Dan Price VRP

 

 
[From his website]
Raised in rural Idaho, far from the closest neighbor, Dan Price started Gravity Payments from his university dorm room when he was just 19 years old. Although music was his passion growing up, Dan discovered his lifelong mission when he found many small business owners in his community were being taken advantage of by their credit card processors. He knew that wasn’t right, so he rolled up his sleeves and began disrupting the typical way business is done.

As he told Entrepreneur Magazine, “I never intended to make a lot of money, or really any. I was really upset at this industry for the way they were treating my clients, and I just wanted to blow the whole thing up.”

Dan shaped Gravity on a different set of values not normally seen in the workplace —honesty, transparency, and responsibility. These simple values have made Dan and the Gravity team a trusted name in credit card processing. Today, independent businesses across all 50 states trust Gravity to save them millions in fees and hours in frustration by making it easy and simple for them to accept payments.

CHANGING THE WAY BUSINESS IS DONE
It is well known that Dan is a celebrated entrepreneur, but what sets him apart is his conviction to do what he believes is right, even if it’s unpopular. His mission is to create a world where values-based companies reshape the economy, so business stops being about making the most money possible. Instead, he wants leaders to recognize that business should be about purpose, service, and making a difference. Dan believes it’s not about doing business as usual anymore, but doing business better.

Twitter (13.8K followers): https://twitter.com/danpriceseattle
There’s Only 1 Question You’ll Ever Need to Ask to Test Your Company’s Core Values” 
By Dan Price  |  Inc.  |  June 27, 2017

Many companies proudly display their core values, but in practice those values are often just marketing. To determine whether your core values are honest or just rhetoric, ask yourself this one simple question:

WOULD YOU ADHERE TO YOUR VALUES EVEN IF THEY CREATED A COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGE?

If a company is not willing to sacrifice for its values, that company will make promises it cannot keep and will lose its way when times are tough. On the other hand, companies willing to sacrifice for their values will put themselves at a disadvantage in the short term. Over the long term, however, the benefits far outweigh the costs.

At Gravity, we have three core values, and each has put us at a competitive disadvantage. Our first core value is responsibility. One of the ways we operate with responsibility is we don’t pay sales commissions. This leads to fewer deals, but it helps us maintain focus on our clients’ needs instead of just our own. Oftentimes, our sales reps don’t close deals because they are focusing on current clients or mentoring other Gravity team members. Failing to pay commissions puts us at a disadvantage, but we do it because that’s our definition of responsibility.

Our second core value is creative leadership. We lived this value when we implemented a $70,000 minimum wage at Gravity. The downsides to this policy have been well documented. We increased payroll, our largest expense, and significantly increased the cost of bringing on entry-level team members. None of our competitors have these challenges. We put the company at risk for what could have been a very small upside.

Our third core value is passion for progress. Three years ago, we implemented a program of unlimited paid time off. Progress for us was for every employee to become the boss of his or her own career. The freedom generated by our new vacation policy was in line with this transformation. As a result, we can no longer force people to be in the office or keep their butt in a seat. We have to work harder to staff our departments. Managers are often frustrated with the scheduling challenges associated with this policy. Long absences are not uncommon. A strict vacation policy would alleviate many of these issues, but that would not be in line with our passion for progress.

Staying true to our values gives us purpose. It brings clarity to difficult decisions, and it attracts a strong community of individuals who value authenticity, rather than deceit. What values would you uphold even if they put you at a competitive disadvantage? Follow those values, embrace the obstacles they cause, and watch your company thrive.

About Gravity Payments:

[From their website]

We started Gravity Payments because we saw independent businesses being overcharged and underserved by their credit card processor. We knew that wasn’t right, so we decided to lower costs, be completely transparent, and provide better service for community business owners.

THE FOUNDATION OF OUR COMMITMENT
The only way to do business is to serve others, do more for them, and charge less. We shape everything we do by this motto. We’re here to support independent business owners and take one more worry off their back—by accepting payments, consulting on business solutions, and providing great customer service.

