CNBC recently caught up with Karmaloop.com’s CEO Greg Selkoe and Creative Director Pharrell to discuss the online clothing store’s plans to take its original web-based video content to cable and satellite TV. Selkoe explained how his modest side hustle grew out of his parents’ basement into a multi-million dollar industry.
“Basically, this is my passion,” Selkoe explained. “I thought I was going to be an urban planner, that’s what I did prior to starting Karmaloop. I went to the Kennedy School [at Harvard University] and got a masters in public policy. This whole business started in my parents basement and it’s become what it is today, but it was a side business when it started.”
Pharrell also discussed the idea behind taking Karmaloop’s widely popular online video program KarmaloopTV to cable networks. Skateboard P said that it’s a perfect example of the change the burgeoning “verge” youth culture is effecting in the modern world through ingenuity andf new digital mediums.
“It’s a natural progression [to take KarmaloopTV to cable],” he said. “I think it’s about time for the corporate world to sort of understand that these kids have a voice and they’re no longer going to wait for the older guys to figure it out. They’re going down to Silicon Valley and they’re the interns in these big captial companies…and software companies…They know what they want and it’s not a doubt. If you understand the space that you want to work in, then why don’t you want to go in there and make your life a lot easier?”
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He added, “What we’re trying to express with showcasing verge culture and all that it can do, it’s about illustrating to the world the incredible possibilities and the things that are in these children’s minds. The world is changing and it’s the youth culture that’s changing it.”
The full interview can be seen below.
