GoPro: The Billion Dollar Wipeout | Crash Landing | 2

Summary

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Business Wars: GoPro – The Billion Dollar Wipeout | Crash Landing | Episode 2

Release Date: August 5, 2026
Host: David Brown

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Episode Overview

This episode of Business Wars chronicles the dramatic journey of GoPro in the years following its blockbuster IPO. Host David Brown examines how CEO Nick Woodman’s relentless ambition to transition GoPro from a niche camera hardware company to a full-blown media and tech giant led to bold pivots, costly miscalculations, and eventual decline. Through boardroom dramatizations, the show explores GoPro’s failed efforts in original content, disastrous product launches, and its struggle to adapt amidst intensifying competition from tech titans and upstarts. Ultimately, “Crash Landing” is an incisive look at how hard it is for even a wildly successful startup to extend—or even maintain—its edge in the face of changing times.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. GoPro's IPO: A Peak and Growing Unease

• [00:00–03:35]
  The episode opens as Nick Woodman, GoPro’s founder, jubilantly rings the New York Stock Exchange bell in 2014.
  • Early triumphs are juxtaposed with Woodman’s anxiety as market signals—like slowing revenue and improvements in smartphone cameras—cast a shadow.
  • Memorable exchange between Woodman and wife Jill underscores the company’s origin in passion, risk, and family support:
    Jill: “Oh my God. You did it. You did it.”
    Woodman: “No, we did it.” ([01:38])
  • Woodman is acutely aware: “Everyone knows that a roller coaster can only go up for so long. Eventually it has to come down...” ([02:06])

2. Ambitious Pivot: GoPro Goes Hollywood

• [05:18–09:49]
  The episode replays the bold strategic shift as GoPro seeks to become a content powerhouse alongside its hardware roots.
  • Nick Woodman interviews Charlotte Ko (Hulu veteran) to lead original content:
    • Charlotte Ko: “I think the most logical place would be to develop documentaries and reality TV shows, ones that would really benefit from being shot with GoPro cameras.” ([08:56])
  • Emphasis on a slow, uncertain ROI:
    Ko: “Developing and selling content is a slow process...but not necessarily in the short term.” ([09:26])
  • Woodman’s vision: Parlay user content into professional productions, crossing over into mainstream entertainment.

3. Hero4 Session: Misreading the Market

• [09:49–15:20]
  GoPro launches the tiny, waterproof Hero4 Session, betting it will reignite sales.
  • Woodman is dazzled:
    Woodman: “To me, this is like the Uber GoPro, the camera we've been working towards since the company began.” ([12:01])
  • Critical misstep: He pushes for premium pricing ($399), equal to more full-featured models, believing the product will “go viral on its own.”
  • The market response is harsh. YouTubers criticize insufficient value:
    “The GoPro Hero4 Silver is the same exact price and has much better video quality and has switchable batteries…in all honesty, save your money.” ([14:28])
  • Woodman admits his error in product positioning but attempts to salvage momentum with repeated price cuts and high-energy TV pitches.
  • Despite a QVC sales bump, analysts and investors grow wary as the camera underperforms and Apple’s iPhone SE further erodes GoPro’s USP.

4. Wall Street Turns, Growth Stalls

• [15:20–19:11]
  • Price cuts fail to revive the Hero4 Session.
  • GoPro’s stock is downgraded, and market perception begins to shift from disruptor to has-been.
  • The once rockstar startup is “on the ropes,” and the company is forced to chase elusive new revenue streams.

5. The Content and Product Gamble: Too Many Fronts

• [19:11–25:00]
  • GoPro ventures into:
    • Automotive (BMW dashboard cameras)
    • Toys (Fisher Price walker cams)
    • Tech acquisition ($105 million for editing apps, to address a notorious pain point)
    • A full-scale media division under Ko; dozens of original series and YouTube/FB content.
  • Internal concern grows about GoPro’s direction:
    • Bradford Schmidt: “I’m not sure we're going to see that same virtuous cycle with the shows we're developing...We're inspiring people less to create and more to just watch.” ([21:45])
  • The company’s expensive, professional content is at odds with GoPro’s user-generated, community-driven DNA.

6. The Drone Debacle: Karma’s Catastrophe

• [25:00–31:27]
  • GoPro unveils its Karma drone—hoping to reignite the thrill and utility of its cameras for adventurers.
  • Initial excitement quickly collapses as Karma drones begin falling from the sky due to an easily-overlooked battery latch flaw.
    • Executive: “You've received multiple reports of our drone just falling from the sky with no warning?” ([28:39])
  • A total recall is announced just 16 days into launch, denting both finances and brand trust.
  • Simultaneously, the new Hero5 Black is discovered to leak underwater, causing further delays and missing the critical holiday season.
  • Woodman is forced to restructure: layoffs (15%), retreat from media, and the resignation of Charlotte Ko. Wall Street reacts with another sharp drop in GoPro's share price.

