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I never thought I'd be pulled in by a product that essentially bills itself as "Clean your air CHEAP with this one cool trick discovered by a college kid", but

I never thought I'd be pulled in by a product that essentially bills itself as "Clean your air CHEAP with this one cool trick discovered by a college kid", but they've executed well. What they're offering is just an easy way to buy a fan and HEPA filter ($27USD, or 166RMB, as the FAQ freely admits). Even so, their website makes me like instantly their business model, and because of their approach and willingness to run workshops, I immediately trust goods from them more than than I trust buying the parts directly from the manufacturer. It will be interesting to see what they do with their new, loyal customer base. I imagine they could easily start a filter-replacement subscription service, where they send you as many new filters as you need for XXrmb/year. If you're needing more than is profitable, they could add a phone call into the process "to diagnose why your home is needing filters than it should". This is the kind of honor system that only works if your customers already like you. Assuming their product actually works, I think they will easily achieve that.

talhelmt 13y ago
Hey, this is Thomas--Smart Air is my startup. Thanks for the ideas! I'll consider adding a subscription service. Several people told me at the beginning NOT to publish my findings (at http://particlecounting.tumblr.com/ http://particlecounting.tumblr.com/) because I should make money off of it instead. But I published it anyway because I thought (1) if I don't make a dime, but people learn how to protect their health without going broke, that alone is worth it and (2) there's space for an air filter company that publishes data openly. There's so much trust involved in air filters because it's almost impossible to know if they're working if you don't have an expensive particle counter. So we're hoping that our open data and methods will show that they can protect their health without going broke.
- tianshuo 13y ago
  Hi Thomas, I'm a Science and technology instructor for high school students in Beijing, this could make a great project for them. Call me at tianshuo_at_gmail_dot_com

talhelmt 13y ago

Hey, this is Thomas--Smart Air is my startup. Thanks for the ideas! I'll consider adding a subscription service. Several people told me at the beginning NOT to publish my findings (at http://particlecounting.tumblr.com/ http://particlecounting.tumblr.com/) because I should make money off of it instead. But I published it anyway because I thought (1) if I don't make a dime, but people learn how to protect their health without going broke, that alone is worth it and (2) there's space for an air filter company that publishes data openly. There's so much trust involved in air filters because it's almost impossible to know if they're working if you don't have an expensive particle counter. So we're hoping that our open data and methods will show that they can protect their health without going broke.

tianshuo 13y ago
Hi Thomas, I'm a Science and technology instructor for high school students in Beijing, this could make a great project for them. Call me at tianshuo_at_gmail_dot_com