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James Park (entrepreneur)

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31: 166:. 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". In a 2019 interview, Park said, "Going public is good for investors and employees. Ours was the largest consumer electronics IPO in US history." 126:
in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents, who emigrated from South Korea, owned a wig shop in downtown Cleveland, 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
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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". The co-founders started with an initial investment of $ 400,000 contributed by them and others but realized one
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After Epesi folded, Park's next venture was an early concept for a photo editing and sharing platform. The company was called Heypix. After Heypix's first ever press release, it caught the attention of CNET, who offered the company $ 4 million.
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estimated that Park and Friedman each made $ 150 million before taxes when Fitbit was acquired by Google in 2019. Park describes himself as an introvert who is capable of being an extrovert. In his spare time he enjoys art.
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infrastructure software firm called Epesi Technologies, which is now defunct. Park considers Epesi Technologies his "greatest failure" and described the experience as "particularly painful".
584: 111:, he was ranked #29 in the magazine's America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 in 2015. James Park announced that Fitbit became part of Google on January 14, 2021. 540: 198: 409: 163: 659: 609: 383: 105:
magazine's 40 Under 40, an annual ranking of the most influential young people in business. With a net worth of $ 660 million estimated by
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but dropped out his junior year to pursue his own business. Before creating the company that would become Fitbit, Park created a startup
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burst in 2000 and Epesi closed its doors, both Park and Friedman went to work as engineers for a company called Dun & Bradstreet.
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year after starting that more funds would be needed for a product launch. They were able to get additional funding from
466:"How A Game He Liked Inspired Him To Start A $ 2.1 Million Company. The Success Story Of Fitbit Co-Founder James Park" 669: 433: 307: 610:"Fitbit CEO and co-founder James Park on his own fitness routine and selling to Google for $ 2.1 billion" 410:"Fitbit founder and upcoming tech summit speaker Eric Friedman is an 'eternally optimistic' entrepreneur" 384:"Fitbit CEO and co-founder James Park on his own fitness routine and selling to Google for $ 2.1 billion" 96: 558: 515: 490: 639: 664: 353: 262: 8: 101: 123: 91:(born 1976/1977) is a South Korean-American technology entrepreneur. He co-founded 141:
Park met Eric Friedman (a computer science Yale graduate) at Epsei, but after the
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Korean American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of FitBit
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his own work ethic was influenced by their example.
169:Google purchased Fitbit in 2019 for $ 2.1 billion. 130:He studied computer science as an undergraduate at 308:"Fitbit's launch in Korea a big step for company" 99:since September 2007. He was named in 2015 among 631: 559:"Interviews with the world's best entrepreneurs" 460: 458: 456: 454: 434:"The Late 1990s Dot-Com Bubble Implodes in 2000" 225:"James Park: Executive Profile & Biography" 532: 451: 255: 541:"How Fitbit Survived As A Hardware Startup" 516:"Fitbit, Inc. - IR Overview - Investor FAQ" 191: 29: 491:"CNET buys photo-sharing Web site HeyPix" 44:1976 or 1977 (age 47–48) 122:He attended high school at the all-boys 351: 632: 241: 607: 381: 660:American technology company founders 407: 377: 375: 347: 345: 306:Moon, Gwang-Lip (January 23, 2014). 305: 299: 279: 582: 538: 13: 14: 681: 655:American people of Korean descent 645:Businesspeople from San Francisco 372: 342: 539:Hof, Robert (February 4, 2014). 280:Park, James (January 14, 2021). 172: 601: 576: 551: 508: 483: 426: 401: 382:Stieg, Cory (August 3, 2021). 318: 273: 217: 1: 650:Businesspeople from Cleveland 358:How I Built This with Guy Raz 184: 114: 408:Weir, William (2016-10-25). 