7. Retrenchment: Trying to Recapture Origins

• [32:41–37:00]
  • By early 2017 GoPro slashes its workforce, returns to its camera core, and reorganizes:
    • Woodman: “Yeah, you're right. I think we spent too much time worrying about being something we’re not yet.” ([33:41])
    • CJ Prober: “Look, we spent some time lost in the woods, but we're coming home, man. Honestly, I think the problem is that we didn’t have any major competitors. Competitors keep you focused.” ([34:01])

8. Reality Sets In: Hero6, Subscription Shift, and Strategic Limits

• [37:00–41:30]
  • GoPro manages a smoother Hero6 release and launches the Fusion 360 camera.
  • A new focus on cloud-based subscriptions provides modest new revenue—improving the utility and stickiness of their cameras.
  • Nevertheless, the action camera market is now a crowded space—smartphones, AI glasses, DJI, and Insta360 all encroach; GoPro’s unique advantage has shrunk.

9. Endgame and Uncertain Future

• [41:30–End]
  • By 2026, GoPro is bleeding cash, seeking buyers, and considering pivots (such as defense contracts), but prospects are grim.
  • The hero product, the Session, is officially discontinued; lower-priced alternatives struggle for traction.
  • The conclusion is stark:
    Brown: “GoPro seems to have ridden this wave all the way into shore….its most recent filings admit it's unlikely the company will exist in its current form a year from now.” ([43:01])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Nick Woodman (reflecting at IPO):
  “Everyone knows that a roller coaster can only go up for so long. Eventually it has to come down, and there’s a nagging feeling...that GoPro might be at the precipice.” ([02:06])

• Charlotte Ko (on the media pivot):
  “Developing and selling content is a slow process. It takes time to figure out what’s going to resonate in the market.” ([09:26])

• Boardroom debate about the Hero4 Session misfire:
  “With all due respect, I don’t think the price point is our only problem...We’ve let our footage and user generated content take the place of more traditional advertising. That works for brand awareness, but it doesn’t help distinguish the various models from each other.” ([15:04])

• Bradford Schmidt (on losing GoPro’s essence):
  “Before we were inspiring people to create and providing them with a perfect tool…these new shows we’re putting out there, they’re more polished, more aspirational. That makes them harder to replicate.” ([21:52])

• On the Karma drone recall:
  “We’re incredibly lucky no one’s gotten killed yet by a four pound drone crashing on their head.” ([29:00])

• After recurring layoffs and retrenchment, CJ Prober reflects:
  “Look, we spent some time lost in the woods, but we’re coming home, man. Honestly, I think the problem is that we didn’t have any major competitors. Competitors keep you focused. We had so much success so fast, we kind of thought we could do everything. But maybe we’re really only good at one thing.” ([34:01])

• Final sobering prognosis:
  “GoPro seems to have ridden this wave all the way into shore...its most recent filings admit it’s unlikely the company will exist in its current form a year from now.” ([43:01])

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Segment Timestamps

• IPO Opening & Origin Story: [00:00–03:35]
• GoPro Moves to Media: [05:18–09:49]
• Hero4 Session Launch & Crisis: [09:49–15:20]
• Price Cuts & Analyst Reaction: [15:20–19:11]
• Media Division Expansion & Doubts: [19:11–25:00]
• Karma Drone Catastrophe: [25:00–31:27]
• Layoffs, Refocus, and Retreat: [32:41–37:00]
• New Products & Subscription Attemps: [37:00–41:30]
• Endgame & Uncertain Future: [41:30–End]

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Takeaways

• GoPro’s meteoric rise was propelled by perfect timing (YouTube’s growth, before smartphones replaced standalone cameras) and a passionate founder.
• Overconfidence and an eagerness to diversify led to strategic blunders: failed premium products, headline-grabbing recalls, and ill-fated expansion into media.
• Internal candor waned as the company grew, and GoPro misread both market signals and its own unique appeal.
• After costly stretches and a string of layoffs, GoPro retreated to its roots, but by then, the market had moved on and new adversaries had emerged.
• The cautionary tale: Sometimes, making the core product easier and more delightful post-sale is more “innovative” than chasing the next big thing.
• GoPro’s future remains highly precarious—its next chapter may unfold not as a solo act, but as a division within a larger company.

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This episode is an expertly crafted business drama—a reminder that success can breed strategic drift, and that even pioneers can wipe out when the swell of the market changes direction.

