John Winsor, of Victors & Spoils, spoke at the New Business Conference, April 12 - 14 in New York: www.NewBusinessConference.com. We caught up with him to talk about his new crowdsourcing agency start up.

MIRREN: Victors & Spoils is focused on crowdsourcing. Given this is so new, could you describe the services you provide to your clients. In fact, could you start by defining "crowdsourcing" for everyone.
WINSOR: Yes. Victors and Spoils is an advertising agency based on crowdsourcing principles. Crowdsourcing is commonly defined as the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and giving them to a group of people or community, through an "open call" asking for contributions. Hence provide all of the services that a traditional agency does, from brand strategy to creating TV spots and branded digital tools.

MIRREN: What is one of the most effective crowdsourcing efforts you've seen? Does it really work?
WINSOR: I think you only have to look at this year's Super Bowl to see a huge change in the way advertising is being done. Doritos and Career Builder both crowdsourced their ads from a crowd of consumers while Google turned to an internal team. The Doritos and Google ads received some of the highest marks yet cut agencies out. I think you'll see more of that.

MIRREN: You recently left a very senior position at Crispin Porter & Bogusky to start Victors & Spoils. What prompted you to make the leap? And, to make the leap to a new (and unproven) service offering?
WINSOR: CP+B was actually my first job. Well, my second. I had a job for a year right out of college before I started my first company. I loved CP+B. Alex taught me a lot, but once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. I took the leap because in my view the business of marketing and advertising is in the midst of a massive cultural shift. While crowdsourcing is certainly the buzzword of the moment, there's actually a much bigger and deeper change going on with the way work gets done that is changing not only marketing but many other industries, as well. Our world is moving from one of scarcity to a world of abundance.

To me, there are three disruptive forces, the expectation of transparency, the further digitization of the workforce and the rise of the curator class all coupled with the current macro-economic conditions that have changed the world of marketing forever. I also believe that the tools built in the age of scarcity don't work well in the new age of abundance. And, building these tools got me excited to make the jump and start Victors and Spoils with my partners, Claudia Batten and Evan Fry.

MIRREN: What is your business model? How do you charge your clients?
WINSOR: We're a bit of a hybrid. Companies need an alternative to both current ad agencies as well as current crowdsourcing platforms. One that offers the strategic direction, engagement and relationship management that agencies deliver today, but one that also delivers the engagement, cultural relevance, results and return on investment that crowdsourcing (if managed and directed well) can deliver.

MIRREN: Coming from a rather large agency to a very small operation, what do you find most challenging? Most exciting?
WINSOR: This is the 4th company I've started and the 8th I've been a founding investor in. So, I feel a lot more comfortable on the sharp end rather than working in a bigger company. While CP+B was great, it was time for me to get back to my roots and start another company. That's what I love to do.

MIRREN: You recently co-wrote the book Baked-In with Alex Bogusky. What is the most important point readers should take away from the book? How are sales looking?
WINSOR: It was a really fun project. I love doing stuff with Alex. We both view risk in a similar way. Sales of the book are going well. The book is in it's third printing. I think the most important point in the book is the reminder to eliminate the silos between marketing and product design. Here's a snippet: For many organizations, it's not that they lack great innovative ideas, or even the will to be innovative; rather, the internal silos and deadening process become roadblocks. These organizations create processes that become too institutionalized, too specialized, and eventually form rigid foundations that support silos. Marketing can't talk to finance. Finance can't talk to product design. Those days are gone. You've got to knock down the walls and get everyone collaborating.

MIRREN: Bogusky talks about how insane you are with outdoor adventure sports. Any good stories of late to share?
WINSOR: Well, that was nice of him. But, I don't know if insanity is a good thing. I continue to rock climb big routes and ski new lines. This winter I've been pretty obsessed with skiing. That obsession has put me in the position to take a couple of rides in avalanches. Both were scary. But fortunately, no one was hurt. It's a good reminder that there's something bigger going on in the world and that the actions you take can have serious consequences. It's so easy to live unconsciously in our modern world, not really realizing the potential consequences of our actions. Climbing a hard route that has fall potential or big mountain skiing in tricky terrain with lots of 20 to 50 foot cliffs to figure out brings everything into focus for me. Weirdly, these experiences tend to relax me.

MIRREN: Thanks John... look forward to seeing you at the conference!

John Winsor is a Guest Speaker at the 2010 Mirren New Business Conference.
www.NewBusinessConference.com

John can be contact at Victors and Spoils
www.victorsandspoils.com