How This Mattress Company Got the Attention of New York Jet Eric DeckerThis is what happens when a direct-to-consumer luxury mattress maker and celebrity backers get into bed together.

In 2013, David Wolfe spotted a business opportunity. Nobody likes flopping down on 30 mattresses in a showroom, he figured. They just want an affordable, comfortable mattress. Wolfe suspected that if he scrapped the showroom and sold a single model, he could lower the price and sell directly to weary sleepers. So he teamed up with Jamie Diamonstein of Paramount Sleep, an 80-year-old family-owned mattress manufacturer. By March of 2014, the duo had a prototype for their business, and a name:Leesa. To their frustration, they also had a competitor: Casper beat them to market with the same idea, nearly $2 million in seed financing and a lot of hype.

What's a mattress salesman to do?