These values are the foundation that fuels our commitment to help independent businesses succeed:

  • CREATIVE LEADERSHIP: We inspire growth and innovation through learning and bold action.
  • PASSION FOR PROGRESS: We have an uncompromising focus on impact and excellence.
  • RESPONSIBILITY: We act with honesty, integrity, and thoughtfulness.

HOW WE’RE DIFFERENT
We created Gravity Payments because thousands of hard-working business owners were being overcharged and underserved by credit card processors. Today, we serve over 13,000 merchants across America, saving them millions in fees and hours of frustration. Though we’ve grown substantially over the years, we treat each of our clients as if they’re our first client. We are devoted to complete transparency. We don’t confuse our community business owners with credit card gibberish or hide anything in the fine print. Instead, we strive to make credit card processing as simple as possible.

We owe our values-based philosophy to our founder, Dan Price. In 2004, it was his commitment to level the payment processing playing field that launched Gravity.

Since then, Dan’s leadership has earned him Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur of 2014, the 2014 Seattle Business CEO Excellence Award, GeekWire’s 2013 Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and the 2010 SBA National Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award presented by President Obama. His most recent bold action was the implementation of a $70,000 minimum wage to provide his team a better quality of life and improve the success of his clients.

Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Payments

Twitter (3.4K followers): https://twitter.com/gravitypymts?lang=en
In The Media:
Seattle Company Paying $70K Salaries To Employees Expands, Workers See Housing Boom  |  KOMO News  |  June 22, 2017
The Seattle business owner who got national attention two years ago for giving all his employees at least $70,000 salaries may have a new reason to celebrate– his company, Gravity Payments, is seeing growth and his employees a “housing boom.”

“It’s been really crazy because I was here since before the announcement was made, and so kind of seeing everything happening from the announcement on has been kind of a whirlwind,” said Phillip Akhavan who is on Gravity Payment’s Merchant Relations Team.

Akhavan said after the announcement, he and his wife had their first child and also became first-time home buyers.

“We were able to push up all of our future plans,” said Akhavan. “We had help from family for a down payment, but I wouldn’t have been able to be qualified for a mortgage for a house for that much if I didn’t have a salary that could back it up.”

Akhavan is one of at least 20 of the 174 team members at Gravity Payments, a credit card processing company, who bought a home recently or will in the next few months.

“That might not sound like a large number but when you look at the actual number of people we have in our company it’s a significant portion, and the fact that it’s all happening right now is really exciting.” said Gravity’s Communications Director Ryan Pirkle.

On Wednesday afternoon, employees, who are interested in becoming homeowners, got to meet with two real estate agents at the company’s Ballard office.

“That thought didn’t cross my mind until earlier this year,” said Garrett Bucksath who started working at the company about a year ago. Bucksath, an Army veteran, moved to Seattle for the Gravity Payments job after graduating from college in North Carolina.

Bucksath is looking for a two-bedroom home, likely in the north Seattle area.

“It just seemed so far out of reach as far as just having the money to do that, being able to save up enough money to actually be able to invest into a house,” Bucksath said.

It was roughly two years ago when CEO Dan Price made the announcement he was going to offer his employees raises and give himself a pay cut. Since then, Pirkle said the company is seeing “rapid growth.” The company now processes credit cards for 18,000 small businesses, compared to 12,000 before the announcement.

As part of the growth, the company has also moved into a new office space in Ballard that’s more than twice the size of their previous location. Inside the new building, Pirkle said everything has a purpose.

“We’ve all had input into every single detail of this build-out, and so it really does feel like it’s ours,” Pirkle said.

The company is leasing two floors for office space, including one that has a “Main Street” where the conference rooms are located. On the main floor, desks are in an open area and the one thing you won’t see there are private offices — even the CEO has the same size desk as the other employees.

“Working for a company that you’re happy for and where your values are aligned that’s in my mind more important,” said Akhavan. “The fact that I can work in a place where there’s both I really feel blessed.”

———
Gravity Price’s Dan Price Emerges Victorious in Brother’s Suit  |  Seattle Times  |  July 12, 2016
Judge’s ruling comes after three-week trial in a suit that accused Dan Price of breaching a contract between the two brothers.

(This story was updated July 12 , 2016 to include a statement from Lucas Price.)

