Mermoud: Unconventional products need immediate racing validation to avoid gimmick status
Nicolas Mermoud · HOKA: Jean-Luc Diard and Nicolas Mermoud. The “Clown Shoe” That Became a $2B Bonanza · Feb 2, 2026 · at 41:21
Hoka co-founder Nicolas Mermoud discusses how recruiting elite trail runners to race in Hoka's maximalist shoes overcame initial industry skepticism.
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“Because when you have something weird, which feels weird and looks weird, if you don't want it to be perceived as a gimmick, you need performance in racing validation, like almost immediately.”
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More from Nicolas Mermoud
Mermoud: French VCs would not have offered operational support like Deckers
“Any French VC or would never, not have brought that to the table.”
Mermoud: Hoka co-founders were 'lazy' and not serious runners before founding
“It's a legend that we were serious, enthusiastic runners before hockey. We were lazy because it was so hard and one step at a time compared to anything else we would do.”
Mermoud: Cushioning technology drove trail running's boom by protecting downhill runners
“I think it also beyond the running shoes, these new technologies created appetite for the sport of running. So the trail running is booming. It's amazing. It's a very fast growing sport today, but people are not afraid like before to run downhill. They don't c…”
Mermoud: Early Hoka prototypes cut downhill times by 10 seconds per minute
“We got like the, some timing. We started timing ourselves, and we were like 10 seconds off of a minute.”
Mermoud: Hoka prototypes secured their first race victory at Montagnard
“I could race one week later, and win something called Montagnard. Yeah. It was the first ever victory in the Hawkeyes.”
Mermoud: By July 2010, nervous competitors began buying up Hoka retail stock
“In, in the summer of 2010 very early summer, like around this month of July after we had delivered like about 3000 pairs of shoes. We knew that we needed to accelerate because there was nervousness because some shoes were getting shipped, especially by a coupl…”