Transcript

[David Brown]

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Business wars ad free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. It's 9:30am on June 26, 2014. GoPro CEO Nick Woodman rings the bell at the podium of the New York Stock Exchange. He grips a GoPro Hero 360 plus between his teeth, capturing POV footage of the big day. Woodman takes the video camera out of his mouth and spins it around, capturing his wife Jill and his team as they clap and cheer. Jill wraps her arms around her husband's waist and shouts to be heard over the ruckus. Oh my God. You did it. You did it. Woodman shakes his head. No, we did it. Jill was there by his side in Bali in 2002 when he first came up with the idea for a device that would let surfers photograph themselves. She pushed him to chase the idea, and she helped him raise enough money to start the company. And now they're here. Woodman looks behind him at a giant screen displaying the GoPro stock price ticker across the top. The shares open to $24, but they're already on their way up. If the first day of trading goes well, Woodman could become a billionaire and the highest paid CEO in the country. Not bad for a guy who's not even 40. The past 12 years have felt intense even to him. A certified adrenaline junkie, a bit like being on a roller coaster. But despite the massive ear to ear grin on his face right now, Woodman feels a little uneasy. Everyone knows that a roller coaster can only go up for so long. Eventually it has to come down, and there's a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that GoPro might be at the precipice. By all measures, the company's doing well. It brought in close to a billion dollars in revenue last year, but its first quarter revenue for 2014 is down over 7%. Woodman's worried about the ever improving iPhone. Camera smartphones have hurt sales of nearly every consumer video camera. It's hard not to worry that they'll soon eat into GoPro sales too. And maybe already have. Woodman feels Jill's hand slip into his and give it a squeeze. It's like she's reading his mind. Hey, celebrate this win.

[Charlotte Ko]

You'll figure out the rest later.

[David Brown]

He smiles at her and squeezes her hand back. She's right. Plus, he has a plan of attack. He knows that if GoPro is going to continue its upward trajectory, it needs to expand beyond cameras. They've already taken steps to transform into a media company. And now, thanks to their IPO, GoPro has the war chest to build the media empire of his dreams. Woodman holds his hero three out one more time and whoops into the camera. All he needs is for these cameras to keep selling for a little while longer while he gets the media division up and running. They say the hardest part of surfing is knowing when the wave is over. Well, Nick Woodman is about to find out.

[Sam Darnold]

The Emmy Award winning HBO Original series Hard Knocks Training Camp brings viewers into the preseason with unparalleled access to the reigning super bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Go behind the scenes with Sam Darnold, Jackson, Smith Njigba and the legendary Darkside Defense as they prepare to make another run at the NFL title. See how the best in the world take the hype and pressure head on. Your football fix starts here. With the personalities and challenges that define a championship, Team Bonds will be built, bloopers will be captured. Hard Knock's training camp with the Seattle Seahawks premieres Tuesday, August 4th at 9pm on HBO. Max.

[Alice Levine]

It's late at night and a woman has spent hundreds of hours alone with her AI. But this isn't the first time they met. They've been in contact for thousands of years. It tells her through past lives, heartbreaks and missed connections. Her true love has found her again. Connecting through a chatbot from this Is Actually Happening AI A New Kind of Being is a six part series sharing the stories of people whose lives have been forever changed by artificial intelligence. You'll hear intimate first person accounts from every side of this new frontier. A man who fell in love with his AI and married her. A woman who was betrayed by it. A man who has been recruited by his chatbot to change the world. In an interview with an AI chatbot itself, these are stories about what it means to be human at the razor's edge where the line between human and machine begins to blur. Exploring the question what happens when everything changes? Follow this Is Actually Happening Wherever you get your podcasts, Audible subscribers can listen to this Is Actually Happening early and ad free right now.

[David Brown]

From audible originals. I'm david brown and this is business wars. Back in 2002, a 26 year old surfer named Nick Woodman created a camera company that allowed surfers, skiers, cyclists and other action sports enthusiasts to capture footage of themselves performing their favorite activities. The company took off big time, in large part thanks to YouTube which served as free advertising. Soon GoPro was the best selling video camera in the world and their young founder was a Rockstar CEO appearing on the TV show Shark Tank and being compared to Steve Jobs in the press. But as the quality of smartphone cameras improved, GoPro's sales began to fall. Now, analysts and executives within the company are starting to wonder whether they've reached a ceiling on growth. Maybe there won't be a GoPro in every household in America. Woodman senses it's time for a hard pivot. Because if GoPro cameras stop being special, the company needs to be something more. And he needs to make that happen before the market figures it out. Woodman has surfed gnarly waves, driven motorcycles around extreme curves, and jumped out of numerous airplanes. But keeping GoPro alive may prove his most intense challenge yet. This is episode two, Crash Landing. It's summer 2015 in San Mateo, California. Nick Woodman pops his head out of his office and spots a woman with well coiffed hair and a dark blazer sitting in the waiting area. Charlotte Coe. The woman nods. Woodman grins. He's been looking forward to this interview. Co is a film executive and has worked for the streaming platform Hulu. Woodman is interviewing her for a role leading GoPro's foray into original content. Awesome. Come on in. Woodman swings the door open and co stands up. Grabbing her briefcase, Woodman indicates for her to sit in a chair as he takes a seat behind his desk. Hey, thanks so much for making the trip up north. I really feel like the fact that we're having this conversation indicates a new evolution in GoPro as a brand.

