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This article was taken from the January 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
GoPro founder Nick Woodman is on a high. In June, 12 years after strapping a disposable camera to his wrist in Indonesia, his company IPO'ed at a value of almost $3 billion (£1.86bn). "The GoPro you know today is built on $265,000," the animated Californian tells WIRED. In 2002, Woodman was surfing his way round the globe, recovering from the failure of his first company, gaming and marketing platform funBug. Six months later he left Indonesia with an idea for a small, robust video camera for capturing first-person experiences, and 600 beaded shell belts that he would sell to make up the startup costs (along with a $235,000 loan from his parents). "It is one of the things we are most proud of. You don't have to raise millions of dollars to be successful, you just have to work on something you are passionate about," he says.
GoPros have been strapped to countless extreme-sports enthusiasts, including Felix Baumgartner during his space jump -- as well as to eagles soaring over remote Mongolian terrains, a pelican learning to fly, a kid's chest on his first day of school, frat boys on spring break and plenty of expectant fathers in the delivery room. It's because of this exponential diversity that GoPro shows no sign of slowing. Here, Woodman talks to WIRED about launching a sharing platform for GoPro footage, competing with newcomers and what he's learned from failure.
WIRED: How do you convince people that GoPro isn't just for extreme sports?
Nick Woodman: Now I'm the father of three young boys, I find myself using GoPro to film them more than anything -- trips to the amusement park, the beach, the pool -- just chasing them around as they grow. That's leading to ideas for new accessories to help the family capture its lifestyle and go from the two hours of footage to the two minutes they will actually want to watch and share.
How will you deliver that?
You could think of GoPro as an iPod-like phenomenon that is yet to release its iTunes. We are developing the app that makes it easy for you to offload content. So when you are charging, that content goes to the cloud and becomes accessible to any connected device running the app. Upon watching it [on your mobile] it is important you have easy edit tools to turn that raw footage into something shareable -- because at that moment, that is when you are going to be most inclined to do something. You will share ten, 20, 50 times as much content a year as you do today, because it is so difficult today.
GoPro is now in some BMWs. Where else would you like it installed?
The world shows you how it wants to use it. We can try to influence new markets by positioning our products in a certain way, but the truth is that humans are smart [and will] use it in any way they see fit. My doctor replaced my anterior cruciate ligament three months ago and decided to wear a GoPro while doing it, because he wanted to document his technique. In France, a hip replacement was captured using two GoPros in a stereoscopic 3D arrangement. Students can watch the surgery using a virtual reality headset. It is phenomenal, and we had nothing to do with that.
Is there a danger that we're all too concerned with capturing the moment, rather than just living it?
I experienced just that filming the birth of my sons -- and the benefit of GoPro. I was able to wear my camera during the birth of each but I never held the camera. My experience of being with my wife and watching my three boys being born was never interrupted by a camera or by an LCD display. I was able to be totally present and I forgot that the camera was running. So it didn't interrupt my experience at all. That speaks to our success in developing what we think of as an invisible camera that is so convenient and easy to use, that you forget you are even using it.
Do you have any GoPro tips?
Experiment, capture lots of different perspectives of whatever it is you are doing and be bold. It's a GoPro: go for it. This sucker is meant to take a beating.
How will you compete with the newcomers to the market?
We've amassed a customer base of millions of people who are capturing and sharing their lives with GoPro, and that's really the secret to our success. If that's what makes GoPro so successful, then to compete with GoPro by definition you also need millions of people capturing and sharing their lives and attributing that content to your brand.
What did you learn from the failure of your previous startup, funBug?
When I was 22, I realised I wanted to be an inventor. I knew I would have to work very hard and would probably fail a few times, so I gave myself until the age of 30 to succeed. It is a good thing I did that because if I hadn't I might not have tried again -- I was pretty devastated. I lost $4 million of other people's money and people believed in me... I wasn't sure if I was cut out for it. After that, I found myself with four years left on the clock and figured, hey, I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don't try again.
What did you do differently the second time around?
I was going to bootstrap it the next time around because I was fearful of taking anybody else's money. I promised myself that whatever I did next, it would be something I was personally passionate about because there were aspects about funBug where it was just business. It seems obvious, right? Just focus on what you are passionate about and you will do the best job, because it is something you really care about.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
