CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: GoPro CEO Nick Woodman Speaks with CNBC’s Josh Lipton on “Squawk on the Street” Today
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with GoPro CEO Nick Woodman on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" (M-F, 9AM-11AM ET) today, Tuesday, March 1st. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com:http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000497745.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
CARL QUINTANILLA: STRUGGLING WITH A SINKING STOCK PRICE AND FALLING REVENUE ESTIMATES, GOPRO LOOKING TO MAKE SOME CHANGES. THE COMPANY ANNOUNCING PLANS TO BUY TWO MOBILE VIDEO EDITING APPS FOR JUST OVER 100 MILLION IN CASH AND EQUITY. GOPRO CEO NICK WOODMAN JOINS OUR OWN JOSH LIPTON IN SAN FRANCISCO THIS MORNING FOR AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW. HEY, JOSH.
JOSH LIPTON: HEY, CARL. SO, NICK, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US THIS MORNING.
NICK WOODMAN: THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
LIPTON: WALK ME THROUGH THIS NEWS HERE. YOU BUY THESE TWO SOFTWARE COMPANIES. JUST WALK ME THROUGH THE STRATEGY, NICK, AND HOW IS THAT GOING TO IMPROVE THE GOPRO USER EXPERIENCE.
WOODMAN: WELL, WE JUST ANNOUNCED THAT WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF ACQUIRING SPLICE AND REPLAY, TWO LEADING MOBILE EDITING APPS. AND WE ACQUIRED THEM TO ACCELERATE OUR VISION OF MAKING IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO CREATE AND SHARE ENGAGING CONTENT. AND WE THINK THAT THE MOBILE PLATFORM, YOUR SMARTPHONE AND TABLET, ARE THE BEST, MOST CONVENIENT PLATFORMS FOR EDITING IN THE FUTURE. AND WE'RE OPENING GOPRO UP NOT JUST TO GOPRO CUSTOMERS, BUT TO BILLIONS OF SMARTPHONE USERS AROUND THE WORLD TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THEM TO CREATE AND SHARE GREAT CONTENT WITH THEIR SMARTPHONES.
LIPTON: DO YOU SEE, NICK, IF IT IS EASIER TO EDIT AND SHARE THAT CONTENT, DO YOU SEE THAT GIVING A BOOST TO CAMERA SALES?
WOODMAN: ABSOLUTELY. IF GOPRO CAN BECOME A STANDARD FOR HOW PEOPLE SHARE GREAT STORIES, THEN WE THINK THAT CAN UPSELL PEOPLE TO OUR CAPTURE DEVICES, OUR CAMERAS. BUT IF WE CAN EXTEND GOPRO AS A SOLUTION FOR EVEN NON-GOPRO CUSTOMERS, SMARTPHONE USERS, WE CAN MAKE GOPRO MORE RELEVANT TO PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.
LIPTON: LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT PRODUCT PIPELINE. SO WE'RE WAITING FOR THAT GOPRO DRONE. I'VE HEARD SOME PEOPLE SAY, LISTEN, THERE'S A LOT OF PLAYERS IN THIS SPACE. THEY MENTION DJI, THERE'S A COMPANY GREAT PRODUCTS, BRAND AWARENESS, $10 BILLION VALUATION. WHY SHOULD INVESTORS BELIEVE, NICK, THAT GOPRO CAN COME IN, COMPETE AND WIN AS A DRONEMAKER?
WOODMAN: THE DRONE SPACE IS VERY, VERY EARLY DAYS. AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY. AND DJI HAS A PARTICULAR FOCUS, AND WE HAVE A PARTICULAR PERSPECTIVE AT GOPRO. AND WE'RE BUILDING PRODUCTS FOR MAYBE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF CUSTOMER. AND WE THINK THAT WE'VE GOT 12, 15 MILLION CUSTOMERS AROUND THE WORLD THAT ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING PARTICULAR FROM GOPRO AND WE THINK WE'VE GOT A TERRIFIC DIFFERENTIATED DRONE FOR THEM.
LIPTON: AND HOW SHOULD YOUR INVESTORS THINK ABOUT THE DRONE, NICK? SHOULD THEY THINK ABOUT IT – HERE'S A PRODUCT THAT IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO SCALE AS QUICKLY AS THE CAMERAS?
