Nick Woodman

Nicholas D. Woodman
Born	(1975-06-24) June 24, 1975 United States
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, chief executive officer
Known for	Founder and CEO of GoPro

Nicholas D. Woodman (born June 24, 1975) is an American entrepreneur, best known as the founder and chief executive officer of GoPro.

Early life and education

Woodman is the son of Concepcion (née Socarras) and Dean Woodman, who co-founded the investment banking firm Robertson Stephens. His mother, of Hispanic heritage, remarried in 1992 to Irwin Federman, a General Partner at U.S. Venture Partners. Raised in Menlo Park, California and Atherton, California, Woodman attended the Menlo School, graduating in 1993. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, San Diego, earning a bachelor's degree in visual arts with a minor in creative writing in 1997.

Following college, Woodman launched two startups that never fully materialized: EmpowerAll.com, which aimed to sell electronics with minimal profit margins, and Funbug, a gaming and marketing platform that awarded cash prizes. He obtained $235,000 in funding from his father—an investment banker based in Silicon Valley—and utilized his parents' venture capital networks to establish GoPro.

Career

While on a surfing trip across Australia and Indonesia, Woodman improvised by attaching a 35mm camera to his hand using a rubber band to film surfing action. Observing the challenges faced by amateur photographers trying to capture high-quality action shots or find affordable gear, he developed the idea of a belt-mounted camera attachment. To fund GoPro's launch, Woodman borrowed $200,000 from his father—who held a 6.4% ownership stake as of May 2014—and received $35,000 plus a sewing machine from his mother to manufacture camera straps. Alongside his future wife Jill, he raised an additional $10,000 by selling beads and shell necklaces along the California coast. The brand name GoPro reflected his ambition to provide close-up footage previously accessible only to professional surfers.

The initial GoPro product was a 35mm film camera manufactured by Chinese company Hotax, featuring Woodman's custom wrist strap and branded design. Wholesale pricing was $3.05 per unit with retail prices around $30. Woodman promoted the camera from his 1971 Volkswagen Bus nicknamed The Biscuit. Over time, the product evolved into a compact digital camera equipped with WiFi connectivity, remote control capabilities, waterproof housing, and microSD recording functionality.

In 2004, Woodman secured a significant order for 100 cameras from a Japanese firm at a sports exhibition. Sales doubled every year thereafter; by 2012 GoPro had sold 2.3 million units. Revenue increased from approximately $150,000 in 2004 to $350,000 in 2005. In December 2012, Foxconn purchased an 8.88% stake for $200 million, valuing GoPro at $2.25 billion and elevating Woodman to billionaire status. The company went public on June 26, 2014, closing at $31.34 per share on its first day of trading. That year Woodman was the highest-paid CEO in the United States with earnings totaling $235 million while GoPro reported profits of $128 million.

In 2015, GoPro partnered with the NHL to improve fan engagement through its products. Woodman made appearances at technology conferences and on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he wore a GoPro throughout the interview. He also joined Shark Tank as an investor and had committed $125,000 across two deals by November of that year.

From 2016 through 2018, GoPro underwent extensive restructuring involving multiple rounds of layoffs: 7% of employees were cut in January 2016; another 15% were laid off in November following unsuccessful expansion into entertainment; further reductions occurred in March 2017; and by January 2018 the workforce dropped below 1,000 after exiting the drone market. At that time Woodman expressed willingness to consider selling the company but remained focused on maintaining its independence while streamlining operations around its core business.

In December 2016, GoPro faced a class action lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors about defects in its drone products and overstating market demand.

Despite these difficulties—including workforce reductions and falling share prices—Woodman was listed among Fox Business’s worst CEOs of 2016.

Awards

In 2013, Woodman was honored with the national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, specifically recognizing his achievements in retail and consumer products. The following year, in 2014, he accepted an Emmy Award on behalf of GoPro for Technology and Engineering, awarded in the category dedicated to Affordable Small Rugged HD Camcorders.

Philanthropy

After GoPro's initial public offering, Woodman and his wife contributed 5.8 million shares to the Jill + Nicholas Woodman Foundation, which was created within the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in 2014. This gift helped lower Woodman’s taxable income by approximately $450 million while also circumventing capital gains taxes. Between 2014 and 2018, the value of the donated shares declined significantly from $500 million to $36.1 million; however, information regarding any subsequent sales has not been made public. The donation generated criticism from investors due to its circumvention of the standard 180-day IPO lockup period.

Woodman received acknowledgment for his charitable involvement at BUILD’s 2014 gala held in San Francisco. In 2015, his foundation allocated $2.85 million to a child abuse prevention center based in San Francisco, followed by a $4 million contribution toward a community center in Montana in 2019. Comprehensive details on total funding for other initiatives have not been publicly disclosed.

Personal life

Woodman is married to Jill R. Scully, and together they have three sons. His assets have included a 180-foot yacht, a Gulfstream V private jet, and real estate holdings in both Hawaii and Montana. From 2012 until 2020, he owned an estate located in Woodside, California, and since 2014 he has possessed a 150-acre property in Bonny Doon, California. Known as "Boogie Ranch," this Bonny Doon estate was placed on the market for $20 million in July 2020.

In May 2015, Woodman participated in a Reddit AMA session to interact directly with the public.