As a senior at Fargo North High School, John Daly has already stopped relying on the overarching marketplace to provide everything he wants. At the age of 18, this soon-to-be Bison is attempting to kickstart his own product. He is doing this with Pro Aim, an accessory for the GoPro camera that allows users to better focus the device on moments they want to capture.
Check out the Pro Aim kickstarter here!
The GoPro is a fairly new device created with the mission to record moments during which holding standard video cameras is too difficult. The golf ball-sized camera can be attached to helmets, clothing, and other objects, making them desirable for adventurers and outdoorsy people. Since 2004, people have been creating awesome videos of building scaling, trombone playing, and even pelicans learning to fly, all from perspectives not easily captured by any other device. GoPro has since evolved into the lead high definition extreme events camera, inspiring online discussions and compilation videos of intense moments caught with the device.
Where’s the problem? Placing the camera on an object instead of looking through a lens like a normal recording device sadly means there is great potential for failure to record the intended line of sight. If the goal is to capture what the user is seeing, an improperly placed GoPro could mean filming the sky or even accidentally burrowing the camera lens down into an article of clothing – not a very convenient way to remember radical moments. John realized this fault early on in his experiments with the device.
In 2013, John used his GoPro to record what he saw while he was skiing at Red Lodge Mountain in Montana. Instead of capturing his undoubtedly impressive view, he later watched a recording filled with footage of the sky and the benign movement of landscape directly between his legs. After a search for products that could assist his aiming woes, John realized nothing existed that could solve his problem.
So he solved it.
With the help of his physicist uncle, John created his first prototype in 2013. Pro Aim is tagged as “the first GoPro accessory that confirms and shows you that the recorded video Field of View (FOV) is aimed properly.” With John’s attachable laser accessory, GoPro users can pinpoint the handy camera’s FOV and adjust for the desired positioning. Since that first successful creation, John has been searching for ways to broadcast his product and connect to influential groups that could assist in fundraising for mass production. Shameless note: that search led him to Emerging Prairie, among other great members of the Fargo-Moorhead entrepreneurial community.
This past week, John’s device was accepted for a one-month funding period on Kickstarter, meaning his end goal of $12,800 for materials, and assembly and production needs to be met in 31 days. Check out his kickstarter page for in-depth information on Pro Aim as well as prototype demonstrations.
Suffice it to say Emerging Prairie jumped at the chance to feature the creativity and development of our younger community members. John has taken great initiative in getting his ideas off the ground, and now he needs the help of the entire entrepreneurial community to learn about the production process, patents, sales, and anything else that comes with the creation of a new product.
If you have ideas or advice for this budding entrepreneur, you can contact John directly at johnnydaly007@gmail.com.
