Idaho Statesman: How a Nampan built a business from his dorm room

Dan Price, who grew up in Nampa, started a business at age 19 in his college dormitory room. Now 24, with a brand-new degree from Seattle Pacific University, he has 37 employees. He says his company, Gravity Payments, has become the biggest credit-card payment processor in the Seattle area.

Here’s a story about a Treasure Valley boy who made good - and wasted little time doing it.

Dan Price, who grew up in Nampa, started a business at age 19 in his college dormitory room. Now 24, with a brand-new degree from Seattle Pacific University, he has 37 employees. He says his company, Gravity Payments, has become the biggest credit-card payment processor in the Seattle area. 

Price’s first exposure to business came at age 15, when he was the bass player and manager of a rock band that wrote and produced all of its own music and sold 2,000 records.

He grew up in a business-minded family. His father, Ron Price, is a well-known Valley business consultant who serves on the board of the Better Business Bureau serving Southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon.

Through his father, Price said he learned about “a lot of industries the average person probably wouldn’t become aware of.” And he began to understand problems from merchants’ point of view. That’s how he spotted an opportunity in credit-card processing.

“I saw three fundamental problems with the industry,” he said. “One is, across the board, people felt like they were paying hidden fees or didn’t understand what they were paying. Second, everyone felt they were paying too much. I found that small businesses were paying five to 10 times as much in some cases as chain businesses.

“And then there was just no relationship, no local support. If you’re lucky, you’re calling a help desk in Indiana. If you’re unlucky, you’re calling a help desk in India.”

With the help of his older brother, Lucas, Price set up the payment-processing business and began serving small Seattle-area businesses like restaurants and retailers.

By the time he was 23, the business had expanded to serve customers nationwide. Gravity Payments now claims a growth rate exceeding 150 percent last year. Price thinks he’ll do $5 million in business this year.

His company charges about a third as much as competitors, he says. The company offers local support and an executive on call 24 hours a day.

Price returns to the Valley six or seven times a year, mostly on business. The company has an office in downtown Nampa with two full-time employees and a part-timer. “We have a few hundred customers in Idaho, if not more,” he said.

Meanwhile, he has married Kristin Lewellyn, whom he dated at Nampa Christian High, where he graduated in 2003.

“A lot of my closest friends I talk to weekly are still there,” he said. “I love seeing those people. But there are financial advantages to being in a big city. You can grow more quickly here. And I love it up here too.”