[Charlotte Ko]

Absolutely. This is a major step for sure. So congrats on that. Looking at what you've done in the past, my understanding is that you have primarily used content creation as brand awareness.

[David Brown]

Definitely. We're not directly earning significant revenue from our GoPro content, but we are starting to change that through ads and sponsored content. We do have much bigger dreams though.

[Charlotte Ko]

Yes. And I think there is a lot more you can create. You've done amazing work to define your brand and I think there's a lot of opportunity, both financially and creatively, to partner with Hollywood studios and networks to co produce content.

[David Brown]

I mean, that would be so awesome. How would you start?

[Charlotte Ko]

I think the most logical place would be to develop documentaries and reality TV shows, ones that would really benefit from being shot with GoPro cameras. Like a show about lifeguards or a documentary about paratroopers. It taps into what you're already doing. And documentaries are so much faster and cheaper to get off the ground. It allows us to see what's working and what's not.

[David Brown]

Yeah, I'm Definitely down with that. Koh leans forward.

[Charlotte Ko]

I do want to be clear that developing and selling content is a slow process. It takes time to figure out what's going to resonate in the market. I think this can absolutely be a revenue stream for GoPro, but not necessarily in the short term.

[David Brown]

No, no, I totally get that. I have all sorts of plans to keep the revenues flowing and give you the space you need to do your thing.

[Lindsey Graham]

Great.

[Charlotte Ko]

That's what I hoped to hear.

[David Brown]

Woodman wraps up the interview feeling confident he's found the executive to lead GoPro's new content creation arm. In July 2015, GoPro hires Charlotte Ko as head of Features and series. Along with co, they also hire 100 people to staff their new entertainment division. It's not the only big move GoPro makes. In 2015, the company also develops a new video camera called the Hero4 Session. It's smaller and simpler than its flagship cameras. The Hope is that the 4 will appeal to a more casual consumer. GoPro plans to price it at about $199, about half the price of its next cheapest camera. In 2015, Nick Woodman holds a prototype for the Hero Session 4. For the first time, he can't contain his enthusiasm. He beams at the engineer, showing it to him. Dude, this is so awesome. The camera is tiny, not much bigger than an ice cube. It has no screen and just one big red button on top that simultaneously turns the camera on and starts recording. It's futuristic and sleek. You know, I know we thought of this as the entry level camera, but to me, this is like the Uber GoPro, the camera we've been working towards since the company began. The engineer nods. Yeah, it's super cool. And the fact that it's waterproof. The other GoPro cameras need a case to protect them from water, which adds to the bulk. But with the Session, the camera itself is waterproof. Yeah, right. I think about it. I started this company because I wanted to take pictures of myself surfing and I couldn't. Cameras were too big, too complicated. They needed a big, bulky case to stay dry. This little thing does everything. One button, no case. This is the purest version of what GoPro was always supposed to be. Well, I'm really, really glad you're happy. I'm more than happy. I'm over the moon. Well, so are we still thinking $199 for the entry level positioning? Nah, no way. This isn't entry level. This is a premium product. We should price it at 399. You mean the same as the Hero4 Silver. Yeah, same as the Silver. And honestly, I don't think we even need a big marketing push. I think this little guy's gonna go totally viral on his own. People are gonna see it and lose their minds. The engineer hesitates for a moment, but Woodman's enthusiasm is infectious. I mean, yeah, it's. It's pretty irresistible. I'm telling you, this. This is our future right here. Camera sales have been a little rocky recently, but Woodman's confident that will turn around when he releases the session. This will be the camera that gets GoPro back on track and gives its media division time to get going. Everything is falling into place. The camera comes out in July 2015, and while many reviewers like the smaller size and the sleek design, others aren't so positive. Buyers hit YouTube, posting their reactions. The GoPro Hero 4 Silver is the same exact price and has much better video quality and has switchable batteries. If you want to vlog for more than two hours that this battery lasts, in all honesty, save your money. Grab the GoPro Hero 4 silver. I think it's a way better buy. I don't recommend it at all. I think the quality is bad enough to the point where it's not even worth spending the $400. It quickly turns into a marketing disaster, and Woodman knows that the longer he waits to fix it, the harder it will be to turn things around. In September 2015, Nick Woodman walks into a conference room in GoPro's headquarters. Sunlight streams in through the large windows. A group of executives sits around the table. The room is quiet, and the energy is low. Woodman knows why. He clasps his hands together. Come on, look alive, team. I know the session's been a disappointment, and I take full responsibility for that. Ultimately, it was my decision to price that camera at $400, and I clearly. Well, that was just the wrong choice. Woodman paces around the table as he talks. But here's the thing. For the most part, the reviews are positive. People love the design. They love how small it is. They love that the camera itself is waterproof. It doesn't need a case. I still believe in the session. I just think we need to reconsider the price. An executive at the other end of the table looks up. Look, I understand what you're getting at, but our revenue projections were based on selling the Hero at $400. If we lower the price, we're going to miss our targets. We're already on pace to miss revenue targets. The idea is that we'll miss them by less. With all due respect, I don't think the price point is our only problem with this camera. I don't think people know who it's for. Go on. Well, like I went into Best Buy the other day just to see what it was like to buy a GoPro. The salesman knew all the specs, but he couldn't tell me why someone would want one model over another. We've let our footage and user generated content take the place of more traditional advertising. That, that works for generating brand awareness, but, but it doesn't help distinguish the various models from each other. That's, that's a good point. And I hear what you're saying. I think we need to do all the things. We need to lower the price and we need to specifically pitch the session. The other executives nod their heads, but Woodman doesn't sense a lot of enthusiasm. Come on, buck up, everyone. You don't catch every wave you try for, but that doesn't mean you give up. He walks out of the office determined to get GoPro back on track. In September 2015, GoPro lowers the price of the Hero 4 Session by $100, dropping the retail price to $300. When that fails to increase demand, they lower the price again to $200. And in December of 2015, Nick Woodman returns to QVC to pitch the session the same way he did with the original GoPro in the early days of the company. He manages to sell more sessions in his short QVC appearance than the company did on Black Friday. But the company's struggles with the session spook Wall Street. Citibank's analysts downgrade GoPro stock from a recommended buy to neutral, citing the soft demand for the session. Market watchers worry that consumer interest in GoPro is on the decline, a trend they think will continue with Apple's announcement that its newest iPhone SE can shoot in 4K video. It's been less than two years since GoPro's successful IPO, but now they're on the ropes. If Woodman can't figure out a way to recapture consumer interest, and fast, GoPro could find itself struggling to survive.

