How did Nick Woodman start his company GoPro?
Nicholas D. Woodman, better known as Nick Woodman is the founder and CEO of GoPro, whose main activity is the production of action cameras for travel, extreme sports and more. Nick is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in America. Today GoPro is in great demand all over the world. Nick’s startup has suddenly “soared” to the stratospheric levels, and his story can well be regarded as a guide to success.
How did Nick Woodman start his profitable company?
Born in sunny California, Atherton, Nick has been into sports since high school. In high school, he stood on the surfboard for the first time and realized it was now the passion of his life. By the way, he enrolled at the University of California at San Diego in order to be closer to the ocean, where he could “catch a wave” in his spare time. When Woodman graduated, he thought about his business and founded Funbug. It was a site for fans of old games – people went there and played, indulging in nostalgia. Investors were supportive of the new project, and Nick attracted four million dollars in investment. But the failure came unexpectedly, suddenly a bubble of dotcoms burst, and Funbug went bankrupt, and the entertainment site ceased to exist. Woodman did not put his hands down, because the first defeat brought him valuable experience.
But the collapse of the business is a stressful one, and to relax doing what he loves, Woodman went on a surfing tour to Australia. There he noticed a curious thing: only professional athletes get really good sports photos. It’s true that they hire special people for that. Therefore, Woodman’s next (and, as it turned out, exceptionally winning) idea was to create an “extreme camera”. The entrepreneur made bets that the camera could take quality pictures, but was not afraid of water or mechanical loads (blows). At the same time, the idea of fixing the camera on his forehead so that his hands would remain free. The price segment of the innovation had to be available to any athlete. So the idea of a camera appeared, which is now called GoPro.
Over the next few years, Woodman was developing his own case for the brainchild. He then sent the case to a Chinese manufacturer, and in return, the first ready-made sample was sent. The year 2004 was a historic one for Woodman – he first presented his development at the Action Sports Retailer Show, a major professional sports show. It was there that his action camera was to the taste of the athletes, and Woodman received his first few orders. From that moment on, sales picked up a crazy growth rate. So, as early as 2012, almost two and a half million cameras were bought from Woodman, and his company’s revenue was $512 million. At that time, Woodman owned 45% of the firm’s shares worth $1.3 billion. At the same time, Foxconn of Taiwan acquired about 9% of the company, valuing it at $2.25 billion.
