How This 24-Year-Old Entrepreneur Pulled Off a Coronavirus Pivot Before His Company Even Launched

How This 24-Year-Old Entrepreneur Pulled Off a Coronavirus Pivot Before His Company Even Launched

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How This 24-Year-Old Entrepreneur Pulled Off a Coronavirus Pivot Before His Company Even Launched

Kansas City, Missouri-based nanofiber filter startup Filti quickly switched gears to make material for facemasks. It sold $2 million worth of product in 45 days.

By Brit Morse , Assistant editor, Inc.@britnmorse

Filti founder Dakota Hendrickson.

 Courtesy Company

When the Coronavirus struck the U.S. in January, 24-year-old Dakota Hendrickson was just weeks away from launching his nanofiber HVAC air filter startup, Filti. Suddenly making filters for  facemasks became an even better idea.

"I will not forget the minute we flipped [the website] on," says Hendrickson. It was March 27 at around 10:30 a.m. "In a couple of days, I had 2,000 emails in my inbox," he says. 

The experience since has been nothing short of dizzying--and par for the course for any company in