Bottled Lightning

Bottled Lightning! Inc. is a Seattle-based think tank, formed in 1998 by Mike Dillon and Jeff Fitzsimmons to develop and market quirky ideas and unusual and useful products. The company's first product is:

• The Art of the Bonsai Potato Kit: Zen — Without the Wait!

The Bonsai Potato Kit falls into the unusual category. Jeff stumbled upon this semi-ancient art form in 1998 and convinced Mike it would be a great idea to revive it. Since then, they've sold more than 100,000 kits, and the web site has become a community for Bonsai Potato artisans and enthusiasts everywhere.

The Bonsai Potato Kit caught the attention of Newsweek magazine, in which Mike and Jeff are dubbed "…the Horatio Algers of the Age of the Internet, the dot.comers for whom all business dreams are possible, even if they involve potatoes…" (The Cult of the Entrepreneur, e-Life, summer 2000). Seattle Magazine also listed the Bonsai Potato as one of the top 10 most bizarre Seattle-based web sites ("Who's Building Our Dot.Com Empire," June 2000).

To see more news clippings, click here.

The kit comes with a 64-page book, which provides a rich and colorful history of the Bonsai Potato, plus everything you need to know to achieve inner peace and tranquility — quickly and efficiently! The kit also includes a full-scale replica of an actual Bonsai Potato altar, and a bag of "special" gravel. All you add is the potato!

Many enthusiasts send in photos of their Bonsai Potatoes — someone even sent in a home movie. Others enter Bonsai Potato growing competitions and write poetry praising the art form. All of these contributions are posted on the web site, as they are an important component in spreading peace, inner harmony and humor throughout the world — one potato at a time.

Mike owns another unique Seattle-based company, Dillon Works! Inc., which he founded in 1985. Dillon Works is a custom design and fabrication company that specializes in unique, dimensional elements for theme parks, casinos, retail displays, restaurants, commercials, exhibits and much, much more. Dillon Works occupies its own 28,000-square-foot production facility 30 minutes north of Seattle, and has a staff of more than 60 during its busy periods.

Prior to Dillon Works, Mike spent 5 years at Disney as an Imagineer. He also has built props for movies and commercials; worked in advertising at Nordstrom; and built window displays for major department stores in New York City. Over the years he has built a solid client base, which includes Nike, Callison Architecture, CommArts, Nintendo, FAO Schwarz, Hilton, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment. Mike also has published two birdhouse books.

Mike and Jeff met in the mid-90s, when Jeff came to work for Dillon Works as a fabricator, building props and sets for a variety of projects. Jeff worked for the company as a freelance project manager overseeing large, high-profile jobs for over seven years.

Jeff also has written 23 episodes of the ABC children's TV show, "How 'bout That," with Tim Noah. He has worked in the film industry in a variety of behind-the-scenes positions, including assistant director, production assistant, grip, and electrician. His credits include movies such as "JFK" and "Sleepless in Seattle." He also was assistant director of "Nowheresville," an independent film recently sold to Showtime.

In 2003, Jeff moved to Milwaukee after a long distance relationship turned into a heated (and most likely rigged) game of Rock Paper Scissors. (he lost) He is currently the chief creative director for a scrappy little grassroots marketing/PR company called Caffeine Communications. Being small allows them to cut through the chain link fences in the middle of the night and still get the job done. People must think that they are doing that job pretty well as their client list includes Rainbow Playsystems, ESPN's Dan Patrick and Harley-Davidson.

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