Fancy Feet These custom-made shoes have personality-in billions of ways.

Dave Ward is an extremist. But in his line of work, the moreextreme, the better. As CEO of Customatix.com, an online shoemanufacturer that allows footwear fans to design their ownsneakers, Ward and co-founders Irmi Kreuzer, Mikal Peveto and DavidSolk are using their Nike and Adidas backgrounds to bringcustomization to the masses.

Based in Santa Cruz, California, Customatix allows customers tolog on and choose from billions of colors, materials, graphics andlogos to create their own online portfolios of designs. Theblueprints are then transmitted to the company's factory inChina, where the shoes are manufactured and shipped to thedesigner's doorsteps within two weeks. The shoes retail for $70to $100 per pair, which includes import duty and delivery charges.Says Ward, "The biggest problem we have is, people don'tbelieve we can do what we do."

When you look at the history of Customatix, however, itdoesn't seem so unbelievable. Ward and his co-founders had kepta careful eye on the customization trend that was picking up steamin the late '90s, and by the time they launched Customatix in1999, things just fell into place. "[Customization] seemed tobe talked about a lot," says Ward, but the door was wide openfor an online venture like Customatix. "We felt with ourbackgrounds, especially on the manufacturing and logistics side,that we had the expertise to get [the job] done."

The advent of the Internet was also key. If the Internet allowsconsumers to talk directly to the brand, Ward reasoned, then whynot let consumers tell you exactly what they want in an extremeform?

That "extreme form" allowed the Customatix crew topour millions into development of their Web site. And while theironline business is still very small, it's growing quickly. Wardis also eager to expand into B2B, by serving the corporatepromotions industry; Microsoft has already purchased customfootwear. Says Ward, "We do take it to an extreme."