In a case that pitted brother against brother, Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price successfully beat back a suit brought against him by older brother and co-founder Lucas Price.

Lucas Price did not show that Dan violated Lucas’ rights as a minority shareholder, a King County judge ruled late Friday.

The ruling came after a three-week long trial in late June before King County Superior Court Judge Theresa B. Doyle.

Dan Price gained fame in 2015 for his decision to raise the minimum wage of employees at the credit-card payment processing company to $70,000 per year. The move received international attention; NBC News and The New York Times were present at the announcement.

In her 32-page decision, Doyle ruled that claims Dan Price compensated himself excessively and used his corporate credit card for personal expenses without reimbursing the company were not proved.

Doyle ordered that Dan Price’s legal fees be paid by his brother.

Lawyers for Lucas Price did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lucas Price said he was “shocked and disappointed” in an emailed statement days after the ruling.

“I am evaluating my options,” he said.

Dan Price posted on Facebook Friday evening: “I will never take for granted the incredibly valuable role Lucas played in creating our company. I’m thankful for the opportunity to put this challenging time behind us.”

Lucas Price’s suit came to light shortly after the minimum-wage announcement, although the suit had actually been served on Dan weeks before that announcement.

The brothers started their company in 2004, and signed a contract in 2008 that gave a majority stake to Dan Price and removed Lucas Price from day-to-day responsibilities. It also set in place minority shareholder rights for Lucas.

The suit claimed that Dan Price breached the contract, claiming that Dan overpaid himself and cut Lucas out of important company decisions. Lucas sought unspecified damages, but wanted Dan to buy out his ownership shares.

“This is an unfortunate and troubling story of ego, resentment and an unwillingness of Dan Price to live with a deal he and his brother struck in 2008,” Greg Hollon, lead attorney for Lucas Price, said in both his opening and closing statement.

The defense countered that Dan Price’s compensation fell within reasonable boundaries. It said he reimbursed the company for personal expenses charged on a corporate card, and kept his brother updated when needed, all while increasing Gravity’s revenues significantly.

At one point during the trial, Dan Price said he would likely lose control of the company if forced to buy out his brother’s shares for $26 million, the assumed value.

———
A Company Copes With Backlash Against the Raise That Roared  |  New York Times |  July 31, 2015
Dan Price, chief of Gravity Payments, raised the annual salary floor for his employees to $70,000. Most responses were positive, but Mr. Price says that even the negative letters were valuable.

There are times when Dan Price feels as if he stumbled into the middle of the street with a flag and found himself at the head of a parade.

Three months ago, Mr. Price, 31, announced he was setting a new minimum salary of $70,000 at his Seattle credit card processing firm, Gravity Payments, and slashing his own million-dollar pay package to do it. He wasn’t thinking about the current political clamor over low wages or the growing gap between rich and poor, he said. He was just thinking of the 120 people who worked for him and, let’s be honest, a bit of free publicity. The idea struck him when a friend shared her worries about paying both her rent and student loans on a $40,000 salary. He realized a lot of his own employees earned that or less.

Yet almost overnight, a decision by one small-business man in the northwestern corner of the country became a swashbuckling blow against income inequality.

The move drew attention from around the world — including from some outspoken skeptics and conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, who smelled a socialist agenda — but most were enthusiastic. Talk show hosts lined up to interview Mr. Price. Job seekers by the thousands sent in résumés. He was called a “thought leader.” Harvard business professors flew out to conduct a case study. Third graders wrote him thank-you notes. Single women wanted to date him.

What few outsiders realized, however, was how much turmoil all the hoopla was causing at the company itself. To begin with, Gravity was simply unprepared for the onslaught of emails, Facebook posts and phone calls. The attention was thrilling, but it was also exhausting and distracting. And with so many eyes focused on the firm, some hoping to witness failure, the pressure has been intense.

More troubling, a few customers, dismayed by what they viewed as a political statement, withdrew their business. Others, anticipating a fee increase — despite repeated assurances to the contrary — also left. While dozens of new clients, inspired by Mr. Price’s announcement, were signing up, those accounts will not start paying off for at least another year. To handle the flood, he has already had to hire a dozen additional employees — now at a significantly higher cost — and is struggling to figure out whether more are needed without knowing for certain how long the bonanza will last.

