A new point of view: contour cameras revived in provo.

• Author: Springer, Alex
• Position: Techknowledge

In 2004, University of Washington classmates and avid skiers Marc Barros and Jason Green created a helmet-mounted camera for adrenaline junkies that could be used to capture and share action-sports videos. The Seattle-based company they subsequently formed, Contour, sold these sleek, easy-to-use, point-of-view (POV) cameras successfully for nearly a decade. By 2011, Contour had $27 million in sales and was considered one of America's fastest-growing private companies, according to Inc. magazine. But competition from rival POV camera company GoPro forced Contour to close its doors just a short time later in August 2013.

But that wasn't the end for these cameras.

Two months after the company shut down, Provo-based investment firm Clarke Capital Partners acquired Contour, moved it to Utah, appointed Danny Lysenko as CEO and brought Green back to the company as chief technology officer. Contour is now set to begin an aggressive marketing campaign to put its product back on the map. "It seemed like a really great challenge to revive the company and make it a great comeback story," Lysenko says.

Making a Comeback

Moving Contour to Utah required a bare-bones approach to the company's reorganization. "From a staffing perspective, it's starting from scratch. We've kept two people from the original company, but the rest we've had to hire and grow organically," Lysenko says.

Previous to joining Contour, Lysenko was the director of worldwide reseller operations at Apple. When Clarke Capital offered Lysenko the CEO position, he saw a chance to reinvent a product he loved in the state he loved. "We live in a beautiful state," Lysenko says. "There's skiing in the winter, hiking in the summer. If you look at what's available here, it's a perfect marriage between product and state:'

In addition to moving the company's headquarters, Contour has also gone through a complete financial overhaul. Company leaders reorganized plans for new product innovation and are working to build a framework for improved product distribution. The company is also focused on regaining market share through distributors across the globe.

Because POV cameras have become...