Revenue’s Howard Brown Offers Startup Advice on Entrepreneur on Fire

What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur? This is the question Entrepreneur on Fire – or EOFire, as it’s known to fans – seeks to answer in its ongoing series of interviews with business leaders. Past guests have included marketing guru Seth Godin, Nimble’s Jon Ferrara and Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran. In the most recent episode, Revenue.io Founder and CEO Howard Brown sat down with host John Lee Dumas to share Revenue.io’s story and offer insights to fellow entrepreneurs acquired during his more-than-14-year journey as a business owner and consultant.

The interview kicks off with Howard relating stories from his early career in healthcare. “I realized I was a problem solver. I was on the right path. Trouble was, while I enjoyed helping people, I wanted to help them in a bigger way.”

Howard tells the story of founding his first startup, 4therapy, which he eventually sold to CRC Health (a Bain Capital company) before going on to serve as the company’s VP of Marketing. He then founded Senior Transitions, which he sold to RealPage, as well as a marketing consultancy, DemandResults. Revenue.io is the culmination of his journey as a marketer and consultant.

“I think of telecom as the commodity and all of the data that exists as what’s truly valuable to the company and the consumers,” he explains. “We want our problems solved and we want it to happen quickly. With Revenue.io, the consumer gets the right person and the company gets the right data.”

Revenue.io Founder and CEO Howard Brown uses an cool old-school handset to take a call on his iPad

Howard’s entrepreneurial philosophy is one of perpetual motion. “The difference between success and failure is movement.” And while he acknowledges that every day presents new opportunities to stop short, he challenges all entrepreneurs to constantly put one foot in front of the other. “There are people who stand and spin, they tend to think they’re actually moving, but they’re moving like a top and not going anywhere.”

But by persevering and staying true to course, he believes that no problem is too big to solve. “If you have a goal in your mind and you believe it in your heart and soul, then follow that dream to the end.”

Listen to Howard Brown’s entire interview on Entrepreneur on Fire.