Nick Woodman

Nicholas D. Woodman (born June 24, 1975) is an American businessman, and the founder and CEO of GoPro.[1]

Nick Woodman
Woodman in 2014
Born (1975-06-24) June 24, 1975
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, San Diego
OccupationFounder and CEO, GoPro
Spouse(s)Jill R. Scully
Children3
Parent(s)Dean Woodman
Concepcion Socarras
RelativesIrwin Federman (step-father)

Early life and education

Woodman is the son of Concepcion (née Socarras) and Dean Woodman.[2][3][4][5] His father was born into a Quaker family and co-founded the investment bank Robertson Stephens;[2][6][7] and his mother is of Hispanic descent and re-married Irwin Federman, General Partner of U.S. Venture Partners in 1992.[3] Woodman grew up in Menlo Park, California[8] and Atherton, California,[9] attending the Menlo School, where he graduated in 1993.[10] He earned a bachelor's degree in visual arts and a minor in creative writing from the University of California, San Diego in 1997.[9][11][12]

After school, Woodman founded two startups, both of which never fully made it off the ground. The first was a website called EmpowerAll.com, which attempted to sell electronic goods for no more than a $2 markup, and the second was Funbug, a gaming and marketing platform that gave users the chance to win cash prizes.[13] Nick received a $235,000 investment from his father,[14] an investment banker in Silicon Valley,[15] and used his parents' connections in venture capital to launch GoPro.[16]

Career

While in Australia and Indonesia on a surf trip, he used a 35mm camera attached to the palm of his hand by a rubber band to try to capture his surfing activities on film.[12] Seeing that amateur photographers like him, who wanted to capture high quality action photos of their activities, had difficulties because either they could not get close enough to the action or were unable to purchase appropriate quality equipment at affordable prices, his trip became his inspiration to found GoPro.[12] His solution was to develop a belt that would attach the camera to the body.[12] To finance the business, Woodman borrowed $200,000 from his father, who still owned a 6.4% stake in May 2014.[17] Nick also borrowed $35,000 and a sewing machine from his mother, which he used to sew camera straps while experimenting with early designs.[18] Nick and his future wife Jill generated an additional $10,000 by selling shell necklaces they bought in Bali (for $1.90) from their car along the California coast (for $60).[19] His desire for a camera system that could capture close up footage inspired the 'GoPro' name as, at that time, the only surfers who were filmed were the professionals.[20][21]

The first GoPro product was a 35mm film camera developed by a Chinese company named Hotax that incorporated Woodman's custom wrist strap, slight modifications to the housing, and the GoPro logo. Hotax sold Woodman the rebranded camera for $3.05 and the cameras retailed for about $30.[22] Woodman would go about selling his products while using his 1971 Volkswagen Bus that he named 'The Buscuit' as his mobile home.[23] The product has since evolved into a compact digital camera that supports WiFi, can be remotely controlled, has waterproof housing and records to a micro SD card.

In 2004, Woodman made his first big sale when a Japanese company ordered 100 cameras at a sports show.[12][19] Thereafter, sales doubled every year,[11] and in 2012, GoPro sold 2.3 million cameras.[12] In 2005, Woodman appeared on QVC to sell his GoPro Hero.[24] In 2004, GoPro had about $150,000 in revenue which grew to about $350,000 in 2005. In December 2012, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn purchased 8.88% of the company for $200 million which set the market value of the company at $2.25 billion making Woodman, who owned the majority of the stock, a billionaire.[12][19] On June 26, 2014, GoPro went public – closing the day at $31.34 a share. In 2014, Woodman was the highest paid US chief executive, paying himself $235 million while GoPro earned profits of $128 million.[25][26][27]

In 2015, GoPro formed a partnership with the NHL in which the NHL would use GoPro products to improve the viewing experience for fans.[28] Woodman has been invited to speak at various tech conferences and in October 2015, Woodman was a guest on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and wore a GoPro camera for the entirety of the interview.[29] Woodman appeared as a shark investor in the sixth season of the show Shark Tank.[30] Woodman has invested $125,000 as of November 2015 on Shark Tank on two investments.[31]

