GoPro Names Susan Lyne to Board (EXCLUSIVE)

Struggling wearable-camera maker GoPro has appointed Susan Lyne, founder and president of AOL-backed investment fund BBG Ventures, to its board.

With Lyne joining GoPro’s board, it is expanding to nine directors. She’s the second woman to join the GoPro board, after the company named NBCUniversal cable exec Lauren Zalaznick as director in July 2016.

Lyne’s current company, BBG Ventures, invests in female-led companies building next-generation consumer products and services. Before launching BBG in 2014, she was CEO of the AOL Brand Group and prior to that was chairman and CEO of online fashion and luxury brand retailer Gilt Groupe. Lyne was president, CEO and director of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia from 2004-08, after serving as president of ABC Entertainment from 2002-04.

The move comes after GoPro hit serious financial turbulence last year, posting a net loss of $419 million on revenue of $1.19 billion for 2016 on plummeting camera sales. In a retrenchment last fall, it laid off 15% of its workforce and shut down the nascent entertainment division — an ambitious initiative under which it had planned to produce original programming.

“We look for exceptional individuals to strengthen our board’s capabilities and culture and we are happy to have identified a superb addition in Susan Lyne,” Nick Woodman, GoPro’s CEO and founder, said in a statement. “We believe her operating and leadership experience will be valuable as GoPro continues to grow its business globally.”

Lyne, for her part, commented: “I’ve been a fan of the company and its products since the early days, and have tremendous respect for the team and the culture of innovation at GoPro. I look forward to joining them and contributing to their success where I can.”

The company is scheduled to report first-quarter 2017 earnings on Thursday, April 27, after market close. GoPro has affirmed Q1 2017 revenue at the high end of its previous guidance range of between $190 million and $210 million and it’s still targeting full-year 2017 profitability on an adjusted basis.

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