Two of Mr. Price’s most valued employees quit, spurred in part by their view that it was unfair to double the pay of some new hires while the longest-serving staff members got small or no raises. Some friends and associates in Seattle’s close-knit entrepreneurial network were also piqued that Mr. Price’s action made them look stingy in front of their own employees.

Then potentially the worst blow of all: Less than two weeks after the announcement, Mr. Price’s older brother and Gravity co-founder, Lucas Price, citing longstanding differences, filed a lawsuit that potentially threatened the company’s very existence. With legal bills quickly mounting and most of his own paycheck and last year’s $2.2 million in profits plowed into the salary increases, Dan Price said, “We don’t have a margin of error to pay those legal fees.”

As Mr. Price spoke in the Gravity conference room, he could see a handful of employees setting up beach chairs in the parking lot for an impromptu meeting. The office is in Ballard, a fast-gentrifying neighborhood of Seattle that reflects the wealth gap that Mr. Price says he wants to address. Downstairs is a yoga studio, and across the street is a coffee bar where customers can sip velvet soy lattes on Adirondack-style chairs. But around the corner, beneath the elevated roadway, a homeless woman silently appeals to drivers stopped at the red light with a cardboard sign: “Plz Help.”

In his own way, Mr. Price is trying to respond to that request.

“Income inequality has been racing in the wrong direction,” he said. “I want to fight for the idea that if someone is intelligent, hard-working and does a good job, then they are entitled to live a middle-class lifestyle.”

The reaction to his salary pledge has led him to think that if his business continues to prosper, his actions could have far-reaching consequences. “The cause has expanded,” he said. “Whether I like it or not, the stakes are higher.”

On a recent weekday evening, Mr. Price confidently threaded his way through clumps of tourists and past the rows of flowers and fruits that line Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. About 70 percent of the businesses that occupy this nearly century-old marketplace use Gravity to process their credit card payments, Mr. Price said. He started courting customers there more than 11 years ago, while still attending Seattle Pacific University, a small Christian college. He would go from stall to stall, shaking hands, scribbling down phone numbers. Early on, he signed up Pure Food Fish. The shop was a backdrop in the film “Sleepless in Seattle,” but more important, it was run by the 86-year-old Solly Amon, who inherited the pocket store from his father and is lovingly known as the “cod father.” When other merchants heard Mr. Amon trusted Dan, they did too.

“They give us tremendous service,” Mr. Amon said. He remembered an incident years ago when Mr. Price had a new credit card machine up and running within three hours after his old one died.

In addition to providing the devices and software that merchants use when a customer whips out a credit card, Gravity makes sure the money shifts securely and quickly among buyer, bank and business. In an industry dominated by global banking giants and mammoth processors, the company last year processed $6.5 billion in sales for 12,000 clients, most of them small and medium-size businesses.

Was Mr. Amon bothered by Mr. Price’s new payroll policy? “He takes care of his business, and I’ll take care of my business,” he declared.

Brian Canlis, a co-owner of his family-named restaurant, is also a client. He said he was fond of Mr. Price, but was more discomfited by his actions. Mr. Canlis is already worried about how to deal with Seattle’s new minimum wage, which rose to $11 an hour in April and is scheduled to reach $15 an hour for small businesses within five years.

The pay raise at Gravity, Mr. Canlis told Mr. Price, “makes it harder for the rest of us.”

Mr. Price winced. “It pains me to hear Brian Canlis say that,” he said later. “The last thing I would ever want to do is make a client feel uncomfortable.”

But any plan that has the potential, as Mr. Price has put it, to “set the world on fire,” is bound to make some people squirm. Leah Brajcich, who oversees sales at Gravity, fielded complaints from several customers who accused her boss of communist or socialist sympathies that would drive up their own employees’ wages and others who felt it was a public relations stunt. A few were worried that fees would rise or service would fall off. “What’s their incentive to hustle if you pay them so much?” Ms. Brajcich said they asked. Putting in 80-hour weeks after the announcement, she called the mistrustful clients, stopping by their offices or stores, and invited them to visit Gravity to see for themselves the employees’ dedication. She said she eventually lured most back.