GoPro made a series of job cuts in 2016-2018. In January 2016, it cut 100 jobs, or 7% of his workforce.[32] In November 2016, GoPro cut an additional 15% of its workforce after attempting to branch out beyond its core business of action cameras, as the entertainment division failed to reach profitability.[33] Additional layoffs followed in March 2017.[34] In January 2018, GoPro announced they were removing drones from their product lineup and reducing the workforce from 1,254 employees to fewer than 1,000.[35] Woodman has announced that he is open to selling GoPro.[36] With the layoffs, GoPro went back to its earlier, flatter structure. "We decided to simplify everything and get back to the business that we knew and loved as a private company," Woodman says.[37]

In December 2016, a class action lawsuit against GoPro was announced. The complaint alleged that GoPro made false and misleading statements to investors and/or failed to disclose flaws in the company's drones, overstating customer demand, and GoPro's public statements were materially false and misleading.[38][39]

With the many changes at and involving GoPro, including numerous job cuts and falling stock prices, Woodman was named in a 2016 Fox Business article as one of the year's worst CEOs.[40]

Awards

Woodman won the national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the retail and consumer products category in 2013.[41] In 2014, Woodman accepted an Emmy Award on behalf of GoPro for Technology and Engineering in the category of Inexpensive Small Rugged HD Camcorders.[42]

Charitable contributions

After a successful IPO, the couple donated 5.8 million shares of GoPro stock to the Jill + Nicholas Woodman Foundation, a fund they created at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a Donor-advised fund in 2014.[43] This donation allowed Nick Woodman to reduce his taxable income by approximately $450 million while avoiding capital gains taxes on the sale of the stock.[44] From 2014 to 2018, the value of the donated GoPro stock declined from $500 million to $36.1 million. Woodman has not announced when or how much of the original stock the foundation sold. Woodman was one of the biggest donors in the tech industry in 2014; however, it angered investors because the donation avoided the typical 180-day waiting period after an IPO.[45][46][47]

In March 2014, Woodman was honored for his philanthropic work with BUILD at their 5th annual gala in San Francisco.[48]

In 2015, the foundation donated $2.85 million to a child abuse prevention center in San Francisco and a community center in Montana for $4 million in 2019.[49] The total amount the foundation has dispersed for other projects has not been disclosed.

Personal life

Woodman is married to Jill R. Scully.[50] They have three children together.[11][12] From 2012-2020 he owned an estate in Woodside, California[51] which he named "Boogie Ranch", due to the hking and biking trails added to the 150 acre homestead[52]. The property went on the market in July of 2020 for $20 Million. Woodman is a strong believer in following one's passions as a way to success.[30]

In May 2015, Woodman hosted an AMA on Reddit.[53]

gollark: No, Minecraft, with mods?
gollark: (Is a mod)
gollark: Yay for (nodded) minecraft!
gollark: https://dragcave.net/lineage/W7o9M
gollark: So very messy.

