# Jim Howard

> Jim Howard is the co-founder and founding CEO of Crownpeak, established in 2001 to deliver web content management as a service. His earlier career included W3-design, USWeb/CKS and MarchFIRST. He later became an operating partner at Diversis Capital and CEO of Marketron, returning to Marketron’s board chair role in January 2024. Diversis currently lists him as a strategic advisor supporting enterprise software companies.

- **Role:** Board Chair at Marketron; Strategic Advisor at Diversis Capital
- **Organizations:** Crownpeak, Marketron, Diversis Capital, ServicePower, W3-design, USWeb/CKS, MarchFIRST, Amplify, Mucker Labs
- **Education:** Degree in Chemistry; minor in economics, University of Delaware
- **Known for:** Co-founded Crownpeak in 2001 and led its development as an early provider of web content management delivered as a service., Crownpeak won the 2014 CMS Critic Critics’ Choice Award for Best Cloud CMS for Enterprise during his tenure., Led Marketron as CEO from 2019 until the January 2024 leadership transition.

## Career timeline

- **1994** — Started his first web company, according to his retrospective account in the Los Angeles Business Journal.
- **1997** — Sold his early web business to USWeb with his partner; subsequently held roles at USWeb/CKS and MarchFIRST.
- **2001** — Co-founded Crownpeak and became its founding CEO.
- **2003** — Crownpeak received GSA certification, enabling government purchasing of its hosted content management service.
- **2010** — Crownpeak shifted its focus toward large enterprise customers, according to Howard’s later interview.
- **2016** — Crownpeak merged with ActiveStandards; Jim Yares became CEO and Howard became an advisor.
- **2019** — Marketron announced Howard as CEO on May 14, following his work as a Diversis operating partner.
- **2024** — Returned to Marketron’s board chair role when Jimshade Chaudhari became CEO in January.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Crownpeak in 2001 and led its development as an early provider of web content management delivered as a service.
- Crownpeak won the 2014 CMS Critic Critics’ Choice Award for Best Cloud CMS for Enterprise during his tenure.
- Led Marketron as CEO from 2019 until the January 2024 leadership transition.
- Has served as CEO of both Marketron and ServicePower for Diversis Capital.

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Jimshade Chaudhari succeeded Howard as Marketron CEO; Howard returned to the Board Chair role.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesrhoward

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jim-howard
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26