As for other business leaders in Mr. Price’s social circle, they were split on whether he was a brilliant strategist or simply nuts. As much as they respected him, they were also disturbed. “I worry how that’s going to impact other businesses,” said Steve Duffield, the chief executive of the DACO Corporation, who met Mr. Price through the Entrepreneurs’ Organization in Seattle. “We can’t afford to do that. For most businesses, employees are the biggest expense and they need to manage those costs in order to survive.”

Roger Reynolds, a co-owner of a wealth management company, said his discussion of the pay plan with Mr. Price got heated. “My wife and I got so frustrated with him at a cocktail party, we literally left,” said Mr. Reynolds, who complained that Mr. Price unfairly accused him of measuring his self-worth solely in terms of money and trying to hold somebody else down. Everyone may have equal rights, but not equal talent or motivation, Mr. Reynolds said. “I think he’s trying to bring in some political and aspirational beliefs into the compensation structure of the workplace.”

If there was a 19th-century thinker Mr. Price drew inspiration from, it would be not Karl Marx, but Russell Conwell, the Baptist minister and Temple University founder, whose famed “Acres of Diamonds” speech fused Christianity and capitalism. “To make money honestly is to preach the Gospel,” Mr. Conwell exhorted his listeners. To get rich “is our Christian and godly duty.”

Growing up in rural southwestern Idaho, Mr. Price frequently listened to a recording of the speech on tape.

Every day he and his four brothers and one sister rose as early as 5 a.m. to recite a proverb, a psalm, a Gospel chapter and an excerpt from the Old and New Testaments. Home-schooled until he was 12 and taught to accept the Bible as the literal truth, Mr. Price also listened to the Rush Limbaugh show for three hours a day — never imagining he would one day be the subject of a rant by the host. Then it was time to help his mother with organic gardening, composting and recycling.

Like his siblings, Dan was fiercely competitive, said his father, Ron Price, and hard on himself if he didn’t come in first at Bible memorization contests, backyard football or board games like Life and Monopoly. “Dan has always been a deal maker,” said his father, who is now a management consultant.

The isolation did not prepare Mr. Price for the complex social interactions of junior high school. He was awkward, out of place. He remembered joining in when a group of children started laughing, only to later realize that he had been the target of their ridicule.

His experiences did reinforce an independent, contrarian streak even as he made a place for himself in the teenagers’ terrain. He formed a rock band and got a girlfriend. After their first hug at 17, her conservative Christian father demanded to know his intentions. The two were engaged, and they married four years later. (They divorced amicably in 2011.)

His parents instilled a sense of purpose. “We had a family mission” to glorify God, he said. The household was run as a “family business” with jobs and responsibilities carefully set out in charts and diagrams. “All my siblings hated it, but I thought it was cool,” Mr. Price said with a laugh.

Mr. Price is no longer so religious, but the values and faith he grew up on are “in my DNA,” he said. “It’s just something that’s part of me.”

He transferred that zeal to his credit card processing business, which he started out of his dorm room in 2004 with his brother Lucas, five years his senior.

He preached Main Street capitalism that promised to deliver good value, low prices and individual service. His success won him a shelf full of local business awards and even a chance to meet President Obama during National Small Business Week when he was just 25. Though he now has the shoulder-length hair and beard of a hipster, back then he looked like a baby-faced Donny Osmond and sounded like Alex P. Keaton, the eager beaver Republican played by Michael J. Fox on the 1980s sitcom “Family Ties.” He did not actively oppose Seattle’s minimum-wage increase, but a reason he urges other business owners to follow his lead on pay is to avoid more government regulation.

Mr. Price’s drive to succeed, fierce commitment to help small businesses and exacting standards attracted other business-minded idealists. Some even took pay cuts to work at Gravity. Keeping an existing client is more important than getting a new one, he decreed. Never make a caller hear more than two rings before picking up.

