![]() When Gee and his wife began traveling, they had a two-year-old daughter named Dorothy and a ten-month-old son named Manilla. But then, as our community continued to grow, they began paying us as well.” At first, they were just offering us accommodations or flights in exchange for marketing exposure through our social media. Gee says that around the time the $45,000 was close to running out, “Our social media began gaining enough traction that hotels, airlines, and other brands began working with us. They raised $45,000 when they sold all their belongings and decided to travel until that money ran out. Together with his wife, they began documenting their travels through social media, YouTube, and a website, becoming known as “The Bucket List Family.”Īlthough traveling around the world can be expensive, Gee and his wife avoided dipping into the money they earned from the sale of Scan. Ravikant’s advice inspired Gee to build a brand around his travels. At the time, he remembered something Naval Ravikant, the CEO and co-founder of AngelList, said to him: “If you are young, one of the best things you can do is build a brand around yourself.” In 2015, a year after Scan’s acquisition, Gee decided with his wife to sell their belongings and travel the world. ![]() The black dots that populate Snapchat icons, allowing users to find each other easily, are a result of the Scan acquisition. The technology Snapchat acquired in the purchase became an integral part of the Snapchat app. A few years later, in 2014, Gee and his co-founders sold the company to Snapchat in a $54 million deal. Scan raised $1.7 million in an early round of funding, which later rose to $8.7 million total. However, Gee raised funding from other investors, including Naval Ravikant, David Krane, Shervin Pishevar, Ariel Poler, Jonathon Triest, Chris Redlitz, Troy Carter, Jim Pollatta, and Lady Gaga. In 2013, Gee appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, hoping to raise $1 million for the company, but none of the Shark Tank investors were interested. By the end of their first year, the app had 10 million users, which grew to 18 million by the year-and-a-half mark. The app continued to grow in popularity, eventually reaching the goal of one million downloads within three months. Gee said, “At the time, $5,000 seemed a bit too lofty for my poor freshman mind to even imagine.” The app reached 2,000 users in the first day. The team’s initial goal was to make $5,000 and reach one million downloads within a year. After working on app development for less than six months, Gee, Ouimet, and Turley released the app in January 2011. Īfter developing his skills through freelancing, Gee also approached two other students at his university, Kirk Ouimet and Ben Turley, who were both seniors studying information systems. His freelance work primarily involved developing and designing logos. So he decided to begin freelancing to develop these skills. He wanted to develop a business idea surrounding QR codes but had little experience with computers, design, or coding. Garrett Gee had the idea for the app Scan when he first encountered QR code technology. I’ve seen people’s health tank, so soccer is a good balance because it provides good exercise.” Scan He explains why he kept with the sport, saying, “It’s really easy to obsess over a startup. Įven after his entrepreneurial pursuits took off, Gee continued to play on the BYU soccer team. In his final year on the team, Gee was elected team captain. Īfter their marriage, Settie finished her bachelor’s degree at BYU University, and Gee remained enrolled as a student so he could play on the soccer team. After their missions, Gee and Settie enrolled in Brigham Young University, where they began dating. In Russia, Gee met his future wife, Jessica Settie, who was also a missionary at the time. After high school, he spent two years as a missionary for his church in Vladivostok, Russia. Gee attended Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah, and was captain of the school’s soccer team. ![]() After taking pictures of a very high score he set and submitting it online, Gee says he received a certificate in the mail declaring him the world record holder. When Gee was thirteen years old, he loved the game Tetris. On the other hand, his father, an orthodontist, preferred more rugged hobbies like Civil War reenactments and cowboy activities. ![]() Īccording to Gee, his mom was very “glitzy and glamorous.” She hosted a travel TV show and preferred to travel with Louis Vuitton luggage. After his parents divorced when he was nine, he spent summers in California with his mom and the school year with his dad in Alpine, Utah. He was the fifth of six children born in the Gee family. Garrett Gee was born November 6, 1986, in American Fork, Utah. ![]()
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