Greg Selkoe

CEO and Founder of Karmaloop

Karmaloop.com and Karmaloop TV.com

Greg Selkoe is the Founder and CEO of Karmaloop.com, one of the world’s largest and most-respected online retailers of “streetwear” (footwear, apparel and accessories). The company is a natural extension of his lifelong interest in “global concrete culture” – fashion, graffiti, hip-hop and electronic music, street art, and breakdancing (the latter remains a hobby to this day). 

Greg founded Karmaloop in 2000 at the age of 25, following three years as an urban planner for the City of Boston. Soon afterwards, he entered Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, completing a Master’s Degree in Public Policy in 2005. When the company began, Selkoe had no retail or business experience, and Karmaloop was run out of the basement of his parents’ Boston home. 

Since those early days, under Selkoe’s leadership Karmaloop.com has experienced consistent and, more recently, explosive growth on its way to becoming a hugely successful, multi-platform e-commerce site, lifestyle network and a global epicenter for “verge culture” (fashion- and tech-savvy 18-34 year-olds known as the first generation to “grow up on the internet”). Karmaloop.com posted 2010 revenues of $72 million and has projected 2011 revenues of $130 million. 

Karmaloop.com, which receives 4.5 million unique monthly visitors, sells over 500 men’s and women’s brands to a loyal customer base spanning 45 countries. The company utilizes its 85,000-member global Karmaloop Rep Program – the “Street Team” – to drive 20% of the company’s sales and build brand loyalty with exclusive word-of-mouth discounts. Through these avenues and others, Karmaloop engages with millions of young people via social media each month. Karmaloop, Inc. owns and operates Karmaloop.com, KarmaloopTV.com, PLNDR.com, Kazbah Underground Brands, Boylston Trading Company, and owns 11 private label clothing brands. 

The Karmaloop family also includes Karmaloop TV, which is planning to launch as a multi-platform 24/7 television network with major cable and satellite providers in 2012. Karmaloop TV is helmed by President Katie McEnroe – formerly President of Television & Digital Networks at Lionsgate Entertainment and President of AMC – and its executive roster includes Grammy-winning musician and entrepreneur, Pharrell Williams, who serves as Creative Director. Karmaloop TV’s current multi-platform broadband programming network – KarmaloopTV.com – was launched in 2008 and is projected to receive 40 million views in 2011. 

Greg Selkoe’s unwavering dedication to building community, fostering culture, and driving innovation has not only led to the success of Karmaloop.com and Karmaloop TV, but also fuels and informs contributions he makes to a wide variety of philanthropic organizations. Greg sits on the board of the Kanye West Foundation, works with the Boston Public Health Commission on its youth anti-violence programs, and during the 2008 presidential campaign was a spokesperson for Vote for Change and helped to register young voters in partnership with Declare Yourself. He is the founder of the Future Boston Alliance – a group dedicated to improving cultural life in Boston and retaining local creative talent – and is involved in organizations including: Kidult Youth Conference; Youth Design; the Boston Ballet; Friends of the Public Garden; the Emerald Necklace Conservancy; the Institute of Contemporary Art; the Museum of Fine Arts; the Animal Rescue League; and UNICEF. In 2008, Greg was invited to the White House as one of America’s “Top 35 Entrepreneurs Under 35.” 

Selkoe is one of the nation’s leading experts on youth marketing, culture, retailing and social networking trends. He has appeared as a guest on TV networks including Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC and Bloomberg Television, and he and Karmaloop.com have been featured in high-profile national print media such as USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur, among many others. Greg has been a featured blogger for the Huffington Post since early 2010. 

In addition to his Master’s in Public Policy from The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Selkoe holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Rollins College in Florida. 

 

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