Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 277 posts

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#131

Post by whistlerbrk »

mpermar wrote: post #93
mpermar wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, I also thought after having posted it that I was too harsh. I think it was due to the fact that I partially live this business on a daily basis and found some of the facts not trustful. Specially bearing in mind the product being sold is closer to a mat than to a reasonable mattress. I think that harshness prevented me from making clear the two points I was trying to make: 1. A warn that everything has…

And on 2. I forgot customer support. I am a truly believer that customer support makes the biggest difference when running a business no matter if is online or offline.

But, to me it seems clear that they value customer service if they are directly responding to your posts here. The tools available on their website combined with the shipping and returns also underscore that.

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#132

Post by lectrick »

mpermar wrote: post #53

Being someone that considers himself literate in the mattress industry, as my wife runs a humble mattress storage and distribution firm I totally agree that the prices I could see visiting on the US are way over the top. If I lived there, well, making/selling mattresses must be a profitable business from the retail pricing I could see. Mind you I was on Silicon Valley which I imagine must be very pricy. The website i…

After sleeping (for consulting work) amazingly, at the Marriott Financial Center in Manhattan, I ended up inquiring as to which mattress they use. A few days later I found myself ordering a Jamison mattress for almost a grand. My rationale was- I spend 1/3 of my life here (ideally). Why skimp on it? And everyone who has slept in it has commented on the comfort of it.

And as it turns out, I had an undiagnosed sleep disorder at the time, so the mattress ended up helping with that too!

So I just wanted to say that, regardless of pricing, thanks for focusing on making a good mattress. It is probably kind of a thankless job, and/or it's not particularly glamorous, but it matters.

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#133

Post by jedrek »

cmbaus wrote: post #55

At one point I almost went crazy researching mattresses. I like to know what I am buying, but the industry is non-transparent. The same product can have different names depending on where it is sold. BTW, another product like this is range hoods. I'm impressed that you tried to break into this business. I thought the existing companies would have it tied up because of their distribution channels. I did look at latex…

Over the past 3-4 years I've bought two products that were a LOT more complicated than they have any right to be.

One was a flashlight (who the hell knew flashlights could have firmware?), the other was my mattress. To this day, I'm not sure what the hell I'm sleeping on.

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#134

Post by mr_luc »

johmas wrote: post #86
bernardom wrote: post #78

Hi guys, Love the idea, quick point of feedback: it is unclear, from a cursory glance, whether your prices refer to bed or bed+mattress. The floor vs. frame view is great, but the price doesn't change- so are you just selling a mattress? Should you say mattress instead? Are you calling a "bed" a mattress and the rest is a "frame?" (Not being a jerk, actually confused!)

That's a really good point. We should do a better job at communicating that. For clarification, we only sell a mattress at the moment. It is designed to be comfortable placed directly on the floor as it is on a bed frame. Thank you.

Dude! You should sell them both.

I want to throw out my entire "sleeping situation" and just fix it.

With the word-of-mouth you guys have going for you, you should see about partnering with someone who sells great bed frames -- even at a decent markup -- so people can order the whole shebang and solve their sleeping situation in one go.

Or maybe include links on your website to great bed frames. I mean, I want to buy something like what's pictured on your site but I wouldn't know how to go about it.

There's actual value in solving the whole shebang, for people looking to do that, so there'd be nothing wrong with adding that as a relatively pricey option.

Just a thought. Keep up the good work. :)

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#135

Post by bybjorn »

mpermar wrote: post #53

Being someone that considers himself literate in the mattress industry, as my wife runs a humble mattress storage and distribution firm I totally agree that the prices I could see visiting on the US are way over the top. If I lived there, well, making/selling mattresses must be a profitable business from the retail pricing I could see. Mind you I was on Silicon Valley which I imagine must be very pricy. The website i…

That was my initial reaction as well when visiting the website; what is that? Can't imagine it would be any good to sleep on. Sorry, an all-foam mattress really is a blast from the past. I'm sure this is better that the ones we used in the 80s, but still... Good luck though, there looks to be a market for it at least! :-)

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#136

Post by grey »

johmas wrote: post #29
Scorpion wrote: post #11

Why no king sized on Amazon?

We just released the king size and want to collect some feedback on it before posting to Amazon. Amazon is really limiting when it comes to communication with our customers. This is a major pain point for us for that channel.

Any chance of a California King any time soon?

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#139

Post by squigs25 »

Wow. Awesome site, and it's incredible that you've proven to be so disruptive in just a year. I've already told my friends who might be graduating and moving soon to check you guys out before trying the traditional big-margin mattress store at every other corner.

What I'm really intrigued about is how did you manage to get up and running so quickly - particularly how does one go about sourcing a product like this so quickly? Clearly you're doing something right!

Also how much time and capital did it take to launch your first mattress line?

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#140

Post by rafamvc »

Zelphyr wrote: post #80

I bought one of these mattresses recently. The 10+ year old spring mattress I had was on its last legs and I found myself waking up with back pain. I happened upon an AMA on Reddit by a guy in the mattress industry and someone mentioned T&N. After some research I decided to give them a try. 30-day money back guarantee and all. I think I knew I didn't need the 30 days after the third night. I was sold. I slept more so…

It says 5-year limited manufacturing warranty now.
Post reply on HN