Surfing Idea Turned Billion Dollar Giant

It is one of the most common household names today. If you don’t own one you most definitely have heard of them. It’s a simple idea turned billion dollar giant named, GoPro. Although most of us have heard of this billion dollar giant, not many know where it came from.

It started with simple idea from a surfer in California, now GoPro is one of the fastest growing camera companies in the entire world. Founder, Nick Woodman, had the idea come to him when he was traveling the world on a five-month surf trip. Woodman wanted to have pictures of himself riding the waves just like professional surfers have. However, he would need either a professional photographer or a waterproof HD camera, both of which were very expensive. As a result, he came up with his now billion dollar idea GoPro. Nick and his wife, who also joined him on his worldwide trip, returned back to California to develop the product. Once Goodman and his wife returned to California they began selling shell necklaces they purchased on the surf trip out of the back of his VW van to raise money for the startup of his new business. After a few months they had enough funds to get the ball rolling on GoPro. After two years of development and trial & error Woodman had finally finished developing his product in 2004. The first sale he made was to a Japanese distribution company. The first version of the camera was a 35mm camera with a small wrist strap that Woodman personal sewed himself for every product.

The company grew ever so slightly in the first couple years but after GoPro went completely digital they began to rapidly expand. The break came when Woodman was racing at an auto racetrack and decided to mount his camera on the roll bar. He realized that he had to make his product mountable on almost anything in order for it to have a successful future if any future at all. After making the necessary changes to the product, Woodman now had a camera that could be mounted on helmets, handlebars, poles, or even on a drone helicopter. As a result of the new mountable version, GoPro was able to expand into new markets it had never been in before. GoPro has since grown into a billion dollar company and not only attracts the thrill-seeker, but also everyone else wishing to document just about anything they can do.

GoPro had simple beginnings. A surfer from California wanted a little bit more than just memories after taking a worldwide surf trip and now has a lot more than just that. GoPro now sets the standards for how anyone action-oriented activity should be captured on camera. Now, the simple surfing idea has been turned into a unique product that gets used around the globe every single day in many more ways than just surfing.

Source by Jeffrey T Sanders