Remember those clumsy-looking shoes called Crocs that became a fashion phenomenon because they were comfortable? Backjoy Orthotics LLC hopes to follow the same path to success with its pain-relieving cushions that share the Crocs’ clunky look.

Bing Howenstein, chief executive of Valencia-based Backjoy, has even partnered with four former Crocs execs to help sell his product worldwide.

“They had an ugly, odd-looking shoe, and I have a weird back cushion that’s not soft,” Howenstein said. “There are similarities in creating a brand and a global market for these products.”

Backjoy was ranked No. 1 on the Business Journal’s 2010 directory of fastest-growing private companies with a revenue increase of 677 percent from 2007 to 2009. Last year’s revenue grew 100 percent to more than $11 million. The company plans to keep up its growth by going into 15 more countries this year, including Mexico, Israel, South Korea and Singapore.

But Anthony Raissen, president at InterQuantum, an Encino marketing agency that specializes in moving products from TV sales into stores, said the cushions face a challenge because they are bulky and their benefit isn’t obvious to casual shoppers.

“The packaging needs to explain to consumers why they can’t live without it,” Raissen said.

Meanwhile, globalization has spread Howenstein’s workday across multiple time zones.

“I used to think I that worked a lot as an entrepreneur,” he said. “But now my clock just became 24 hours.”