Welcome to the BeaconFound Blog

We’ve all been there. That moment when you pat your pocket, check your bag, or scan the table where you know you left something important, only to find… nothing. Your heart sinks. Your mind races through the last few hours, retracing every step, every conversation, every moment when you might have set it down “just for a second.”

For me, that moment came last spring at an area golf course.

The Golf Range Finder That Started It All

I’d been using the same Bushnell range finder for three years. Nothing fancy, but it had become an extension of my game, though mostly a placebo. After a particularly good round (for me, anyway), I grabbed my clubs and headed home, feeling pretty satisfied with myself.

It wasn’t until I was loading up for the next weekend that I realized it was gone.

You know what happened next. I called the pro shop immediately. “Has anyone turned in a range finder?” The answer was what I expected but dreaded: “We find range finders all the time. We have a drawer of them somewhere. You’re welcome to come back and check”. But that was the problem. This was at a course 90 min from my house. I didn’t really want invest a 3 hr round trip only to maybe find it. And the proshop? Sure, maybe they could have gone and looked in the drawer for me and that would have been nice. But if they truly had dozens and dozens of them, they’d get sick of going through these for everyone. It was an unmanageable situation.

Meanwhile, I found myself wondering: Was it actually lost forever, or was it sitting in a box somewhere, waiting for me?

The not knowing was almost worse than the loss itself.

Why Good People Aren’t Enough (Without Good Systems)

Here’s what I realized during those frustrating two weeks: the problem wasn’t that people don’t want to help—it’s that our systems make it nearly impossible for them to help effectively.

Think about it. When you find something that doesn’t belong to you, your first instinct is probably to help reunite it with its owner. That’s human nature. We’re wired to be helpful, to do the right thing. But what happens next?

If you’re at a restaurant, you might give it to your server, who hands it to a manager, who puts it in a drawer behind the hostess stand. If you’re at a hotel, it might go to housekeeping, then to the front desk, then to a security office. If you’re at an event venue, it could end up with security, or cleaning staff, or in a box in the manager’s office.

Meanwhile, the person who lost it is calling the main number, speaking to whoever answers the phone, hoping that person knows where to look or who to ask. It’s a system built on hope and luck, not efficiency.

The good intentions are there. The infrastructure to support them isn’t.

What We Believe About People

BeaconFound exists because we believe in the fundamental goodness of people. We believe:

Most people want to help when they find something that isn’t theirs
Most businesses want to provide good customer service and help reunite lost items with their owners
Most people would prefer not to lose things in the first place, but life happens
Everyone deserves a better system than playing phone tag with busy employees who are trying their best with limited tools

We’re not trying to solve the problem of bad people who keep things that aren’t theirs; honestly, those folks are the minority. We’re trying to solve the much bigger problem of good people who are stuck with bad systems.

How BeaconFound Works (The Simple Version)

Our platform creates a bridge between the person who finds something and the person who lost it creating a personal lost and found system. Sure, marking items with a name badge or other identifying mark can help when you’re searching through a box of lost stuff. But what about when someone else finds it? They won’t know who Casey is. I could leave my phone number on it, but on some items, that’d take a lot of space, and for others, it’d be weird to have that promimently displayed on an item I use all the time. That is where the BeaconFound QR tag comes in.

Our tags have unique QR codes that link to custom web pages where you, the owner, can include any information you want a potential finder of your item to have to help get it back. Want them to call you? Put your phone number. Email? That works too. Or just leave a message like “leave at lost and found and let me know.” There are other features, like scan notifications and privacy enhanced features, but we’ll dive more into those in another post.

But here’s the key: we’re not replacing human kindness with technology—we’re amplifying it.

With these tags, now anyone who finds your item can get it back to you, and you can know it was found. No more phone tag with the lost and found of a venue, no more hoping that the right information makes it to the right person at the right time. Enable the finder to get the info to you so you can get your item back as soon as possible and join the community of people helping people.

The desire to help was always there. Now there’s finally a system that makes that help effective.

What’s Next for BeaconFound

Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing more about our journey building BeaconFound; the technical challenges, the partnerships we’re forming, the stories of successful reunions, and yes, the occasional setback that every startup faces.

I’ll also be sharing practical content about preventing lost items, what to do when you lose something valuable, and insights into the surprisingly large industry that’s grown up around lost and found services.

But mostly, I want to share stories. Stories about the hotel housekeeper who went out of her way to help track down a guest’s wedding ring. Stories about the restaurant manager who kept calling around to find the owner of a forgotten laptop. Stories about the event security guard who made sure a lost phone made it back to its owner.

Because here’s what I learned during my two weeks without that range finder: the problem isn’t that people don’t care—it’s that caring isn’t enough without the right tools to make that care effective.

Oh, and About That Range Finder…

I am a part of a large local golf related What’sApp group. On a whim, I sent a message asking if anyone would be at the specific course in the next few days, and if so, could they check lost and found for me? That way, I’d know if it was there and should drive to get it. And you know what happens? Within 45 minutes, someone was at the course, checked the proshop and sent me a picture of my range finder! They even lived closer to me and offered to bring it closer so I didn’t have to drive as far.

This just reenforced my conviction that people want to help, if only they knew how! Let’s provide a way and bring more goodness to our communities.

Welcome to BeaconFound. We’re glad you’re here.

About the Author: Casey Morris is the founder of BeaconFound and an experienced engineer, having worked on the hardware and software on everything from optical sensors for space satellites, to smart light switches, to TV streaming apps. When not working on reuniting people with their belongings, you can find him chasing his sons around the park or bribing them at the local donut shop. You can reach him at [email protected].

Have a lost item story of your own? We’d love to hear it. Contact us or share it on social media with #BeaconFoundStory.