Companies start with a grassroots, viral marketing strategy, but Brendan Lynch and Sergio Salas have taken the idea one step further with their new surf-inspired, eco-friendly clothing company nvohk. The apparel brand, which is still in the design phase, is using a creative business model, known by a variety of names like crowdsourcing, crowdfounding, and community managed, that raises small amounts of money from a large group of members and allows them to shape the direction of the company.

Salas and Lynch met in 2005 in Pepperdine’s MBA program and launched nvohk in December of ‘07 through word of mouth and the projectnvohk.com Web site. They started by getting commitments from interested parties for $50 that would be submitted when the brand had enough momentum to launch a product line. Within two months 1,250 people had pledged support, and by the beginning of May, the tally was at 2,800 folks from more than 20 nations.

nvohk Co-founder Brendan Lynch

“nvohk is challenging the way brands are built and managed and testing the ‘wisdom of crowds’ on a whole new level,” says Lynch. “Before nvohk, consumers could only vote with their wallets, now they can participate in the development and management of the brand they wear. nvohk’s business model starts with member demand and word of mouth marketing baked in before products are even offered for sale.”

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