James Park (entrepreneur)

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James Park
James Park (Fitbit).jpg
Park in 2015
Born1976or1977(age 46–47) [1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Harvard College (dropped out)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder and CEO, Fitbit

James Park (born 1976/1977) is a South Korean-American technology entrepreneur. He co-founded Fitbit and has been its CEO and president since September 2007. [2] He was named in 2015 among Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40, an annual ranking of the most influential young people in business. [3] With a net worth of $660 million estimated by Forbes , he was ranked #29 in the magazine's America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 in 2015. [4] James Park announced that Fitbit became part of Google on January 14, 2021. [5]

Contents

Early life

Park is of Korean descent. [6]

He attended high school at the all-boys University School in Cleveland, Ohio. [7] His parents, who emigrated from South Korea, owned a wig shop in downtown Cleveland, [8] among other shops, such as an ice cream parlor, a fish market, a dry-cleaning business, and a clothing store. Park spent a lot of time in his parents' shops and even sold products for them, and his own work ethic was influenced by their example. [9]

He studied computer science as an undergraduate at Harvard College but dropped out his junior year to pursue his own business. [8] Before creating the company that would become Fitbit, Park created a startup B2B infrastructure software firm called Epesi Technologies, which is now defunct. Park considers Epesi Technologies his "greatest failure" and described the experience as "particularly painful". [9]

Park met Eric Friedman (a computer science Yale graduate) [10] at Epsei, but after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 [11] and Epesi closed its doors, both Park and Friedman went to work as engineers for a company called Dun & Bradstreet. [12]

Career

After Epesi folded, Park's next venture was an early concept for a photo editing and sharing platform. [12] The company was called Heypix. After Heypix's first ever press release, it caught the attention of CNET, who offered the company $4 million. [12] [13]

Park co-founded Fitbit with Eric Friedman on March 26, 2007, after "realizing the potential of sensors on the Wii remote such as accelerometers paired with smaller and smaller devices". [14] The co-founders started with an initial investment of $400,000 contributed by them and others but realized one year after starting that more funds would be needed for a product launch. They were able to get additional funding from SoftTech VC and True Ventures. Park found the initial stages of developing the product to be tough, especially in finding a hardware manufacturer. He recalled the search for the right supplier and organizing the production line in Asia left the company "pretty close to being dead". [15] In a 2019 interview, Park said, "Going public is good for investors and employees. Ours was the largest consumer electronics IPO in US history." [16]

Google purchased Fitbit in 2019 for $2.1 billion. [12]

Personal life

Forbes estimated that Park and Friedman each made $150 million before taxes when Fitbit was acquired by Google in 2019. [17] Park describes himself as an introvert who is capable of being an extrovert. In his spare time he enjoys art. [18]

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References

  1. ↑ "Fitbit co-founder sprints to success after start-up setbacks". Irish Times. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  2. ↑ "James Park: Executive Profile & Biography". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  3. ↑ "40 Under 40". Fortune.
  4. ↑ "#29 James Park". Forbes. November 18, 2015.
  5. ↑ Park, James (January 14, 2021). "Fitbit Joins Google". blog.fitbit.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  6. ↑ Moon, Gwang-Lip (January 23, 2014). "Fitbit's launch in Korea a big step for company". Korea JoongAng Daily.
  7. ↑ "Welcome Alumni". www.us.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  8. 1 2 Guy Raz (April 27, 2020). "Fitbit: James Park". How I Built This with Guy Raz (Podcast). NPR. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Stieg, Cory (August 3, 2021). "Fitbit CEO and co-founder James Park on his own fitness routine and selling to Google for $2.1 billion". cnbc.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  10. ↑ Weir, William (2016-10-25). "Fitbit founder and upcoming tech summit speaker Eric Friedman is an 'eternally optimistic' entrepreneur". YaleNews. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  11. ↑ "The Late 1990s Dot-Com Bubble Implodes in 2000". Goldman Sachs. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "How A Game He Liked Inspired Him To Start A $2.1 Million Company. The Success Story Of Fitbit Co-Founder James Park". Sybershel. 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  13. ↑ "CNET buys photo-sharing Web site HeyPix". CIOL. 2005-04-05. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  14. ↑ "Fitbit, Inc. - IR Overview - Investor FAQ". investor.fitbit.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  15. ↑ Hof, Robert (February 4, 2014). "How Fitbit Survived As A Hardware Startup". Forbes.
  16. ↑ "Interviews with the world's best entrepreneurs". British GQ. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  17. ↑ Tognini, Giacomo. "Here's How Much Money The Fitbit Founders Will Get From Google's Acquisition". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  18. ↑ Stieg, Cory (2021-08-03). "Fitbit CEO and co-founder James Park on his own fitness routine and selling to Google for $2.1 billion". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
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