Most sexually reproducing metazoans are anisogamous, meaning that the two gametes that combine during fertilization differ greatly in size. By convention, the larger gametes are considered female and are called ova, while the smaller gametes are male and are called sperm. In most cases, both gametes contribute similarly to the chromosomal content of the new organism. In contrast, the maternal gamete contributes nearly all of the cytoplasm. This cytoplasmic contribution is crucial to patterning early development; it contains the maternal proteins and transcripts that guide the early steps of development prior to the activation of zygotic transcription. This review compares and contrasts early development in common laboratory model organisms in order to highlight the similarities and differences in the regulation of maternal factors. We will focus on the production and reversible silencing of maternal mRNAs during oogenesis, their asymmetric activation after fertilization, and their subsequent clearance at the midblastula transition. Where possible, insights from mechanistic studies are presented.