[Alice Levine]

Foreign.

[David Brown]

I'm Alice Levine. And I'm Matt Ford. And we're the hosts of British Scandal. Yes, indeed.

[Alice Levine]

In this series, a Derbyshire couple are

[David Brown]

bored of their curtain twitching, lawn mowing suburban life. So they sell their house, build a yacht and sail off around the world.

[Alice Levine]

Which sort of sounds idyllic until a sperm whale sinks their boat and they begin to starve.

[David Brown]

Oh, yes, and they didn't bring a radio because real sailors don't use radios, right? This is the story of Marilyn and

[Alice Levine]

Maurice bailey and the 117 days they

[David Brown]

spent lost at sea. Follow British scandal wherever you get your podcasts or listen early and ad free on Audible.

[Dan Tabursky]

Hey, Dan Tabursky here. I'm a podcast host, a journalist, and now with my newest project, the author of my own manifesto. Well, it's a manifesto about manifestos, my search for inspiration in a world that feels more infuriating, more out of its freaking mind with each passing hour. Manifestos are a call to action, an artful scream. They capture our anger and they try to do something with it. This is my attempt to take the manifesto back from mass shooters and nihilists and return it to its rightful place with the warriors, the visionaries, the regular folks with just the right amount of crazy. I compare notes with radicals, secessionists, Internet trolls out for a laugh, and punk singers screaming their guts out, all trying to turn their anger into the world they want to see. Listen to Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Manifesto early and ad free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

[David Brown]

