertently sparked widespread nicotine addiction, particularly among youth. The conversation dives into Juul's design journey, regulatory hurdles, and the bittersweet legacy of creating a product meant to help but which became a cultural phenomenon. Monsees shares candid insights on balancing innovation with health responsibility, revealing the complex ramifications of their good intentions.
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Monsees' Smoking Shame
- James Monsees felt shame about smoking, despite his mother raising him to hate cigarettes.
- His grandfather, also a smoker, died of lung cancer.
Identifying the Opportunity
- Bowen and Monsees saw an opportunity in the lack of truly effective smoking cessation methods.
- They decided to tackle this problem for their master's thesis.
Big Tobacco's Failed Attempts
- Big Tobacco had previously tried to create "safer" cigarettes, like the Premier and the Accord.
- These early attempts failed due to poor taste and public perception.