Katie chats with the co-founder of Fitbit about what’s next for this game-changing industry
Yes, you probably know that high-tech watches can track your heart rate — but did you know they could also provide early detection for serious health conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure in the future? That’s the challenge being tackled by James Park, the VP, general manager, and co-founder of Fitbit. Since he co-created the company more than 15 years ago, Fitbit has focused on the needs of its core users while expanding beyond its roots in fitness tracking.
At a recent Google event, I interviewed Park about his journey as a startup founder, the strategies that powered Fitbit’s growth, and how its products have evolved to offer its millions of users new, potentially life-saving features.
Katie Couric: When you were young, your parents owned lots of different businesses. What values did you absorb from watching them work so hard and pivot so many times?
James Park: Yes, they had a wig shop, ice cream parlor, fish market, and dry cleaner. Later in life, I appreciated the resilience that must have taken. Not all of their businesses were successful, but they never exposed me to the negative aspect of that. They just seemed to magically move from one opportunity to another in a really seamless way. It was pretty amazing.
What was your first startup, and what lessons did you draw from it?
My first startup was at the height of the dot-com boom, which, in retrospect, was a pretty bad time to found a company. I was 21 or 22 at the time, and I was a terrible manager.
One of the main lessons was that we pivoted way too much. And so, with the second startup, I made a vow that we would stick to something for some period of time and just see it through, even if there were bumps along the way.
What was the origin of your idea for Fitbit?
It was late 2006, and I still had some time to play video games. And I was super excited by the Nintendo Wii. It transformed the way people thought about gaming and made gaming into something that was super active and positive for the whole family. I wondered how we could capture that magic — of the Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit together — in a form that was with people all the time, as opposed to just in their living rooms?
Many people on a health and fitness journey need support: How did you enable Fitbit users to share their fitness experiences, and how did that contribute to your success?
It was critical. We didn’t have a lot of money for Fitbit’s marketing strategy, and we felt that the only way we could get traction was by harnessing the power of community. We thought that if we created some competitive or social element, people would want to compete with their friends to become healthier.
We didn’t know if people would be comfortable sharing their fitness stats, but it became a core element of what we do. That decision powered the growth of the company for the first few years.
A lot of companies are getting into wearable tech and fitness. How have you been able to evolve as a brand and remain competitive?
For us it has always been a focus on our core user. We’ve never lost sight of that fact, even though we could have gone after a lot of different user groups. The main people that we were helping never really changed from the very beginning: The core Fitbit user isn’t very fit at the start of their journey. Our reason for being is to help those people take that first step on their health and fitness journey. We never really lost that focus.
In terms of staying relevant, there’s only so much that Fitbit can do on its own. So we’ve invested a lot into partnerships that have helped us reach different user demographics. One of our big, early partnerships was with Tory Burch. With wearables, it’s not just about utility there’s clearly a fashion element to it. But we are not a fashion brand, we’re a health brand. So we needed partners to supplement and complement us.
How has the pandemic changed your mission and your business model?
With Fitbit and other remote monitoring technology, you can have very comprehensive and nuanced discussions with your physician about every aspect of your health. Previously, they were just able to analyze your health through a keyhole. And now it’s a deluge of information.
We’ve worked with over 100 health plans and health insurance companies around the world to make sure that Fitbits are included as free benefits. Medicaid is particularly important. Another initiative involves overcoming the disparity in health research for different groups, like Black people and Latinos. We’re donating a lot of products and services to researchers who are trying to understand the differences in health outcomes among different racial groups.
You all are doing important and exciting work in detecting serious health conditions. How are you evolving wearable technology in potentially life-saving ways?
When I look back, it’s amazing. We started off with a device that counted steps. And now there are sensors on not only Fitbits but a lot of other devices in the category that can detect serious health conditions. For instance, we developed a technology that shines multiple wavelengths of light into your skin. By analyzing the patterns, we can detect whether you have serious heart conditions, including atrial fibrillation. All you need to do is set up your Fitbit, and it’s automatically protecting you by default. Already, 2 million people over the age of 65 have activated this feature.
This is the first step for us in moving from a nice-to-have product and service to a must-have. This whole category is moving to one where it’s analogous to a seat belt or airbag. I can imagine a future that’s not too far away where if you forget your Fitbit or another product at home, you go back and put it on.
A version of this Q&A also appears on Think with Google, a business publication operated by Google.
Working with…
