Recreation: Finders Keeper

If geocaching is the activity that best marries technology to nature, consider Groundspeak to be the consummate matchmaker. As geocachings de facto governing body, Seattle-based Groundspeak has risen right along with the rocketing enthusiasm for this high-tech take on scavenger hunting.

In 2015, Groundspeak reported its best year of growth, with 3 million new user accounts registered through October. The total number of registered users at Geocaching.com, Groundspeaks online platform, is now more than 15 million worldwide, representing more than 90 percent of market share.

Its this global community thats creating experiences and sharing them with other people, says Bryan Roth, Groundspeaks cofounder and vice president.

Walk into Groundspeaks Fremont office and youll find tourists taking photos in the lobby, rummaging through memorabilia and checking in their arrival on Geocaching.com. Some people plan their entire trips to the Northwest around visits to Groundspeak.

Geocaching and, by natural extension, Groundspeak unite anyone from the casual hunter to the dedicated cacher in an outdoor game that involves hiding and discovering tokens with help from global positioning technology. While some stashed items come with missions, stories or lessons attached, others are hidden simply for the finder to discover and log the achievement online. Often, caches may be hidden in places significant to the seeker, such as the location of a major life event or at the end of a long hike. Seekers try to rack up as many discoveries as they can, often bonding with other cachers via Geocaching.com.

The caches are typically contained in a waterproof box and include a token known as a trackable, which includes a tracking code. Boxes can also contain items of value to the cacher, such as small toys, unusual currency, books or other memorabilia. Also typical in the cache is a logbook, where finders write down who they are and when they found the cache. Today, about 2.7 million caches exist worldwide.

It all started in may 2000 when President Bill Clinton discontinued what was known as selective availability, or the intentional degradation of GPS signals as a national security precaution. When the switch was flipped at midnight Eastern Standard Time on May 2, GPS accuracy improved from a 300-foot radius to 30 feet.

One GPS enthusiast who stayed up for the switch was Dave Ulmer, who the previous month was led astray by the inaccuracy of the GPS guidance he used on Mount St. Helens and crashed his snowmobile, according to a 2013 interview he gave to Podcacher, a geocaching podcast. This is a first for the human race where people can actually find [their] spot … within 30 feet on the planet, he told the interviewers.

Soon, Ulmer gathered junk from around his house, placed it in a bucket and set the bucket in a parking area. He posted its coordinates to an online forum. Within days, someone came along and found it. Though the word wasnt yet coined, it would become known as the worlds first geocache.

A Vancouver, British Columbia, man, Mike Teague, would pick up on the idea with the Great American GPS Stash Hunt, which provided a list of coordinates on a website that revealed where people hid and found stashes using GPS. Stash hunters in online forums came up with the term geocaching.

Meanwhile, Roth was working with Elias Alvord and Jeremy Irish at a Seattle-area startup called Sunrise Identity when Irish first saw a handheld GPS device owned by a coworker. His research into the technology led him to stumble upon Teagues stash hunt site. That weekend, Irish found his first stash about 90 minutes from his home.

Wanting to bring geocaching to more people, Irish registered Geocaching.com in September 2000 and operated it from his home. Groundspeak was incorporated, with Roth and Alvord on board, in November that same year. Using the sales proceeds of 144 geocaching T-shirts, they moved the operation from Irishs home and into a downtown Seattle building, where they kept Groundspeak running in their spare time until they could all become full-time employees by the end of 2005.

The money started streaming in about 2002, with the introduction of premium membership, now Groundspeaks primary revenue source. The $30 annual membership allows enthusiasts to unlock advanced features and functions of Geocaching.com, including the ability to download cache information without internet access and other tools that enhance the hunting experience.

In the first month membership was introduced, Groundspeak signed up about $25,000 in members, Roth says, calling it an early Kickstarter type of effort.
Before smartphones infiltrated the mainstream, geocaching remained a rather niche hobby, limited to those who owned or had access to handheld GPS devices. As soon as smartphones hit more peoples pockets, however, geocaching took off.

Though the first iPhone in 2007 didnt yet have GPS capabilities, Groundspeak anticipated the proliferation of map use and ultimately developed a $10 geocaching app for the second-generation iPhone. Eventually, it introduced a lower-cost app ($9.99) and even a free one for the more casual user.

That made the game much more accessible to people, Roth says, calling the smartphone a significant game changer for Groundspeaks business model. Groundspeak hired developers to focus on creating and updating apps for iOS and Android systems, sometimes focusing on a Windows platform, too. Several licensed third-party developers have come out with their own geocaching apps for various types of operating systems, using Groundspeaks application programming interface.