Nydelis Ortiz, 25, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Peru (not to mention the 2010 Miss Vermont), said she was drawn to his passion and community volunteer projects. Emery Wager, 30, a Stanford engineering graduate and a former Marine, decided to forgo applying to Harvard Business School so he could work closely with Mr. Price. (He felt vindicated when a Harvard friend who had ridiculed his decision told him Gravity’s pay scale was discussed in class.)

Maisey McMaster was also one of the believers. Now 26, she joined the company five years ago and worked her way up to financial manager, putting in long hours that left little time for her husband and extended family. “There’s a special culture,” where people “work hard and play hard,” she said. “I love everyone there.”

She helped calculate whether the firm could afford to gradually raise everyone’s salary to $70,000 over a three-year period, and was initially swept up in the excitement. But the more she thought about it, the more the details gnawed at her.

“He gave raises to people who have the least skills and are the least equipped to do the job, and the ones who were taking on the most didn’t get much of a bump,” she said. To her, a fairer proposal would have been to give smaller increases with the opportunity to earn a future raise with more experience.

A couple of days after the announcement, she decided to talk to Mr. Price.

“He treated me as if I was being selfish and only thinking about myself,” she said. “That really hurt me. I was talking about not only me, but about everyone in my position.”

Already approaching burnout from the relentless pace, she decided to quit.

The new pay scale also helped push Grant Moran, 29, Gravity’s web developer, to leave. “I had a lot of mixed emotions,” he said. His own salary was bumped up to $50,000 from $41,000 (the first stage of the raise), but the policy was nevertheless disconcerting. “Now the people who were just clocking in and out were making the same as me,” he complained. “It shackles high performers to less motivated team members.”

Mr. Moran also fretted that the extra money could over time become too enticing to give up, keeping him from his primary goal of further developing his web skills and moving to a digital company.

And the attention was vexing. “I was kind of uncomfortable and didn’t like having my wage advertised so publicly and so blatantly,” he said, echoing a sentiment of several Gravity staff members. “It changed perspectives and expectations of you, whether it’s the amount you tip on a cup of coffee that day or family and friends now calling you for a loan.”

Several employees who stayed, while exhilarated by the raises, say they now feel a lot of pressure. “Am I doing my job well enough to deserve this?” said Stephanie Brooks, 23, who joined Gravity as an administrative assistant two months before the wage increase. “I didn’t earn it.”

When Mr. Price chose $70,000 as the eventual salary floor, he was influenced by research showing that this annual income could make an enormous difference in someone’s emotional well-being by easing nagging financial stress.

He might have also considered the parable of the workers in the vineyard from the Gospel of St. Matthew, where the laborers hired at sunup were upset that their pay was the same as those who showed up right before quitting time. Early adopters and latecomers may be equally welcomed in the Kingdom of Heaven, but not necessarily in the earthly realm, where rewards are generally bestowed in paycheck form.

As for the raw feelings of friends or staff members, Mr. Price readily admits that he can be contentious, even censorious. A disagreement often comes across as a personal attack. “It’s just as painful for me as anyone else,” he said.

Mr. Price, who extolled Ms. McMaster’s talents, said he didn’t think she, Mr. Moran or even Rush Limbaugh was wrong. “There’s no perfect way to do this and no way to handle complex workplace issues that doesn’t have any downsides or trade-offs,” he said. When other entrepreneurs suggested that stock options or profit-sharing would have been a better approach, he said that’s the way capitalism works: Everyone tries to invent the best mousetrap. “I came up with the best solution I could.”

And the publicity surrounding it has generated tangible benefits. Three months before the announcement, the firm had been adding 200 clients a month. In June, 350 signed up.

That new business won’t start paying off for 12 to 18 months, however, Mr. Price said, and in the meantime, he is contending with the lawsuit brought by his brother. Lucas Price owns about 30 percent of their company, although he has not actively been involved in day-to-day operations for several years. There had been tensions between the two long before the new pay plan, and Lucas is demanding that Dan buy him out for an unspecified amount, plus damages.

Lucas, who lives in Seattle, declined to be interviewed but wrote in an email: “Dan has taken millions of dollars out of the company for himself while denying me the benefits of the ownership of my shares, and otherwise favoring his own interests as the majority shareholder over my interests.” He said his complaints predated the pay raises.