References
  1. "How GoPro CEO Nick Woodman Let Consumers Lead Him to New Idea". Adage.com. July 9, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  2. Wall Street Journal: "How Family Ties Helped Nick Woodman Make GoPro Click" By Lizette Chapman June 20, 2013 \" With dad Dean Woodman...and stepdad U.S. Venture Partners General Partner Irwin Federman"
  3. ACG Silicon Valley: "Irwin Federman, U.S. Venture Partners" Archived May 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine retrieved May 26, 2014 | "He [Federman] has been married to the former Concepcion Socarras since 1992"
  4. "San Francisco Social Diary". New York Social Diary. January 14, 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  5. "Bay Area Billionaires 2014 – Explore San Francisco Blog". Exploresanfrancisco.biz. February 13, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  6. "Alum gives Moses Brown $5 million for performing-arts, community center". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  7. Brett, Gavin (February 28, 2015). "How GoPro cameras have made nothing unfilmable, by the man who invented them". The Telegraph. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  8. Robehmed, Natalie (September 30, 2014). "The youngest billionaires on the Forbes 400: 11 under 40". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  9. "The Best Ride of Our Lives". UC San Diego Triton. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  10. Lipton, Josh (July 26, 2014). "Meet GoPro's thrill-seeking founder Nick Woodman". CNBC. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  11. Forbes; The World's Billionaires – Nicholas Woodman September 2016
  12. "Welcome to the Billionaires' Club" by Orna Taub, Jewish Business News, March 7, 2013
  13. Mac, Ryan (March 13, 2013). "Five Startup Lessons From GoPro Founder And Billionaire Nick Woodman". Forbes. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  14. Leo Sun (April 27, 2015). "Is GoPro Inc. CEO Nick Woodman Worth $285 Million? - San Antonio Express-News". M.mysanantonio.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  15. "Woodman's Family Became Millionaires". Business Insider. June 26, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  16. Chapman, Lizette (June 20, 2013). "How Family Ties Helped Nick Woodman Make GoPro Click - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  17. Mac, Ryan. "Action Camera Maker GoPro Files For $100 Million IPO". Forbes. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  18. "Meet The World's Newest Billionaire, A 36-Year-Old 'Surfer Dude' Named Nicholas Woodman". Business Insider. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  19. Business Insider: "Meet The World's Newest Billionaire, A 36-Year-Old 'Surfer Dude' Named Nicholas Woodman" by Alyson Shontell December 23,
  20. "GoPro with Founder/Inventor Nick Woodman". Malakye.com. January 5, 2010. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  21. Burrows, Peter (June 30, 2011). "GoPro's Incredible Small, Durable Camcorder". BusinessWeek. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  22. Mac, Ryan. "The Mad Billionaire Behind GoPro: The World's Hottest Camera Company". Forbes. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  23. ""The Biscuit:" Nick Woodman's 1971 Volkswagen Bus – In Photos: The Early Years of GoPro and Founder Nicholas Woodman". Forbes. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  24. Forbes Tech (February 26, 2013), Nick Woodman On QVC (2005), retrieved January 14, 2018
  25. Egan, Matt (April 17, 2015). "GoPro's CEO is now the highest paid U.S. executive - Apr. 17, 2015". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
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  27. Fiegerman, Seth (June 26, 2014). "Lights, Camera, IPO: GoPro Goes Public". Mashable. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  28. "GoPro and NHL: New Partnership Will Change the Way You Watch Hockey". GoPro. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  29. "From Surfer To Billionaire: GoPro CEO Nick Woodman Chats With Stephen Colbert". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  30. "Nick Woodman". Shark Tank Blog. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  31. "Nick Woodman's Shark Tank track record". Sharkalytics. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  32. Robert Frank (December 22, 2015). "GoPro CEO's new toy: A 180-foot yacht". CNBC.
  33. Wells, Georgia (November 30, 2016). "GoPro to Cut 15% of Jobs Amid Restructuring". WSJ.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  34. Heater, Brian. "GoPro will cut 270 more jobs". Techcrunch. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  35. "GoPro Announces Preliminary Fourth Quarter 2017 Results". investor.gopro.com. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  36. Salinas, Sara (January 8, 2018). "GoPro CEO says he'd consider selling the company, but is still planning to be independent". CNBC. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  37. Foster, Tom (Winter 2017–2018). "The Untold Story of How Massive Success Made GoPro's CEO Lose His Way. Can He Recover?". Retrieved April 26, 2020.CS1 maint: date format (link)
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  39. "GoPro, Inc.: Rosen Law". Rosenlegal.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  40. Steve Tobak (December 21, 2016). "The Worst CEOs of 2016". Fox Business. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  41. "Nicholas Woodman, Founder and CEO of GoPro, named National EY Entrepreneur..." Prnewswire.com. November 17, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
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  43. Michael Gentilucci. "One Hint and Many Questions About How GoPro's Founders Will Give Away $500 Million — Inside Philanthropy". Insidephilanthropy.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  44. Brightworth, Dave Polstra, co-founder and partner at (December 15, 2016). "Here's how to donate to charity and really boost your tax savings". CNBC. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  45. Lobosco, Katie (October 2, 2014). "GoPro angers investors with charity gift of 5.2 million shares - Oct. 2, 2014". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  46. Garofoli, Joe (February 9, 2015). "WhatsApp founder among young tech tycoons dominating philanthropy". SF Gate. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
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  48. Bravo, Tony (March 9, 2015). "Events: Tech giants gather to help BUILD a new generation". SF Gate. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  49. Hobson, Will (June 24, 2020). "Zombie philanthropy: The rich have stashed billions in donor-advised charities — but it's not reaching those in need". Washington Post. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  50. Tom Foster (January 26, 2012). "The GoPro Army". Inc.com. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  51. "Inventor spends $12.5M for Woodside 5BD | San Francisco". Sf.blockshopper.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  52. Clarke, Katherine (July 8, 2020). "GoPro Founder Wants $20 Million for 150-Acre California Ranch". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  53. "Hey Reddit...howzit?! Nick Woodman. Founder/CEO of GoPro, AMA! • r/IAmA". reddit. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
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