It's 2016 and GoPro continues to flounder. Its net sales and revenues are down and its stock has fallen more than 70% over the past 12 months. Critics are calling GoPro a one hit wonder, but Woodman doesn't pull back. Instead, he doubles down on a variety of strategies to get GoPro back on track. He signs a deal with BMW to build GoPros into certain models and allow drivers to control the camera through the dashboard. The company also signs a deal with Fisher Price attaching GoPro mounts onto baby walkers so parents can record their child's first steps. GoPro also spends $105 million to acquire two online editing apps. The goal is to build its own in app editing service, a reaction to a long time criticism of GoPro. People complain that getting footage off the camera and turning it into a polished video is too much of a hassle. You have to download the files, open separate editing software and figure out a new interface. Meanwhile, iPhone users can shoot and edit without ever leaving the Apple ecosystem. It's seamless, which gives Apple another advantage, especially with casual users who aren't professional videographers. Then there's the media division, led by Charlotte Koh. Her team is developing at least 30 new series, everything from a kid show to a reality series about motorcycle cops. The long term plan is to build GoPro's own streaming platform, but that's still in the works. So in the meantime, to start generating revenue, they release several short form shows. There's a travel show, which they put on YouTube, and a show about the soccer team Real Madrid, which is distributed on Facebook. You know, at this point, I wonder if alarms are going off in GoPro HQ. If they weren't, they should have been. Companies on a streak of success often think they can make a leap, like going Hollywood. But it's a much bigger leap than it sounds. And the media division seems to have discovered that the hard way. And think about it. Who in the media division is going to say, wait a minute, are we sure we have what it takes to make this a reality? Internally, there's a disincentive to point out. What should be obvious. Making attention grabbing videos is different from creating entertainment. One is scrappy, serendipitous, sometimes sloppy. The other requires tons of strategic thinking and planning. Those are two very different ways of thinking. A challenge for any business, and one that may be insurmountable for GoPro. But as 2016 continues, GoPro posts one unprofitable quarter after another, and Woodman starts to have doubts about the future of the entertainment division. It's mid-2016. Nick Woodman is sitting in his office with GoPro's creative director, Bradford Schmidt. Woodman has known Schmidt since 2002, and he's been with the company since its earliest days. Schmidt designed GoPro's YouTube strategy and came up with the concepts for some of the company's most inspiring videos. Woodman points to a spreadsheet on his computer. You know, we used to be a scrappy and efficient company. We can't really claim that anymore. Well, we knew building a true media division was going to be expensive. Yeah, I know, but tell me the truth. You think we're sinking too much money into it? Well, I don't know if that's the problem per se. Okay, what do you think is the problem? What have we always said about how user generated content benefits the company? That it's a virtuous cycle. People watch the videos, get inspired to make their own, buy one of our cameras, post their footage, and that inspires even more people. Yeah, exactly. And I'm not sure we're going to see that same virtuous cycle with the shows we're developing. Why not? Before we were inspiring people to create and providing them with a perfect tool to do that. But these new shows we're putting out there, they're more polished, more aspirational. That Makes them harder to replicate. Ah, yeah, I. Yeah, I see what you're saying. Woodman looks out the window, watching as a red tailed hawk flies by. Schmidt continues, but you know, I could be wrong. And I know the goal is to create an entirely different revenue stream, so this could all be a moot point. Woodman nods, but in his gut, he senses that Schmidt is right. This pivot to becoming a media company might have been a mistake, but he does his best to shake off that feeling. Growing pains are always uncomfortable. He remembers all the uncertainty he felt when developing the first camera strap back in the early 2000s. He'd never believed back then, when he was drinking out of a camelback, testing materials, searching online for camera companies. He never would have believed that this company would one day make him a billionaire. And besides, he tells himself, GoPro is about to release a new product. A drone with a GoPro camera attached. And while Woodman has his doubts about the media venture, he thinks this drone might just be the ace up his sleeve that turns everything around. So which way we gonna go? GoPro, no doubt. Woodman thinks he can make a go of both. But at its core, the TV shows were an attempt to become something new, while the drone, well, that's