Innovator success story: Nicholas Woodman dreams come true, now people can GoPro

Age: 38
Source of Wealth: video cameras, self-made
Residence: Woodside, CA
Country of Citizenship: United States
Education: Bachelor of Arts / Science, University of California, San Diego
Marital Status: Married
Children: 2

He earned a degree in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego. After school he founded a marketing company called funBug but after it did not succeed, in 2002 at the age of 26, he decided to travel around the world surfing. After a monumental year, GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman rides the wave of the world's fastest-growing camera company onto FORBES' list of America's richest for the first time. Woodman, 38, started the wearable video camera company in 2002 and built the first camera prototype with his mom's sewing machine and a drill. 

 His desire for a camera system that could capture close up footage inspired the 'GoPro' name.The original cameras he developed were point-and-shoot 35mm film cameras which mounted to the user's wrist. The product has since evolved into a compact digital camera that supports WiFi, can be remotely controlled, is waterproof, records to a micro SD card, and is affordable to the average action sports enthusiast ($200-$400). 

In 2004, he made his first big sale when a Japanese company ordered 100 cameras at a sports show.Thereafter, sales doubled every year and in 2012, GoPro sold 2.3 million cameras.In December 2012, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn purchased 8.88% of the company for 200 million dollars which set the market value of the company at 2.25 billion dollars making Woodman, who owned the majority of the stock, a billionaire.

Enjoy the video below, recorded using GoPro by Red Bull Team. 

Source:
http://www.youtube.com/user/redbull 
http://www.youtube.com/user/techcrunch 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Woodman 
http://www.forbes.com/profile/nicholas-woodman/
http://www.malakye.com/asp/front/CMSPage.asp?TYP_ID=2&ID=2831 
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/gopros-incredible-small-durable-camcorder-07012011.html 
http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-worlds-newest-billionaire-a-36-year-old-surfer-dude-named-nicholas-woodman-2012-12