Movers & Shakers: Brett Brohl, Boom Boom Prints

A look at the people behind the numbers in area business:

Title: CEO

Age: 33

Brett Brohl, CEO of BoomBoom Prints, is working to secure additional financing for the Minneapolis-based online marketplace, which offers customizable wall art, clothing and other baby and nursery products.

Brohl, a serial entrepreneur who has started and sold other online niche marketplaces, co-founded BoomBoom Prints in July, in part to solve a problem he and his wife had in finding art that would match the paint in their young son's room.

The company's goal this year is to show month-to-month growth in revenue and repeat visitors to the site, boomboomprints.com, Brohl said.

The hope is that would help attract additional investor capital, to step up sales and marketing and support design resources, Brohl said.

The company likens its marketplace to a mashup of Etsy, Pinterest and Cafe Press. Shoppers choose products ranging from bibs to wall prints to tote bags and can customize colors and add names to many of the items.

Artists upload their work, at no charge, retain ownership and creative control and set their own prices, Brohl said. Each receives a BoomBoom Prints page that serves as a store to promote their work to friends, family and on social networks.

Brohl, who has an MBA from the University of Virginia, said his previous ventures included Scrubadoo, an online marketplace that sold health care scrubs.

Q: What do you think appealed to your seed capital investors?

A: They could see the potential, they understand the idea and they like that it's a marketplace and is not just an e-commerce store. We have a good team in place, and I had built and exited a company.

A: I like that my own destiny is resting in my hands. I worked for a really big bank, 40,000 employees. I enjoyed that. But truly controlling my own destiny, I love that feeling.

Q: What additions are you planning to the site?

A: Our developers are working on a new piece of software, which we're calling our inspirations portal. It will be taking the artwork and putting it into rooms. The goal is to bring curators in to create collections and room inspirations.