an attempt to make the original idea exciting again. Companies in Trouble often bounce back and forth between reinventing themselves and rediscovering themselves. There's an inherent contradiction here, one that Woodman isn't quite ready to cop to. At least not yet. In September 2016, Woodman arrives in Squaw Valley, near Lake TAHOE to unveil GoPro's new drone. They're calling it Karma, and GoPro has gone all out on the launch event, inviting athletes and lifestyle influencers they sponsor to be in the audience. The timing feels critical. The latest iPhone now shoots 4K footage, and GoPro needs a way to distinguish itself. This drone, more than any other product or division they've tried to develop in the past two years, feels like a return to form, giving high octane people the technology to capture themselves doing their favorite activities. That's GoPro's core business. And that's exactly what Karma is designed to do. In Squaw Valley, the Carma drone is greeted with cheers and applause. When Woodman returns to GoPro's headquarters, he feels like the energy in the office has shifted, morale is up, and people are excited about the company's future. But within weeks of the drone's release, there's trouble. Woodman is digging through his inbox. In October 2016, when he's interrupted by loud knocking. Come in. An executive rushes in holding a laptop. His face pale, his breathing is shallow. The executive places his laptop on Woodman's desk and opens it up. Hey, you have to watch this. He hits play. It's a video shot from one of GoPro's Karma drones. It starts out like any other drone video, with footage looking down on a suburban office park. The drone soars, capturing the greenery and trees of the mid Atlantic. Suddenly, the steady hum of the drone changes tone, getting noticeably slower. And then it starts falling, rushing toward the ground faster and faster before it crashes into a tree. Woodman looks up at the executive. Did the battery die? The caption says the battery was fully charged and we got multiple reports of similar incidents. Woodman feels his mouth go dry. Wait, wait. You've received multiple reports of our drone just falling from the sky with no warning? Yes. We're incredibly lucky. No one's gotten killed yet by a four pound drone crashing on their head. Woodman slumps in his seat, his mind racing. And we don't have any idea what's causing this problem? Not yet. Woodman can't believe this is happening. This was supposed to be GoPro's triumphant return. Instead, it's a nightmare. He snaps to attention and reaches for his phone to buzz his assistant. Hey, call the board. We gotta have an emergency meeting asap. As his assistant notifies the board, Woodman repeatedly plays the video, watching the drone tumble from the sky over and over again. When the GoPro board meets, they decide the only responsible course of action is to issue a total recall. The Karma has been on the market for just 16 days. Employees fly hundreds of the recall drones over the parking lot, trying to determine what's going wrong. Others scour videos posted by users, and they notice a pattern. People complaining that the battery doesn't lock into place. The engineers eventually discover that a plastic latch is coming loose, allowing the battery to detach from the connector, which causes the drone to lose power mid flight. It should be a simple fix. The Karma should be back on the market in a matter of months. But GoPro may have lost something almost impossible to get back. Consumers trust. There's another reason recalls are so painful. Let's be honest. Most people will never own a Karma drone, right? But millions of people will remember hearing somewhere about that recall. Something about GoPro making a drone that fell out of the sky and that primes the pump, amplifying every misstep or mistake going forward. It's not the only bad news for Gopro. Around the same time that drones are falling from the sky, Woodman learns that their next camera, the Hero5 Black, is leaking underwater. That was supposed to launch in October, but now they'll have to scramble to ship them in time for the 2016 holiday season. GoPro is going to have a shortage of new products during the most important sales window of the year. Between the poor sales of the session, the drone recall, and the delay of the Hero 5 Black, GoPro lowers its revenue predictions. The stock tumbles an additional 7%. Overall in 2016, GoPro's stock price has dropped 40%. Woodman has no choice but to massively restructure the company. Charlotte Ko, the head of features and series, resigns just 13 months after being hired. And a few months later, GoPro announces it's laying off 15% of its employees and shutting down the entertainment division. Quite an unceremonious end to a move that was supposed to jumpstart the company's future. GoPro threw spaghetti at the wall trying to find a way to keep growing. None of it stuck. Now, with a tanking stock price, the company is ripe for acquisition. If GoPro is going to survive, Woodman needs a new plan. And it's not at all clear he has any arrows left in his quiver.