WOODMAN: WE THINK THAT THE DRONE CATEGORY IS A SUBSET OF THE OVERALL GOPRO MARKET TODAY. WE'RE VERY MUCH FOCUSED ON HELPING PEOPLE CAPTURE AND SHARE GREAT CONTENT. AND THAT NEEDS TO BE EASY. AND A GOPRO, SO FAR, IS THE EASIEST WAY TO SELF-DOCUMENT AND SHARE YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES. DRONES ARE EXCITING BECAUSE THEY ENABLE PERSPECTIVES THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN POSSIBLE BEFORE. BUT THEY'RE MORE EXPENSIVE, A BIT MORE COMPLICATED AND THERE'S A LEARNING CURVE. SO WE THINK THAT WE'RE EARLY IN THAT MARKET OPPORTUNITY. BUT WE'RE EXTREMELY WELL POSITIONED TO SUCCEED BECAUSE WE'VE ESTABLISHED THE ACTIVITY CAPTURE CATEGORY AND WE THINK THAT DRONE IS AN EXTENSION OF THAT.
LIPTON: LET ME ASK YOU, WHEN I TALK TO FINANCIAL ANALYSTS, NICK, WHO COVER GOPRO, THEY SAY THEY STILL ADMIRE WOODMAN'S ENTHUSIASM AND HIS PASSION. BUT THEY ALSO SAY HERE'S A YOUNG GUY, HE'S MADE A TON OF MONEY, AND NOW HE HAS THIS COMPANY THAT'S FACING REAL CHALLENGES, STOCK IS DOWN 70% IN 12 MONTHS. THEY WONDER IF YOU'RE STILL COMMITTED TO RUNNING THIS COMPANY LONG-TERM. WHAT'S YOUR ANSWER TO THAT?
WOODMAN: ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED TO RUNNING GOPRO LONG-TERM. GOPRO IS VERY MUCH AN EXTENSION OF EVERYTHING THAT I'M INTERESTED IN LIFE – TECHNOLOGY, ADVENTURE, VIDEO, PHOTOGRAPHY, FAMILY. GOPRO HAS MASSIVELY ENHANCED MY OWN LIFE EXPERIENCE AND DOCUMENTING MY FAMILY EXPERIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF MY THREE BOYS. AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, LIFE IS ABOUT PURSUING YOUR PASSIONS, YOUR INTERESTS IN DOING WHAT YOU LOVE. AND I'M FORTUNATE THAT I GET TO EXPRESS MYSELF THROUGH GOPRO AND WORK WITH SOME OF THE MOST TALENTED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, WHETHER THEY'RE PRODUCT DESIGNERS OR PEOPLE IN OUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT. AND I COULDN'T ASK FOR A BETTER JOB AND SO THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING FOR THE LONG HAUL.
LIPTON: WHEN I WAS – YOU KNOW I WAS AT GOPRO, NICK, WHEN THE COMPANY IPO'ed. I WAS THERE IN SAN MATEO THAT DAY. SO MUCH CONFIDENCE, SO MUCH ENTHUSIASM. BUT YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN CHANGES AT GOPRO. SOME RECENT CHANGES IN THE C-SUITE. WALK ME THROUGH WHAT THE MORALE IS LIKE AT THE COMPANY NOW.
WOODMAN: MORALE IS INCREDIBLE BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A STRONG VISION OF THE FUTURE. WE'VE GOT A TERRIFIC PRODUCT ROAD MAP. 2016, AS I'VE SHARED, IS THE SINGLE MOST EXCITING YEAR FOR NEW PRODUCTS THAT WE'VE EVER HAD AT GOPRO WHETHER IT'S HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTS THAT WE ARE DEVELOPING, THIS IS THE BIGGEST YEAR EVER FOR GOPRO. SO WHEN YOU'RE ON THE INSIDE AND YOU HAVE ACCESS TO EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE WORKING ON, IT'S VERY EASY TO STAY EXCITED, VERY EASY TO STAY MOTIVATED, AND IT'S GOING TO BE AN EXCITING YEAR FOR US.
LIPTON: ALRIGHT. NICK WOODMAN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, SIR. WE APPRECIATE IT.
WOODMAN: THANKS, JOSH.
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