{"id":27249,"date":"2023-08-28T20:12:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T12:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/?p=27249"},"modified":"2023-08-28T20:12:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T12:12:17","slug":"founders-letter-2023-tom-reflects-on-smart-airs-10-year-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/founders-letter-2023-tom-reflects-on-smart-airs-10-year-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Founder&#8217;s Letter 2023, Reflecting On Smart Air&#8217;s 10-Year Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Smart Air breathers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten years. Wow! Who would have thought a DIY project would become a global social enterprise? I sure didn\u2019t. And it wasn\u2019t my intention either. I just wanted to solve my own health problems. But when those first 60 air breathers signed up to my DIY workshop in Beijing, I realized other people needed this.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"467\" height=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-5.png\" alt=\"First workshop\" class=\"wp-image-27250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-5.png 467w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-5-300x199.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 467px) 100vw, 467px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Photo: Thomas leading the first Smart Air workshop ever, Beijing, August, 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most startups fail. Smart Air didn\u2019t. Why? I think there are two reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\">\n<li>First is our principles, our values, our methods, our process. Smart Air uses science and open data to teach people how purifiers work and how to protect themselves.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think about it carefully, what we do is different from your typical air purifier company. We <em>teach<\/em><strong><em><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>people to protect themselves. We don\u2019t <em>sell<\/em>&nbsp;air purifiers. Our goal from day one has been helping air breathers like yourself stay safe.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sticking true to this principle is how Smart Air has succeeded. We didn\u2019t grow the fastest, but by focusing solely on helping people and doing the right thing we\u2019ve got bigger and stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Second is you! Smart Air\u2019s users and supporters. We wouldn\u2019t be here without you. By breathing Smart Air, you embody those values, that process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I see those values in actions that you\u2014&#8221;smart\u201d air-breathers\u2014take. Each individual has played a part. Every article you\u2019ve read and shared, every purifier you\u2019ve chosen or recommended to a friend supports Smart Air and helps us spread science and open data.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"460\" height=\"307\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-7.png\" alt=\"building DIY air purifiers\" class=\"wp-image-27252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-7.png 460w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-7-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Photo: Gus and Anna working overtime to build DIY air purifiers during the Shanghai \u201cairpocalypse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s to the next 10 years of Smart Air! I don\u2019t know how big, how many products, or how many people will be breathing Smart Air then. But I\u2019m confident that, if we keep doing things the right way, we\u2019ll continue to grow. And I know I\u2019ll grow prouder by the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for making the \u2018smart\u2019 choice. Thank you for spreading our open science and data to make the world a little bit better of a place. That\u2019s Smart Air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breathe safe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas Talhelm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Founder and Principal Clean Air Nerd<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart Air Filters<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" title=\"Smart Air 10-Year Anniversary Documentary\" style=\"width:640px;max-width:100%;margin:5px auto;\"><div class=\"lyMe hidef\" id=\"WYL_UHsJVDL5EI4\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><div><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FUHsJVDL5EI4%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedURL\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UHsJVDL5EI4\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT5M23S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2023-08-28T11:47:44Z\" \/><\/div><div id=\"lyte_UHsJVDL5EI4\" data-src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FUHsJVDL5EI4%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\" itemprop=\"name\">Smart Air 10-Year Anniversary Documentary<\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/UHsJVDL5EI4\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FUHsJVDL5EI4%2F0.jpg\" alt=\"Smart Air 10-Year Anniversary Documentary\" width=\"640\" height=\"340\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Happy 10th Birthday, Smart Air! A decade of Clean Air, a decade of Smart Air! At the heart of Smart Air is a simple yet powerful idea: using science, open data, and simple tests to improve our lives. Thank you for all the recognition, support, and respect.\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:640px;margin:5px auto;\"><br\/><span class=\"lyte_disclaimer\">Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/smartairfilters?sub_confirmation=1\">Smart Air on YouTube<\/a> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/images\/smartair_youtube.ico\" alt=\"Smart Air Youtube\"\/><\/span><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Smart Air breathers, Ten years. Wow! Who would have thought a DIY project would become a global social enterprise? I sure didn\u2019t. And it wasn\u2019t my intention either. I just wanted to solve my own health problems. But when those first 60 air breathers signed up to my DIY &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Founder&#8217;s Letter 2023, Reflecting On Smart Air&#8217;s 10-Year Journey\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/founders-letter-2023-tom-reflects-on-smart-airs-10-year-journey\/#more-27249\" aria-label=\"Read more about Founder&#8217;s Letter 2023, Reflecting On Smart Air&#8217;s 10-Year Journey\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1035,"featured_media":27254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[829],"tags":[895,87],"class_list":["post-27249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-founders-letter","tag-smart-air","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1035"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27249"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27383,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27249\/revisions\/27383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}