The iPhone app turned Keith Petrus, publisher of FTF Geocacher Magazine, on to the hobby. He learned about geocaching online and, using his iPhone, found his first cache around 2008 in his Texas hometown.

[It was] an easy way for everybody to do it, Petrus says of the app.

Last year, the technology news website GeekWire awarded Groundspeak its 2014 Bootstrapper of the Year Award, an annual recognition given to tech businesses that operate without angel or venture capital funding. Merchandise, the original revenue source, continues to play a major role in the companys income and has expanded to include hats, stickers and trackables. The buyer of a trackable can monitor where that game piece travels and who has moved it.

Groundspeak has also collaborated with businesses and organizations on promotional tie-ins. One with Jeep included a photo contest and a Jeep giveaway for cachers who found game pieces attached to Jeep vehicles. A promotion with the United Nations worked toward publicizing an effort to adopt a UN resolution declaring an International Diabetes Day. That mission included the release of 20,000 Travel Bugs, a specific type of trackable programmed with a goal of reaching a certain city and information on how to live a healthy lifestyle. The UN ultimately declared an International Diabetes Day in November 2010.

Tourism organizations have latched on to geocaching as a way to engage visitors, and geocachings free admission makes it easy to promote as a method of exploring a city or travel destination. A recent partnership with Washington State Parks involved the hiding of caches in 100 parks. A special collectable coin was awarded to those who found all 100.

The hobby has educational applications, as well. The Museum of Flight and the University of Washington are among institutions that have set up private
missions that provide a learning experience, the founders say.

Groundspeak has little competition to speak of. Were definitely the biggest [geocaching company] by far, Roth says.

Petrus, a hard-core cacher, confirms that assessment. Geocaching.com is by far the top player in this game, he says, noting that theres little incentive to use competitors like NaviCache and OpenCaching when most cachers accomplishments and statistics are logged with Geocaching.com.

You dont want to start all over from scratch again [with another platform], Petrus says. … Theres nobody else really to compare them to.

Ulmer, the godfather of geocaching, agrees. [Irish] created an absolutely fantastic website, he said in 2013. Its one of the best in the world.

As a seattle tech company, Groundspeak competes for programmers and developers in a saturated market, Roth says, making workplace comfort and happiness a priority. Groundspeak has been named a best place to work by publications such as Outside, Seattle Met and Seattle Business. Its easy to see why. Past the lobby, youll find the tech company trimmings youve seen on TV: a ping pong table, quiet rooms and a spacious break room filled with all the snacks you can imagine and beer on tap. Its come a long way from the first employee hired in 2002 to the 83 on the payroll today.

The company is also expanding its international appeal. More than 50 percent of its accounts are with international users, with the biggest groundswell occurring in Germany, Irish says. Geocaching.com is translated into 22 languages and the free iPhone and Android apps are available in 19.

More than 400 people across the globe also serve as geocaching community volunteers, who assist users and help organize meetups that often exceed 500 people. A map in Groundspeaks headquarters pins volunteers in such far-flung locations as Israel, Finland, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea.

Its those worldwide users who help drive Groundspeaks growth and evolution. Irish says the founders travel to mega events the ones with more than 500 people listening to what users want from their experiences and what the trends are within the geocaching community.

We want the game to be around for years to come, Roth says. … Were focused on trying to continue innovating.

Petrus agrees the company is responsive to users interests, even retracting ideas that dont work. At one point, it introduced challenge caches that asked cachers to complete tasks, like cleaning up a local park or reaching a destination. But it didnt include a material payoff like a cache box, so the concept didnt really fly, he says. While the challenge caches that have already been set remain, no others are being logged.

Petrus also enjoys the recent addition of messaging; cachers can directly message each other online if, for example, one has found another users cache.
Its status as a bootstrap company forces Groundspeak to stay focused. It may not always have the cash reserves to produce improvements or innovations as quickly as it would like, Roth says, but it can excel at one project at a time.

Being a bootstrapped business has allowed us to chart a course for the company, making decisions in a way that we feel best meets the needs of the global community, he explains. As stewards of the game of geocaching, we value this freedom and believe that, ultimately, it becomes a win-win for our company and millions of people around the world.

The firms founders are proud of their work advancing a family-friendly hobby that engages far-flung users in a common mission.

Were using technology to get people off their couches and away from their televisions, Roth says. [And] they encourage other people to have adventures.

Irish adds that an even more basic attraction keeps customers coming back. Nobody, he says, gets bored of treasure hunting.