We were lucky to catch up with Christos Nicolaidis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Christos thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

The founders of Philter Technologies (PHILTER™) are baby boomers that grew up in a society where smoking was prevalent and accepted. It was a time when smoking was allowed on planes, in public places like restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues. Fortunately, none of us suffer any health issues from secondhand smoke, but we have family members that don’t smoke dealing with chronic respiratory problems caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.

It was at around the 2014 – 2015 timeframe we started seeing more and more people vaping nicotine and cannabis, although nicotine consumption was more prevalent at the time. But what was more obvious is how the growth of vaping and cannabis consumption was getting to CAGR levels as high as 29%. Today the growth of these markets is still high at 13% to 20% CAGR, and the issues associated with secondhand smoke are also escalating proportionally.

So we came up with what at that time was considered lofty, by many. The first patent was filed by Yuval Shenkal, the company’s co-founder and Board Chairman. The IP was based on the concept of inhaling from a vape device with the ability to exhale back into the same opening/mouthpiece of the same vape device. The goal was to have all particulate matter, smoke, and odor eliminated inside the device. We knew if we could innovate a commercially viable solution to eliminate smoke in a single device, it would positively society in a huge way.

So we embarked on a mission to develop technology that could make this concept a reality. We went into it knowing this was going to be a challenging endeavor, both from a physics standpoint to prove it’s possible, and the extent to which consumer adoption would be strong enough to build a business around.

Over the course of 5-6 years the technology evolved beyond boundaries imaginable, thanks to the leadership of John Grimm, the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at PHILTER™. Today, we have data confirming high consumer adoption of our solutions with demand growing.

Our mission is to make a positive impact on society and to continue to pioneer and implement technologies that eradicate secondhand smoke. I’m proud of being part of the PHILTER™ mission and the growing movement we are leading around conscious consumption.

The ethos of PHILTER™ is based on three pillars:

1. Reduce harm: minimize the harm caused by secondhand smoke by providing innovative solutions that eliminate it.

2. Protect our environment: Develop technologies that protects non consumers and our environment.

3. Preserve social norms: Enable consumers and non-consumers of cannabis to coexist harmoniously, regardless of the setting.

We are dedicated to these principles. We are committed to making a meaningful difference in society, and contribute to a healthier, more inclusive future.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Over the course of my career, spanning almost three decades, I’ve been deeply involved in the world of technology and entrepreneurship. It all began after a serendipitous moment meeting the former SVP of Product Development and Engineering at Gateway Computer Corp. It was shortly after the DOT.COM bust. We decided to work together and embarked on a venture launching the nation’s first Movie DVD Giftcard, called Giftflix™.

Giftflix™ was a groundbreaking solution, sold at gift card kiosks in popular retail chains such as RideAid, Walgreens, Kroger, and others. Each Giftflix™ gift card included a mini-DVD that featured previews of movies available for purchase on the GiftFlix™ website. The success of GiftFlix™ laid the foundation for our subsequent endeavors.

GiftFlix™ led to our next venture, the American Idol gift card program. We recognized the demand for American Idol merchandise and launched the American Idol gift card for merch. We purchased the exclusive rights to own and manage the American Idol eCommerce website, and we successfully scaled the business and eventually sold the rights back to Fremantle Media and Apple’s music division. During this journey, we identified the need for teens to have a secure way to make purchases, leading us to create the nation’s first debit card payment system known as “BillMyParents™.” It allowed young American Idol fans to bill their parents’ accounts for American Idol merchandise. With an authorization process in place, parents could easily approve or decline their children’s purchase requests.

Following the sale of the American Idol rights to Fremantle, we retained all IP and the rights to BillMyParents™. Leveraging this expertise, we launched SpendSmart Payments, the nation’s first debit card platform specifically designed for teenagers. Built on a Prepaid MasterCard platform, SpendSmart Payments gave children a safe and convenient payment solution.

Throughout these ventures, I have been privileged to experience and contribute to the ever-evolving landscape of technology and entrepreneurship. The lessons learned have shaped my passion for innovation and continue to drive me forward in my entrepreneurial journey.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the most valuable lessons I had to unlearn was the belief that any form of investment capital is beneficial. Early on in my career, I founded a venture called Stored Value Exchange, an online platform that facilitated the exchange of unused gift cards (stored value) for perks such as credit towards hotels, casinos, and other establishments.

To make this concept work, we formed a partnership with a company that operated an online arbitrage of cash for used gift cards with remaining balances. This would allow people to trade in the unused balance on their gift cards for cash.

After successfully raising our first round of capital from various sources, our partner fell victim to a syndicate of thieves who utilized stolen credit cards to purchase gift cards. The thieves then traded these cards for cash on our partner’s platform. This exposure resulted in significant losses for our partner. The gift cards they had purchased through fraudulent means were rendered useless. Ultimately, this led to their downfall.

This setback compelled me to pivot the business model to mitigate risk and capitalize on new opportunities with promising potential. However, when I sought additional capital from our existing investors, they proved unwilling to invest further. This experience taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of aligning with investors with the appropriate investment orientation and possess the right risk tolerance suitable for the challenges and fluctuations inherent in early-stage start-ups.

The moral of this story is clear: not all forms of investment capital are created equal. It is crucial to work with investors who understand and embrace the realities and uncertainties that come with building a young company. The right investor fit is critical in that it can establish the right foundation to navigate the inevitable ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey, toward success.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.philtertech.com and www.philterlabs.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philterlabs/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/philter-labs-inc/?viewAsMember=true