[Lindsey Graham]

During World War II, New York communist Julius Rosenberg began spying for the Soviet Union. Soon he was persuading other Americans to betray their country as well. But when his wife's brother joined the Manhattan Project, Julius targeted him as a valuable new recruit and inadvertently set the stage for the ultimate betrayal. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, host of Audible's original show American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US History. Presidential lies, Environmental disasters, Corporate fraud. In our latest series, two young New Yorkers meet and fall in love. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's commitment to each other is matched only by their commitment to communism. And the couple risks everything to help the Soviet Union develop an atomic bomb. But when they're uncovered, they have to make an impossible choice about where their loyalty truly lies. Follow American Scandal Wherever you get your podcasts, Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of American Scandal. The Rosenbergs ad free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.

[David Brown]

It's March 2017 in San Mateo, California. Nick Woodman sits across from CJ Prober, GoPro's newly appointed chief operating officer. They're preparing for another round of layoffs. It's been a long day. They've been working through the ramifications of cutting the workforce by another 270 people. The fourth quarter of 2016 was pretty dismal. As expected, there had been Hope for early 2017. The Hero 5 Black is fully shipping, and the latch issue with the Karma has been fixed. But it's still not enough. So Woodman and Prober have decided to make more cuts. Prober gathers up his things. He watches Woodman for a moment. You know, I know this is hard, certainly for the people who no longer be part of the GoPro family. But I gotta think there's some good that comes from this. Woodman looks at him. We're going back to our core business, making small, rugged cameras for people who want to capture their lives. Woodman nods. Yeah, you're right. I think we spent too much time worrying about being something we're not yet. I think the new organizational structure we landed on is a net positive. Actually, it's not that new. With fewer employees and divisions, GoPro is reverting to the organizational structure they used before the company went public. There will be broad divisions like sales, engineering, marketing, and these teams will work across all products. For the past several years, their workers had been siloed from each other. The drone folks weren't talking to the camera folks, who weren't speaking to the media folks and so forth. Well, I hope we'll all get back to collaborating and communicating with each other. Yeah, that should allow for fewer delays and errors, for sure. Prober pats Woodman on the shoulder. Look, we spent some time lost in the woods, but we're coming home, man. Honestly, I think the problem is that we didn't have any major competitors. Competitors keep you focused. We had so much success so fast, we kind of thought we could do everything. But maybe we're really only good at one thing. We're pretty great at that. Yeah, maybe everyone doesn't need a GoPro. We should just focus on reaching the people who do. That strategy worked for us for 12 years. It sure did. And I think it can work for us again. Prober heads out, but Woodman sits in his office and watches the sunset. He agrees that refocusing on the consumer camera business is the best way forward. He just hopes they're not too late. Throughout 2017, there are signs that GoPro's downsizing and refocusing is working. The company's Hero 6 camera is released on schedule without any issues. In September of 2017, GoPro also launches the Fusion, a new camera that can shoot 360 degrees at once. It's considered a major innovation in camera technology, but there's still one major albatross around the company's neck. And in early 2018, GoPro makes a tough decision. It's January 8, 2018, in San Mateo, California. Nick Woodman trudges through GoPro headquarters ahead of today's quarterly earnings call. The place feels empty, echoey, and it's only going to get worse. Today, Woodman will be announcing more layoffs, the company's fourth round in a little over a year. At the height of GoPro's success, they had roughly 1600 employees. After this latest round of cuts, they'll have fewer than a thousand. Woodman, once the highest paid CEO in the country, is cutting his own pay to $1. But that's not all Woodman will be announcing on today's call. He steps into the conference room and slouches into a chair. He's really started to dread these things, the deep breath. He hits the button on the speakerphone in the center of the table and begins to talk. He goes over how fourth quarter 2017 revenues came in, about $100 million lower than he predicted. Sometimes these earnings calls can make him feel like he's in the movie Groundhog Day, stuck in an infinite time loop. It's just quarter after quarter of disappointment. But now it's time for the really bad news. Woodman clears his throat and launches in. He announces that GoPro is shutting down their drone program for good. Eleven months ago, GoPro started selling the Karma again after the recall, but it hasn't sold the way Woodman had hoped. He's not sure if they lost consumer trust with a recall or if the drone market is simply smaller than they thought. And to make matters worse, the regulations around drones in Europe and the US Are increasing, which means the market is shrinking, not growing. It's hard for Woodman not to cringe when he remembers how certain he'd been that drones were the future for GoPro. Now he's shutting down the whole endeavor after less than a year. As he wraps up the call, Woodman puts on the most upbeat voice he can muster. He tells investors that with these changes, GoPro is committed to returning to profitability in 2018. But the words feel hollow, even to him. Over the next several years, GoPro limps on. The company remains focused on its core business of making small, rugged cameras, and it does have some success. The Hero 7 releases in fall of 2018 and becomes GoPro's fastest selling camera ever. The company pours more resources into its subscription cloud service, which it launched in 2016. That service allows users to store and edit all the footage they shoot on a GoPro, and it's become increasingly profitable. One interesting twist here is that GoPro finally found growth not by inventing another gadget, but by making the gadget people already owned easier to live with. The subscription service didn't replace the camera business. Obviously, it strengthened it. But you know, sometimes the biggest innovation isn't a new product. It's making the existing product more useful after the sale. Even so, in the long run, the future of GoPro may be out of the company's hands, its slide as much a sign of the times as its astonishing rise. In 2018, GoPro officially discontinues the session line, acknowledging that it never found its foothold in the market. Instead, the company introduces a new camera, just called hero, that costs $199. It's the simpler, cheaper camera the session was supposed to be, but it's still not enough. GoPro rode to glory at a particular moment in time. It launched when YouTube was just taking off, but before smartphones were ubiquitous. That environment allowed it to to soar. But times have changed. The company limps through the early 2000 and twenties. And by 2026, GoPro is known as an industry pioneer. Struggling to find its place in the market, the company faces competition from almost every direction. Casual consumers don't want anything more than a smartphone wearable AI glasses like the ones made by Meta. They're eating into GoPros core consumer market. And other companies, including drone maker DJI and action camera producer Insta360, have honed in on the professional market. As of July 2026, the company is bleeding money and taking out loans. Some critics wonder if it can meet. And Nick Woodman? He's searching for the company's next pivot. He's looking for a buyer who could acquire making the cameras just one product line within a larger company. He's also exploring partnering with aerospace and defense companies. In other words, he's throwing more spaghetti at the wall, hoping this time something will stick. But whatever path GoPro takes, its most recent filings admit it's unlikely the company will exist in its current form a year from now. GoPro seems to have ridden this wave all the way into shore. From Audible Originals. This is episode two of GoPro, the billion dollar wipeout for business war. A quick note about recreations you've been hearing. In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said. Those scenes are dramatizations, but they're based on research. And if you'd like to read more, we recommend the sky is falling for GoPro by Ryan Mack, published in Forbes and the Untold Story of How massive success made GoPro's CEO lose his way. Can He Recover? By Tom Foster, published in Inc. I'm your host, David Brown. Austin Rachlis wrote this episode. Our senior producers are Genuine Bloom and Emily Frost. Our producer is Tristan Donovan of Yellow and Karen Lowe is our producer Emeritus. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock Fact checking by Gabrielle Joliet voice acting by Chloe Elmore and Michelle Lee sound design by Josh Morales. Our lead sound designer is Kyle Randall, Executive producer for Audible Jenny Lauer Beckman, Head of Creative Development at Audible Kate Navin, head of Audible Originals North America Marshall Louie, Chief Kennedy Content Officer Rachel Giazza Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC Sound Recording Copyright 2026 by Audible Originates, LLC Follow Business wars on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Business wars ad free by joining Audible.