How GoPro Went From A Big Idea To A Global Tech Powerhouse

How GoPro’s founder turned a small camera and a big idea into a global tech powerhouse.

- Justin Rohrlich

Not long after GoPro released its first product in 2004—a wrist-mounted, waterproof, 35mm still camera called the Hero—company founder and CEO Nick Woodman made a pilgrimage to the headquarters of home-shopping channel QVC in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The network was holding tryouts for new inventors eager to hawk their merchandise on-air, and after waiting in line with hundreds of other hopefuls, Woodman and his as-yet untested creation were selected to appear.

“I was researching online and I saw an ad for QVC’s ‘Inventor Search’ competition, and it linked to an audition form and dates,” he says. “The only remaining date was at QVC’s headquarters in Pennsylvania in a few days. I figured I had a pretty good shot at getting on the show, so I bought a plane ticket and went for it. The line went outside of the building, and I was one of the last people to be interviewed. They loved my product idea and I made it on the show. That still ranks as an early career highlight for me and GoPro’s first break into the mass market. It was also an example of the power of having an ‘I am doing this’ attitude. Think it. See it. Then do it. Boom.”

Woodman took to the airwaves immediately following the people behind a first-aid kit for animals called Medi+Pet. Woodman’s appearance went well, setting off an unlikely business success story. Although rudimentary, the Hero was an immediate triumph, and Woodman moved nearly 3,000 of them during his 10-minute segment. GoPro made about $350,000 that year. In 2013, Woodman made Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, with a net worth of $1.3 billion. And in 2014, Woodman became the highest-paid CEO in America, according to the Bloomberg Pay Index, earning a stratospheric $285 million.