America's highest-paid CEO shares what his first design taught him about success

You could describe GoPro's first camera as clunky at best, but Nick Woodman, the highest-paid CEO in the US in 2014, according to Bloomberg, believes his first design offers an important lesson about success.

A far cry from today's compact designs, the GoPro Hero was a 35mm, waterproof film camera released in 2004 for just $19.99. Today's GoPros sell for closer to $300.

"But that said, that wonderful brick got us where we are today," Woodman said during his Reddit AMA last month.

"GoPro's early days are a great lesson [about] the potential of a humble beginning," Woodman continued. "You don't have to start of with a bang or a big idea - you just have to start. And then stick with it."

GoPro's humble beginnings include a five-month-long surfing trip on which Woodman documented his adventures with a waterproof camera and some rubber bands. His company eventually went from selling camera straps with eight employees to creating and selling its own cameras and mounts. The company now employs more than 800 people and is a publicly traded company.