The Moment the Moment CEO Got Crushed by GoPro
How about that for a headline. It’s not technically correct, but “The Moment the Moment CEO’s Previous Camera Making Company Got Crushed by GoPro” is a little wordy.
Imagine a CEO being crushed by a GoPro. He’d have to be a very very small CEO, I guess. Either that or he had an unfortunate encounter with GoPro’s new 700 pound camera.
Anyway… you know, I kind of got curious. If you have a casual interest in Moment lenses (like me), you might be under the impression these two guys (Niles and Caleb) are the brains behind company…
But something told me there was a bigger team involved, so I checked their first kickstarter. At the bottom, there’s quite a few Moment people listed. Neither Caleb or Niles are there. Nor do they appear in the first kickstarter video.
Not that they should or that this is a big conspiracy or anything. But the impression I got from the YouTube channel was different. So I guess the Moment team decided they needed some young guys to help market the lenses on social media.
Who is the Moment lens boss then?
A guy called Marc Barros, CEO and founder of Moment. He seems to be coming out from behind the scenes a bit more recently, which is probably why I came across an interview with him by YouTuber Sarah Dietschy. Turns out Moment is not Marc’s first multi-million dollar company, but his second.
“2003, I was a college student. I was on the path to being an accountant. I was a skier, we wanted to record what we were doing, so we made what was an action camera. It’s called Contour and competed with GoPro for 10 years. Made amazing products. Got smashed by GoPro.” Marc Barros
The Moment CEO reveals how the stories of Contour and GoPro were pretty similar. “They started as a surfer, I started as a skier. We were really naive, we thought ‘hey we make really great products, that will work’. But… it’s not about the great product. Like, make a brand and capture consumer hearts.”
I guess that’s where Niles and Caleb come in. They’re there to capture our hearts and they’re doing a great job.
Barros says while Contour were very functional about their marketing, GoPro were the ones who engaged emotionally with their potential customers.
Well, it looks like he learned that lesson. I think we can all agree Moment have done an amazing job marketing their lenses. But how does Barros saying it’s “not about the great product” make us feel about his lenses?
Why not engage hearts and create a great product?
“But to Nick’s (GoPro CEO) credit, he did really well. He’s got a yacht and I’m hanging here.” Marc Barros
There’s more interesting behind the scenes insights into the making and marketing of Moment lenses (plus accessories). There some nice marketing insights too, if that’s your thing. So if you’re curious give the whole video a watch.
Read more: Moment Lenses for smartphones
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