William LeGate

William LeGate (born September 3, 1994) is an American entrepreneur, Thiel Fellow, computer programmer and activist.

William LeGate
LeGate at the Web Summit in Dublin, Ireland in 2014
Born (1994-09-03) September 3, 1994
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
EducationThe Walker School
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • Computer programmer
Political partyIndependent[1]
Awards

A self-taught programmer from the age of 12, LeGate was brought to the public's attention three years later when The New York Times recommended one of the iOS applications he had programmed during middle school.[2][3]

When LeGate graduated from high school at age 18, billionaire PayPal co-founder and investor Peter Thiel awarded him a Thiel Fellowship, a US$100,000 grant, given annually to around 20 people under 20 years of age on the condition that they drop out of school in order to pursue an entrepreneurial path.[4][5] The apps that he made had been downloaded over 7 million times as of April 2017.[6]

Early life

LeGate was born on September 3, 1994, in Atlanta, Georgia, son of a real estate entrepreneur father and stay-at-home mother. He was raised in the suburbs of Atlanta and is a graduate of The Walker School in Marietta, Georgia.[7]

Career

Thiel Fellowship

Having taught himself computer programming from online courses at Stanford, starting at the age of 13, LeGate stated in a 2011 interview that he had always had a passion for entrepreneurship.[7] Throughout high school, he created over a dozen iPhone applications which were being used by 1 in 12 American teenagers upon his graduation.[8]

His early success caught the attention of billionaire PayPal co-founder and investor Peter Thiel who awarded LeGate—then aged 18—with a Thiel Fellowship—a $100,000 (USD) grant given annually to around 20 people under 20 years of age on the condition that they drop out of school in order to pursue an entrepreneurial path.[4]

Imagination Research Labs

At age 14, LeGate created an iOS app development company called Imagination Research Labs, after teaching himself how to code in Objective C.[9]

Ponder

Toward the end of his Thiel Fellowship, LeGate began creating the Ponder mobile application, of which he was listed as co-founder and CEO. The New York Post dubbed Ponder the "anti-Kardashian" photo sharing app,[10] with Teen Vogue adding that Ponder is "drama-free. No trolls, bullying, or negativity. Just cool photos & videos."[11]

Tinder co-founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen both invested in the app, and Justin's brother Tyler Mateen was a co-founder of Ponder.[12]

GoodPillow

In February 2021, American anti-gun violence activist David Hogg announced that he and LeGate would start GoodPillow to compete with MyPillow, whose CEO Mike Lindell had spread unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud as a staunch supporter of former President Trump. GoodPillow originally started out as a Twitter joke by LeGate.[13] In April 2021, Hogg announced that he had left the company to focus on his education.[14]

In June 2021 the company tweeted[15] that "the first Good Pillow has arrived from the factory." The company committed themselves to progressive causes, promising to have their pillows made in Texas by workers earning a living wage.[16]

In April 2022, news leaked that GoodPillow and Pillow-Fight had agreed to a merger.[17]

Activism

LeGate, who says he is politically independent,[2] has been an active member on Twitter, where during the presidency of Donald Trump he was part of the anti-Trump online "resistance". He built much of his following on Twitter by obtaining the top reply under Trump's tweets by replying within minutes of them being posted. He used his platform for activism by questioning the president's policies, pointing out inaccuracies in his tweets, and threading antagonistic tweets. "Honestly, it's just using Trump's strategy against him," LeGate told BuzzFeed News. "I studied the strategies Trump uses."[18]

Awards and recognition

References
  1. @williamlegate (19 February 2017). "I'm an independent... I didn't "lose" the election—I'm worried, as most of us are, about our incompetent leader" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. "Web Summit Day Two: hear from Tinder, Facebook and Stripe". The Irish Times. 2015-03-11. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  3. Tedeschi, Bob (31 March 2010). "Imaginary Chats and Texts When a Quick Getaway Is in Order". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  4. "Thiel Fellowship". Thiel Fellowship. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  5. "This Year's Thiel Fellows Include A Fashion Designer, A Poet, And A Harvard Dropout". Fast Company. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  6. @williamlegate (18 April 2017). "The apps I created during middle/high school have received over 7 million downloads to date. #ThankYou" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. "The Marietta Daily Journal - Computer whiz kid develops iPhone app for games". Mdjonline.com. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  8. "The 25 Most Impressive Kids Graduating From High School This Year". Business Insider. 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  9. "William LeGate". TEDxTeen. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  10. "Ponder is the anti-Kardashian photo-sharing app". New York Post. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  11. "This New Social Media App Doesn't Want to Help Make You Famous". Teen Vogue. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  12. "Meet Ponder, The App Trying to Disrupt Facebook's 'Control of Ideas'". TheWrap. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  13. Grothaus, Michael (2021-02-10). "Good Pillow vs. MyPillow: How to sign up for David Hogg's pillow fight". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  14. Anders Anglesey (2021-04-11). "David Hogg quits Good Pillow project designed to rival Mike Lindell's MyPillow". Newsweek. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  15. @PillowFightCo (28 June 2021). "The first Good Pillow has arrived from the factory 😃You will be hearing a lot more from us very soon - we've been…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. Roche, Darragh (2021-06-29). "Good Pillows begin rolling off production line in fight against Mike Lindell's MyPillow". Newsweek. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  17. Neikirk, Todd (2022-04-14). "LEAKED: GoodPillow & Pillow-Fight Merging, Raising Millions to Take on MyPillow". HillReporter.com. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  18. Warzel, Charlie (9 June 2017). "Inside The Chaotic Battle To Be The Top Reply To A Trump Tweet". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  19. "The Most Powerful Person In Tech At Every Age". Business Insider. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  20. "Most Impressive High School Graduates". Business Insider. 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  21. "The Hottest Teenage Startup Founders". Business Insider. 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  22. "2012-2013 20 Under 20 Honorees!". 21st Century Leaders with the Atlanta Business Chronicle. 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  23. Tedeschi, Bob (31 March 2010). "Imaginary Chats and Texts When a Quick Getaway Is in Order". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
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