Even so, they clearly are critical to the outcome. With profits, at least in the short term, shifted to salaries, there is little left over to buy out his brother, let alone pay the legal bills or make longer-term capital improvements in the company, Dan said.

Flabbergasted when the suit arrived, Dan said he was puzzled by the accusations, saying that Lucas agreed to his $1.1 million salary and bonus package, instituted for 2012.

Family fighting over a business can be ugly and is often about more than just money. Dan conceded he may have previously given short shrift to Lucas’s contributions. “Who knows if I would have had the opportunity to build the company without him helping me out in the first couple of years?” he said.

Lucas was the best man at his wedding, and the two, close friends, often hiked, surfed and attended ballgames together. By the end, “being in business together was the worst thing for our relationship,” Dan said. After the lawsuit was filed, he said he called the rest of his family and told them to offer “unconditional love and support” to both Lucas and him. (Their younger brother Alex, 23, also works at the company.)

While it is upsetting to see two of his sons at odds, Ron Price said, “their mother and me don’t lose sleep over it. I think they’ll get it sorted out.”

Dan Price, who estimated his current net worth, including his home, at about $3 million, said he had offered to “give up everything I have personally and everything I’ll have for years to come.” A court date has been set for May.

For now, at least, Mr. Price has undoubtedly made an immediate difference in the lives of many of his employees. José Garcia, 30, who supervises an equipment team, was able to afford to move into the city and replace the worn tires on his car. Ms. Ortiz, who was briefly homeless as a child, can now visit her family in Burlington, Vt. Cody Boorman, 22, who handles operations out of his eastern Washington home, said he and his wife finally felt financially secure enough to start a family.

There have been other ripples. Mario Zahariev, who runs Pop’s Pizza & Pasta, switched to Gravity after seeing Mr. Price on the news. When he learned his monthly processing fees would drop to $900 from $1,700, Mr. Zahariev decided, “I was not going to keep the difference for myself.” He used the savings to raise the salaries of his eight employees.

Pop’s Pizza aside, Mr. Price’s plan is not easily replicated, said Nick Hanauer, a Seattle venture capitalist and an early promoter of the city’s $15 minimum wage law. Still, he noted, “These individual acts can create a new kind of perception of what’s possible and what’s righteous.” After all, he said, two years ago, no one would ever have guessed higher minimum wage laws would be catching fire in cities around the country. “Who can tell what that last thing is that catalyzes big change?”

In that sense, Mr. Price’s foray into the public debate on wages is not unlike his newfound passion of wake surfing. Cruising atop the curl of a wave created by a motorboat isn’t easy. Lean too far ahead of the swell or drift behind it and you wipe out. For the moment, he is balancing on the crest, enjoying the ride and doing his best to keep from falling off.

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10 Questions With… Dan Price, Entrepreneur of 2014  |  YPO  |  January 28, 2015
What does it take to become Entrepreneur of the Year? YPO member Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, received the coveted 2014 honor from Entrepreneur magazine. Learn more about his leadership style, company culture and top insights for business leaders. Price founded the company at age 19 and joined the YPO Pacific Northwest Chapter in 2013.

What does being named “Entrepreneur of the Year” mean for you as a leader? What does it say about your team?
There was a blog that wrote a critique that the award was misplaced, and I kind of agree with that. I don’t think we’ve arrived at all. I think we still have a lot more to do. In the past, I’ve been proud of the cool stuff we’ve done, but I think it’s just one-tenth of one percent of what we want to do. As a leader, this means I have a lot more pressure and a lot more to prove. Some people say an award like this would validate what they’re doing; I would say we need to do things that will validate this award.

I think what it says about my team – and our clients and those who support us – is that they care about me and Gravity. They don’t care what they get out of it, but they genuinely want us to succeed at what we’re trying to do. We have some great people, but I don’t think we’ve arrived yet. It’s a nice chance to appreciate my team, but it’s also an opportunity to look at each other and use this as a challenge to mean what we say.

