After 20 years of wonderful friends but just a hair too much traffic in the Washington, DC, metro area, the founders of On Time Air Filters and their trusty dog Daisy have decided to move west!  

It's been a dream for both of us to have a chance to open the front door and be in the mountains (or foothills, at least), and we settled on Boulder for the great air, great hiking, fly fishing for Mark, prairie-dog-annoying for Daisy, and the wonderful tech startup community in Boulder, Colorado.  This morning we loaded up the U-haul in Maryland, tacked it onto this not-so-clean-air-friendly SUV and made it happen.  Or at least we're on the way.

Next stop: Cedar Point -- the Amazement Park.  Sue worked there for 3 summers as a college kid. It was a blast waking up in dorms on lake erie, and at 8am riding one assigned roller coaster 10 times in  a row to warm up the rails (and reduce the risk) for the real customers.  Highlight of my time there was being on duty (um, er, and in charge) on the day the "Space Spiral" got stuck on the top of the tower for..that's right...9 hours.  Only 350 feet up, sure no bathrooms, hey, who says that old-peoples' ride lacks excitement!

More updates on the way.  Thanks for some great memories, Washington, and looking forward to finding at least one friend, and some new OTAF loyals in the sunny climes of Colorado.

Filed under: Sue Heilbronner • Founders' Random Adventures • Digression • Startup • Colorado

Remember the game Shoot the Moon? We have a shoot-the-moon marketing decision to make.

I've been reading the Help a Reporter Out (HARO) email newsletter for over a year, and I have a huge regard for Peter Shankman and the model he's exploded. It's a win-win service he provides, and I know that I myself have purchased goods and services from the single, personal ad he features on top of every email.

Those of you who know HARO know that these ads don't come cheap. The are a pretty reasonable cost per open, but it's a huge nut for a bootstrapped business. And it remains an open question whether PR professionals and marketing folks (and some other small biz folks) will actually convert to an air filter delivery service off an e-newsletter devoted to media opps.

Peter's quick opinion? He thinks his audience likes "i wish i'd thought of that ideas." So the question to ponder? Trust gut and give up a month of market $$? Or lay low and keep powder dry. HMMMM.

Filed under: Mark Leffers • Advertising & Marketing • Startup

While the world may need anything but another random blog, On Time Air Filters is going to jump into the fray. Here's why: First, there is an astounding dearth of information on home air filters, how to pick yours, what air filter MERV quality level will work, and why you absolutely have to keep your air filter new, clean and ready to filter bad stuff out of your air. So, we think we can add something to the mix in terms of educating folks about these issues without being redundant.

Second, we started OTAF -- our home air filter delivery service -- from scratch, from an idea that was borne of one of those slap-self-on-head moments. We really believe in this effort, but we're bootstrapping it completely. This isn't the first time I've bootstrapped a small business, but it's an adventure, it leads to lots of small wins (and some hopefully smaller losses), and the trajectory of businesses like this can be fun to follow. Even more, if we can help other bootstrappers learn from our mistakes, that's some salve for our pain.

Third. You know?There is no third.

Filed under: Mark Leffers • Startup • Air Filters