Executive Profiles
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Dan Price
By Gianni Truzzi, Leslie Helm & John Levesque January 20, 2014
This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
Dan Price, Cofounder and CEO, Gravity Payments
Dan Price fuels the growth of his credit card payments company from the same passion that drove him to launch it. Community businesses, he saw, were poorly served by most competitors, who offered little service and whose transaction fees could rise without notice. The industry, he observed, was set up to extract money from them and not provide much value.
Price had this insight at age 19, when he cofounded Gravity Payments in his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University with the help of his older brother. Gravity charges a lower percentage fee, sends easy-to-follow bills, and provides quick, personal service. Less than 10 years later, it is among the top 50 credit card processors in the United States, with customers in all 50 states.
I originally thought we wouldnt make any profit, Price admits, but growth through referrals and low turnover keep costs lower than most competitors. We rarely lose customers unless they go out of business.
In the office, Price has an open-door policy or would if he had a door. He shares desk space with nearly 100 employees and joins in on customer calls. It helps him remain connected to his original mission of service. If an issue is impacting a customer, he says, I flip out about it.