When/how did you first hear about YPO? What made you want to join?
I had somewhat of an informal mentor named Dan Levine. He’s here in Seattle and he told me a lot about YPO. He was the one who first told me about all the different things he got out of being a member. It was life changing for him and he thought I would really benefit from checking it out.

You were featured in the YPO-CNBC article about the benefits of unlimited PTO. How else are you innovative or what other conventional practices would you do away with?
Our philosophy is that every single person at Gravity needs to be the CEO of themselves. Some people get confused about what that means. It means we value challenges and struggles, and we don’t want things to come easy. We want to push ourselves to do and be better. If we do that, we’ll create a company truly meant to serve others. Each individual will create an ability within themselves that will pay huge dividends for the rest of their lives. So, we’re innovative in the sense that we don’t do things the easy way. Nothing is laid out and you don’t have somebody telling you what to do. You have the opportunity to pave your own path at this company.

Our whole purpose of being in this industry is to help independent businesses accepting payments. We wanted to transform this industry that many don’t trust by giving them the best possible options and support to accept payments. We structured the whole company – including no outside financing – to accomplish that long-term goal. A lot of our clients have said, “We want more; we want to do this; we want to do that” and we know we can’t do everything for everybody, but we try to do what we can to support them. One thing we’ve done to help was setting up an alternative loan program that helps independent businesses quickly access funds. We have been able to finance over $10 million for community businesses strictly based off word-of-mouth referrals.

The other thing we do differently is that we don’t pay our salespeople commissions. That’s been since day one. Our salespeople are incentivized based on customer retention and customer satisfaction. Our competitors pay these big sales commissions which make the price to the client go way up, while making the long-term satisfaction of the client go down. This doesn’t incentivize building a long-term relationship with a client, but rather a one-and-done type of deal. Our salespeople consistently check-in, make sure everything is working, review rates, help business owners understand their statements, and even send them advice articles on how to help their business succeed. All of that has allowed Gravity to keep our clients five times longer than the industry average.

What is the most difficult leadership lesson you have learned?
I’m not sure if it’s a lesson I’ve learned, but the most difficult thing for me in terms of being a leader is that I’m very optimistic about people. I really care about people I work and interact with, and people I meet. I see potential and how great a person can be, and it results in me holding very high standards for them. I see what they’re capable of, and it’s important for me they meet that potential. More often than not it does happen, but when things get in the way and somebody doesn’t meet their potential, it’s very painful.

Complete the sentence: “If I wasn’t a business leader, I would be a…
If I wasn’t a business leader, I would want to be a part of the Gravity team. I’m committed to what we’re doing. I want to show the world that treating your clients the way you would want to be treated, and using your client’s best interest as your motivation every day, will win out over greed in the long run.

What are the top 3 challenges for today’s business leaders?
I would say number one is figuring out and being clear on your purpose: What do you most care about? How are you going to stay focused and stick with your purpose even if it’s different than what other people care about? How are you going to inspire other people to do the same inside your organization?

The second challenge is managing risk and uncertainty. The world does not work in a linear way. Things change all the time, especially when there are groups of people involved. We can wake up one day and reality is completely different. How is your company or the group that you lead going to adapt and benefit from those changes?

The third would be to accomplish the first two in a way that is going to be healthy and sustainable for you. As a leader, one of the things you are is an example. I think it’s important to lead a life that is healthy overall and encourages the people you work with to do the same.

What is one must-read book for business leaders?
A book I enjoy is called Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. It’s a book about the psychology and the science of change, and emphasizing change within people. If there is something within yourself or within your organization you’d like to change, the steps to changing it may be less intuitive than you might think.

What do you do when you’re not working? Any surprising hobbies or talents?
I enjoy doing pretty much anything. I love to snowboard, surf, hike, play soccer, and workout. I just love variety. I like to try and learn new things as much as I can.

What is the best piece of leadership advice you have received?

If you want people to trust you, the way to earn their trust is to be 100 percent honest and transparent.

How has being in YPO positively affected your business or leadership?

I’d say a big part of leadership is empathy. Being a member of YPO is nice because you have a constant practice of learning to both receive and give empathy. For me, having more empathy is one of the most powerful things I can do to improve as a leader.