The AirBoot
How a library 3D printer became a patent-pending company
After the fourth lost water bottle, a senior TCU student topped buying replacements and started building a solution.
The water bottles were lost the same way every time. Senior biology major Audrey Barsotti would walk into a general chemistry lecture during her first year of college, set her water bottle down beside her seat, take notes, leave the lecture hall and not realize it was missing until days later.
Her boyfriend, senior entrepreneurship and innovation major Colby Ackerman, gave her a 3D-printed Christmas gift to solve the problem. The design was a bulky circle with a hole designed to hold an Apple AirTag. The circle was meant to slide into a water bottle boot so the AirTag could stay secured to the bottle. He called it the AirBoot.
The 3D-printed AirTag holder. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
The 3D-printed AirTag holder. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
“It was the sweetest gift I've ever seen. It was so personal,” Barsotti said. “Once all my friends saw it, they couldn’t stop asking about it, saying, ‘How has no one thought of this?’”
After hearing the positive feedback from Barsotti’s friends, Ackerman listed the design on Amazon. Within 90 days, 120 prototypes sold out.
Realizing the product could be successful, Ackerman used Amazon reviews to redesign the product during his sophomore year after transferring to TCU from community college in Plano.
“He has always been the kind of person who solves problems rather than waiting for others to do so,” Barsotti said. “There’s no ‘how-to guide’ to making a business, learning to sell on Amazon, finding a manufacturer, building a website or understanding the patent process.”
For two years, the AirBoot was a side project Ackerman worked on while pursuing his degree until he interned at Charles Schwab during the summer of 2025.
“It was a great experience because of the people I met, but working all day, coming home, sleeping and doing it all over again the next day — I couldn’t fathom that being the rest of my life,” Ackerman said. “I came back as a junior, switched my major to entrepreneurship and decided that I’m all in on this idea.”
Colby Ackerman and Audrey Barsotti met in high school in their home state of Oregon before Barsotti came to TCU and Ackerman went to Collin College in Plano, Texas. "I would go to class every day and then drive to TCU," Ackerman said. "It was hard but worth it. I saved a lot of money and received enough scholarship funds to come to TCU my sophomore year." (Courtesy of Audrey Barsotti)
Colby Ackerman and Audrey Barsotti met in high school in their home state of Oregon before Barsotti came to TCU and Ackerman went to Collin College in Plano, Texas. "I would go to class every day and then drive to TCU," Ackerman said. "It was hard but worth it. I saved a lot of money and received enough scholarship funds to come to TCU my sophomore year." (Courtesy of Audrey Barsotti)
Charles Schwab interns visited an independent advisory firm in Dallas during the summer of 2025. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
Charles Schwab interns visited an independent advisory firm in Dallas during the summer of 2025. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
Ackerman said he now spends more hours each day on his startup than he did working at his summer internship and has invested more than $25,000 in its development.
“I’ve found that networking while in finance felt like much more of a chore, and I didn't like it. But I think once I found something that I’m really passionate about, it became a more natural thing that happened.”
The first step in inventing a product was finding a lawyer to file a patent application. Ackerman joined Ballard Spahr, a law firm focused on startups and entrepreneurs. He was accepted into the Ballard Academy for Student Entrepreneurs and was awarded $10,000 for legal fees.
This support, which began in September 2025, enabled him to advance the AirBoot toward patent protection. Meanwhile, he coordinated with Chinese manufacturers to produce the third generation of the AirBoot — one that included the boot itself.
Ackerman said the hardest part was making a handmade prototype manufacturable. For about a year, he worked with manufacturers, refined the design and created injection molds.
“I call his manufacturing point of contact, Celeste, his second girlfriend, because he’s constantly in contact with her, and the time difference between here and China is so crazy,” Barsotti said.
After a year of working with manufacturing and shipping, he launched the third generation in February: a silicone boot with a snug spot in the base for the AirTag, which is currently available on Amazon.
AirBoot Redesigns
Generation 1
July 2024
The original 3D-printed design made for Ackerman's girlfriend.
Amazon Reviews
★★★☆☆
"Brilliant idea, execution could be improved."
Units Sold: 120
Avg. Selling Price: $16.93
Total Revenue: $2,032
Generation 2
January 2025
The second design was made to be less wobbly with a snap and fit seal for the AirTag.
Amazon Reviews
★★★★☆
"Why doesn't it include the boot?"
Units Sold: 120
Avg. Selling Price: $18.57
Total Revenue: $2,228
Generation 3
January 2026
The third design kept the snap and fit design while merging it with the boot for the water bottle.
Amazon Reviews
★★★★★
Ackerman cold-emailed Mark Cuban, who replied, telling him not to waste a sample on him and to give it to another student to post about. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
Ackerman cold-emailed Mark Cuban, who replied, telling him not to waste a sample on him and to give it to another student to post about. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
The AirBoot Instagram analytics report from March 25 to April 23. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
The AirBoot Instagram analytics report from March 25 to April 23. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
The next step after finalizing the design was marketing. After watching an interview with Mark Cuban, an entrepreneur known for his time on “Shark Tank,” Ackerman learned that Cuban spends six hours a day answering questions from aspiring entrepreneurs, so he emailed Cuban asking for advice.
Cuban replied within a day. "Give it to another student and ask them to post about it," he wrote.
Following this advice, Ackerman asked junior marketing major Wells Jordan to help market the product. Within seven days, Jordan’s posts generated more than 60,000 views on the AirBoot Instagram account.
Jordan said the videos work because they are not built like traditional advertisements. Ackerman films behind the camera while Jordan approaches random students with questions about their water bottles, letting the conversation flow naturally.
“We don’t have to do anything other than put a camera on a conversation that happens all the time for TCU students,” Jordan said. “What gets viewership with the AirBoot right now is a welcoming, relaxed college conversation, and I don’t think there’s a better campus to advertise it on than TCU.”
As the product gained popularity in the spring of 2026, Ackerman was selected, along with seven other competitors, to participate in TCU’s pitch competition, CREATE, where student founders received mentorship, attended workshops and learned from other entrepreneurs.
Barsotti and Ackerman pose with the AirBoot at TCU’s CREATE pitch competition on April 26. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
Barsotti and Ackerman pose with the AirBoot at TCU’s CREATE pitch competition on April 26. (Courtesy of Colby Ackerman)
“These programs help students refine their ideas, gain feedback and build the confidence needed to move from concept to execution. The goal is to ensure that ‘CREATORS,’ like Colby, have an opportunity to get their ideas out into the world,” Marcillius Perkins, the project manager and lead strategist for CREATE, said.
After pitching his startup in April, he won first place in the competition alongside the Judges’ Choice Award. He received a total of $16,000 in funding for his company.
Ackerman said the funding will help him expedite his patent and expand the AirBoot by paying for molds for different sizes to fit more water bottles.
“What stands out about Colby as a student entrepreneur is his dedication and diligence, paired with a genuine eagerness to learn. He consistently shows up at events, workshops and competitions,” Perkins said. “He doesn’t just participate; he follows through, applies what he learns and rises to meet new challenges with initiative and determination.”
Going all-in on a business is all-consuming, but for Ackerman, it’s all about fueled by his passion.
“Though it's probably much harder work and more hours than a nine-to-five, it feels better because I’m in control,” he said. “I've never really looked back. I haven't doubted myself at all.”
What started as a gift to help his girlfriend find her lost water bottles became Ackerman’s way of building the future he wants.
Built with Shorthand