Opinion
Brands refusing to sell on Amazon are incredibly naive
“I think anybody that kiss themselves and says, oh, you know, I'm too good to sell on Amazon or I want to ignore it is just incredibly naive.”
Opinion
Big platforms unknowingly subsidize 3M's online air filter pricing
“In my opinion that a lot of these big companies actually subsidize companies like three M maybe unknowingly to compete on price on, on online on some of these products because The economics of shipping them and putting them through their distribution networks …”
Insight
Disproportionate success requires obsession because competitors are obsessed
“Yeah, I mean, I think if you want to do anything big, you have to be obsessed, because if not, you're competing with somebody who is. And, you know, it's completely okay not to be obsessed. I mean, there's, and not to be super driven, or, like, there's no Ther…”
Insight
Founders must personally build operating systems for novel businesses
“You as an entrepreneur have to really understand your business if you want to be able to scale and do anything big. And it's almost impossible, in my opinion, especially when you're smaller, to hire somebody that That's going to build the systems that you need…”
Insight
Competitors outsourcing core functions will struggle against hands-on founders
“I think the fact that I understand our finance function, I understand our marketing function. I understand our manufacturing and operations function. I understand our shipping function. All with a great level of detail puts me in a position that if you want to…”
Insight
Companies should hire for proven problem-solving over aspirational potential
“I think that I've made the mistake historically of hiring aspirationally when I think that you're much better off, or at least I'm much better off, Hiring somebody that's already solved the problem that I've already noticed I need to solve.”
Insight
Companies must fire high performers who violate core values
“If you have somebody that maybe is a high performer, but is clearly not consistent with your values, you have to be willing to part ways with them, even if that's going to be tough for a while for your company.”
Insight
Converting Amazon shoppers to direct DTC is a fool's errand
“Early on, I would spend some time thinking about that, and honestly, I realized, at least in our case, and maybe everybody's different, it's a fool's errand. I mean, it's like there's a reason why customers choose to buy on Amazon.”
Opinion
Most D2C brands just outsource manufacturing and 3PL fulfillment
“Basically every direct to consumer quote unquote brand that I'm aware of is effectively You know, manufacturing their product with an, with a overseas contract manufacturer putting their name on it, and maybe they're doing some innovation in the product itself…”
Insight
Working for others prevents building true entrepreneurial confidence
“When you're working for somebody else or relying on other people to
You know, pay you or validate you that you never really get the confidence that you can build as an entrepreneur when you're kind of out there making things happen on your own.”
Insight
Unearned wealth traps people in a fearful scarcity mindset
“When people get money that they maybe didn't deserve or they didn't earn, then they're forever living in a scarcity mindset because they're afraid of losing it. Because if you have something that you covet that you have no way of getting back if you lose it, t…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almost all Filterbuy senior hires fled miserable PE-backed firms
“Almost every major person that I've hired at management level has come from A company that was owned by a private equity company, and they absolutely hated it, and they were looking for, you know, a different path.”
Insight
Overcome lifestyle creep by adding value, not cutting expenses
“To me, the answer isn't living a lower lifestyle in those cases. The answer is going out and figuring out a way to add value to be able to deserve that lifestyle.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Feb 2035
Filterbuy will reach $1 billion in revenue within ten years
“In the next five to 10 years, I intend to take that to a billion dollars plus.”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Filterbuy captures 25% to 33% of Amazon furnace filter sales
“Between one and four and one and three filters purchased in the furnace filter category on Amazon is one of ours.”
Assertion Contradicted
70% of all air filters are purchased for commercial settings
“70% of air filtration is actually commercial. And so, 70% of air filters that are purchased are purchased for a commercial setting.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
No air filter competitor matches Filterbuy's vertically integrated scale
“There are a lot of manufacturers of air filters. There are a lot of, you know, retailers and distributors of air filters, but there's nobody at least at our scale that does the whole thing from, you know, raw material to effectively in delivery.”
Insight
Truly successful people rely on obsession, not willpower
“Willpower is not a strategy. You know, that's why, kind of going back to your obsession point, the people that I think are really successful are obsessed, because when you're obsessed with something, you're not, like, you don't need willpower, because it's jus…”
Assertion Supported
Typical good HVAC service businesses operate at 15-20% net margins
“A typical HVAC service business operates at about a 15 to 20% net margin is what you'd find most, most good HVAC services business, businesses operate at.”
Assertion Supported
HVAC customer acquisition costs average $500 for AC replacements
“Customer acquisition costs in the HVAC service space is very high. I mean you may be paying 500 dollars for a new customer on average if you're looking for a replacement or whatnot of an AC unit”
Disclosure
Heacock has no intention to sell or flip Filterbuy
“And, you know, I have no intention to sell my businesses. I think there's a world in which we may go public one day way down the road. But other than that, like I've, I'm in it for the long haul, and I don't have any intention to buy it and, you know, flip it,…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Heacock lost $4.5M on his first $3.5M acquisition
“My first acquisition, I Lost four and a half million dollars. And you know, that, and that was on a, you know, three and a half million dollar purchase price, so we managed to lose more than we paid for the business, you know, in trying to fix it.”
Disclosure
Heacock chose building Filterbuy over a multi-hundred-million-dollar retirement
“You know, about two years ago, and really when I started working with Dr. Gurner, I was, you know, having a little bit of a crisis of self in that, you know, what do I want out of life? I could sell the business and you know, have more money than I could ever …”
Insight
Business success evolves rather than following a master plan
“Well, I think that people like to look back and, you know, kind of idolize and act as if there's, you know, there was a plan, it was a plan all along, when oftentimes it's you know, evolution of skills and an evolution of your thinking.”