7: 119:Park is of Korean descent. 10: 686: 608:Stieg, Cory (2021-08-03). 352:Guy Raz (April 27, 2020). 148: 95:and has been its CEO and 75: 67: 56: 48: 40: 28: 21: 670:University School alumni 282:"Fitbit Joins Google" 354:"Fitbit: James Park" 312:Korea JoongAng Daily 269:. November 18, 2015. 79:Co-founder and CEO, 520:investor.fitbit.com 583:Tognini, Giacomo. 205:. 2 September 2016 229:www.bloomberg.com 124:University School 86: 85: 677: 624: 623: 621: 620: 605: 599: 598: 596: 595: 580: 574: 573: 571: 570: 555: 549: 548: 536: 530: 529: 527: 526: 512: 506: 505: 503: 502: 487: 481: 480: 478: 477: 462: 449: 448: 446: 444: 430: 424: 423: 421: 420: 405: 399: 398: 396: 394: 379: 370: 369: 367: 365: 349: 340: 339: 337: 336: 326:"Welcome Alumni" 322: 316: 315: 303: 297: 296: 294: 292: 277: 271: 270: 263:"#29 James Park" 259: 253: 252: 245: 239: 238: 236: 235: 221: 215: 214: 212: 210: 195: 33: 19: 18: 685: 684: 680: 679: 678: 676: 675: 674: 630: 629: 628: 627: 618: 616: 606: 602: 593: 591: 581: 577: 568: 566: 557: 556: 552: 537: 533: 524: 522: 514: 513: 509: 500: 498: 489: 488: 484: 475: 473: 464: 463: 452: 442: 440: 432: 431: 427: 418: 416: 406: 402: 392: 390: 380: 373: 363: 361: 350: 343: 334: 332: 324: 323: 319: 304: 300: 290: 288: 286:blog.fitbit.com 278: 274: 261: 260: 256: 247: 246: 242: 233: 231: 223: 222: 218: 208: 206: 197: 196: 192: 187: 175: 151: 132:Harvard College 117: 61:Harvard College 57:Alma mater 36: 24: 17: 12: 11: 5: 683: 673: 672: 667: 662: 657: 652: 647: 642: 626: 625: 600: 575: 550: 531: 507: 482: 450: 425: 400: 371: 360:(Podcast). NPR 341: 317: 298: 272: 254: 240: 216: 189: 188: 186: 183: 174: 171: 150: 147: 143:dot-com bubble 116: 113: 84: 83: 77: 76:Known for 73: 72: 69: 65: 64: 58: 54: 53: 50: 46: 45: 42: 38: 37: 34: 26: 25: 22: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 682: 671: 668: 666: 663: 661: 658: 656: 653: 651: 648: 646: 643: 641: 640:Living people 638: 637: 635: 615: 611: 604: 590: 586: 579: 564: 560: 554: 546: 542: 535: 521: 517: 511: 496: 492: 486: 471: 467: 461: 459: 457: 455: 439: 438:Goldman Sachs 435: 429: 415: 411: 404: 389: 385: 378: 376: 359: 355: 348: 346: 331: 327: 321: 313: 309: 302: 287: 283: 276: 268: 264: 258: 250: 249:"40 Under 40" 244: 230: 226: 220: 204: 200: 194: 190: 182: 179: 173:Personal life 170: 167: 165: 164:True Ventures 161: 155: 146: 144: 139: 137: 133: 128: 125: 120: 112: 110: 109: 104: 103: 98: 94: 90: 82: 78: 74: 70: 66: 63:(dropped out) 62: 59: 55: 51: 47: 43: 39: 32: 27: 20: 665:1970s births 617:. Retrieved 613: 603: 592:. Retrieved 588: 578: 567:. Retrieved 565:. 2019-02-13 562: 553: 544: 534: 523:. Retrieved 519: 510: 499:. Retrieved 497:. 2005-04-05 494: 485: 474:. Retrieved 472:. 2023-01-23 469: 441:. Retrieved 437: 428: 417:. Retrieved 413: 403: 391:. Retrieved 387: 362:. Retrieved 357: 333:. Retrieved 329: 320: 311: 301: 289:. Retrieved 285: 275: 266: 257: 243: 232:. Retrieved 228: 219: 207:. Retrieved 202: 193: 177: 176: 168: 156: 152: 140: 129: 121: 118: 106: 100: 88: 87: 35:Park in 2015 443:October 11, 209:13 November 203:Irish Times 160:SoftTech VC 71:Businessman 49:Nationality 634:Categories 619:2023-06-29 594:2021-07-21 569:2023-06-29 563:British GQ 525:2018-12-03 501:2023-06-29 476:2023-06-29 419:2023-06-29 335:2021-03-29 330:www.us.edu 251:. Fortune. 234:2018-12-13 185:References 115:Early life 89:James Park 68:Occupation 23:James Park 470:Sybershel 364:April 27, 97:president 414:YaleNews 393:June 15, 388:cnbc.com 291:June 15, 52:American 102:Fortune 589:Forbes 545:Forbes 267:Forbes 178:Forbes 149:Career 108:Forbes 93:Fitbit 81:Fitbit 614:CNBC 495:CIOL 445:2023 395:2023 366:2020 293:2023 211:2019 162:and 41:Born 136:B2B 636:: 612:. 587:. 561:. 543:. 518:. 493:. 468:. 453:^ 436:. 412:. 386:. 374:^ 356:. 344:^ 328:. 310:. 284:. 265:. 227:. 201:. 622:. 597:. 572:. 547:. 528:. 504:. 479:. 447:. 422:. 397:. 368:. 338:. 314:. 295:. 237:. 213:.

Index


Harvard College
Fitbit
Fitbit
president
Fortune
Forbes
University School
Harvard College
B2B
dot-com bubble
SoftTech VC
True Ventures
"Fitbit co-founder sprints to success after start-up setbacks"
"James Park: Executive Profile & Biography"
"40 Under 40"
"#29 James Park"
"Fitbit Joins Google"
"Fitbit's launch in Korea a big step for company"
"Welcome Alumni"


"Fitbit: James Park"


"Fitbit CEO and co-founder James Park on his own fitness routine and selling to Google for $ 2.1 billion"
"Fitbit founder and upcoming tech summit speaker Eric Friedman is an 'eternally optimistic' entrepreneur"
"The Late 1990s Dot-Com Bubble Implodes in 2000"

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