<p>[Game</a> Boy: Seth Priebatsch, SCVNGR Founder - Boston Magazine](<a href=“http://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/articles/game_boy_seth_priebatsch_scvngr_founder/]Game”>http://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/articles/game_boy_seth_priebatsch_scvngr_founder/) </p>
<p>"Seth Priebatsch believes puzzles and challenges have the power to change human behavior. A lot of very smart tech investors believe Priebatsch and his Cambridge company have the power to change the world.</p>
<p>IN THE FALL OF 2007, Seth Priebatsch headed off to Princeton and, a few weeks after arriving on campus, learned about the schools annual business-plan contest. Before Priebatsch even entered, he likes to boast, he knew he would win it. </p>
<p>There was good reason for his optimism. Priebatsch was 12 years old when he started his first company, Giftopedia.com, a price-comparison website that helped users locate good deals. (He found the sites programmers while on a family vacation to India.) At least twice while at school, he had to run out of class to deal with server outages. I explained to my teachers calmly that I really had to leave and take care of this, he recalls. Priebatsch sold off most of the company when he was 15, and the Web address when he was 17. Then, as a high school senior, he launched his second startup, PostcardTech. This one created and distributed promotional CDs for universities and tourist destinations. He rented out a factory in China which is way easier than it sounds, he says. Do a bit of research, get the right numbers, fire up Skype, dial. (He still owns PostcardTech, though he has no involvement in running it.)</p>
<p>For the Princeton competition, he decided on a proposal for a company that would use text messages to lead mobile-phone-based scavenger hunts. . . . (continued)"</p>