5 Questions with Krush’s CEO Phil Shalala -- My Exclusive Q&A

My latest exclusive “5 Questions” CEO Q&A is with Phil Shalala of Krush - a SoCal-based digital media company whom I met at the recent DEW Conference.  I judged Phil’s pitch at DEW’s Startup Competition and was impressed.  No wonder -- he has deep marketing and venture capital expertise -- a seasoned entrepreneur -- who, among other things, served as CMO of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for years in Las Vegas.

Krush is a social media marketplace focused on the lifestyle of action sports and the street-wear culture. The company’s platform enables emerging artists and brands to market their passion projects, utilize e-commerce, data and social media resources while binding the gap between personal identity and commerce.


Here we go ...

(1)  What is the reason your company exists?

Action sports and street-wear are multi-billion dollar industries with nascent tech. Krush exists to provide a platform to discover and purchase the brands and products in the space within a community of like-minded mobile users. This very defined and influential user does not currently have a platform that speaks their language. They are highly mobile and their mobile purchasing is growing rapidly. Additionally, the brands in this space have not adapted operationally to account for true monetization of data and social media. Krush exists to provide smarter tools during the brands creative cycle. For our user, Krush is a social commerce platform vertically focused around the products that influence their life. We are addressing a problem for a very influential user and the brands looking to innovate their process. (and what problem(s) are you looking to solve)?

(2)  How are you different from your competitors? 

We are vertically focused in Action sports, street-wear and the outdoor culture. We are not trying to be everything to everybody.  


(3)  Why will you succeed (and what is your single most important ingredient for success)?

We have multiple advantages in the space that gives us credibility. We know our customer and live the space with them. We have partnerships that will scale our user base and provide unique content. We are tapped in from the roots of a culture that allows us to adapt and create quickly. Because of this we have an ability to be first to the mobile market across multiple categories of content.  Success relies on a passionate and focused team.  Everyone needs to contribute to the vision and believe in our ability to disrupt. 

(4)  What makes you unique? (And what do you enjoy most outside of building your business?)

I’ve built many brands that represent the lifestyle of a user segment. I’ve had the privilege to work within very diverse teams inside fortune 500 brands as well as emerging brands that need to develop a market edge. I built retail, influenced marketing positioning in the beverage space, represented athletes, scaled a hospitality company, worked in casino gaming, created Day life, designed restaurants, music venues and hotels. I’m the customer first in everything I do. My vast experience creating, building and developing product that touches all aspects of a consumer’s mindset provides a different approach to building tech.  I don’t code, yet I have been tasked with solving daily challenges of building a multi billion-dollar enterprise. I get excited to use this experience inside a start up and believe we can move the needle faster. 

Outside of Krush, I try to live the message I deploy in business. Understand it- Live it- Enjoy it- if they don’t connect, time to find something else. I’m a Dad 1^st and I believe in active health, I enjoy the water and the mountains. Without our mental and physical health we have nothing. 

(5)  What digital media trend is most interesting to you (and what is the least)? 

I’ve been watching the wearable tech trend closely. It is interesting to see the user adoption across all the platforms and use cases. I think it’s here to stay and the data and metrics derived from the devices have multiple industry applications. I think wearable tech has only scratched the surface of commercial health care and education.  

The “like” to me is least impressive. It’s like paper money, it looks good, feels good but it doesn’t convert.