James Park (entrepreneur)
| James Park | |
|---|---|
| Residence | San Francisco |
| Education | Harvard College (drop out) |
| Known for | Fitbit |
James Park is an American tech entrepreneur. He co-founded and is CEO of Fitbit. He was named in 2015 among Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40, an annual ranking of the most influential young people in business.[1] With a net worth of $660 million estimated by Forbes, he is ranked #29 in the magazine's America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40" in 2015.[2]
Early life
Park is of Korean descent.[3] He attended high school at the prestigious all-boys University School in Cleveland, Ohio. He started undergraduate study at Harvard in computer science but dropped out.
Fitbit
He co-founded Fitbit with Eric Friedman in April 2007 after according to a Forbes profile "realizing the potential of sensors such as accelerometers paired with smaller and smaller devices".[4] The co-founders started with an initial investment of $400,000 contributed by themselves and others but realized one year after starting that more funds would be needed for a product launch.[4] They were able to get additional funding from SoftTech and True Ventures.[4] 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."[4]
References
- ↑ "40 Under 40". Fortune.
- ↑ "#29 James Park". Forbes.
- ↑ Moon, Gwang-Lip (January 23, 2014). "Fitbit’s launch in Korea a big step for company".
- 1 2 3 4 Hof, Robert. "How Fitbit Survived As A Hardware Startup". Forbes.