Marc Ecko: Bringing Creativity to Scale

Policy Punchline

Dr. Marc Ecko is a serial entrepreneur who has been one of the influential figures of the early 2000s in shaping culture, especially around hip-hop and streetwear. His brand — Ecko Unltd. — amalgamated the cultural elements of hip-hop with Dr. Ecko’s own fashion vision to create a worldwide brand with over a billion dollars in revenue. He then went on to found Complex magazine, one of the foremost media outlets for fashion, hip-hop, sports and popular culture today. Complex has roughly 100 million unique visitors per month and is considered one of the premier media companies, particularly in the digital space. Now, Dr. Ecko is involved with several philanthropic ventures, such as through his role at the XQ Institute, which is dedicated to improving high school education across the country, and the Emerson Collective, an impact investing organization dedicated to reform in the United States and abroad. In this episode, we discuss Dr. Ecko’s journey and how he preserved his own creative vision at scale, while also building a business that can truly shape American culture. For more insights from Dr. Ecko, read his book Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out.