How Gopro started

In 2002, Nick Woodman went to a surfing trip in Australia. He couldn't find a way to capture high quality photos of his surfing. He then thought about creating a professional camera than could get the Job done (see Why is Gopro so popular)

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Woodman started selling selling bead and shell belts out of his van. His parents also gave him more than $200,000 to start with.

Woodman locked himself up and used to work up to 18 hours a day. He found a good prototype in china that he could license as his own. He contacted the manufacturer and sent them his desired modifications.

After 2 years, the first product was ready. In September 2004 woodman sold his first product at an action-sports trade show in San Diego.

Gopro was so well received that in the first year the company made more than $350,000 in sales .

Gopro got another strong push when Best buy began carrying it in 2010 .

Woodman wanted to keep the company private for as long as he could. By 2011 he got around $88 million of funds from different venture capital firms.

Gopro expanded beyond its niche. It was no longer a camera for sports professionals only but it was adopted by mass population.

The social media Boom helped Gopro become popular as people started sharing their underwater pictures and videos on social media .

In 2012 Gopro sold 2.3 million cameras and gropped more than 520 million dollars .

In 2013 IDC reported that Gopro exceeded Sony's 20% market share and reached the 30% milestone .