I recently went one on one with serial entrepreneur with Jason Brown, CEO of Family Central.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?  

Jason: I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA in a traditional Jewish household. We were a family of founders, long before the concept of entrepreneurship existed. My parents owned several businesses in their life. When I was a teen, we moved to Miami Beach and I graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School. After graduation, I moved to Boulder, CO to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder. I traveled to Mexico and discovered an incredible Mexican shirt—a jerga. I bought them for $2.50 a piece and brought them back to college. I sold them for $12.50, selling out in 5 days. That was the beginning of my first company, Cotton Comfort. I didn’t return to college and never looked back.  

I got to where I am today—building my 10th startup—because I learned to trust the individuals I hire. I hire smart by finding people who can change and evolve in their roles.  

I learned over time that I don’t fire quick enough. I’ve always given people more time and assume the best will come out in them, but sometimes it’s not the right fit. If there’s someone who is not living up to expectations, it’s important to let them go so other team members can do their jobs better.  

Adam: How did you come up with your business ideas? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?  

Jason: One thing that’s been at the core of every company I created is passion. It’s incredibly important that your idea is also your passion because it will become a focus in your life. If you don’t have a passionate reason to build something, then you’ll run astray, and you’ll only be in it for the money.  

When I created Cotton Comfort, cotton clothing was important for me when the world was wearing polyester. For another startup Persona Nutrition, personalized nutrition was important to me when I saw health-conscious consumers stocking their medicine cabinets with multiple vitamin bottles that were made for the masses and not customized for their own body, lifestyle and medication use. Today, I’m passionate about leaving a legacy for my family and giving my family space they need to celebrate my life instead of being caught up in the stressful details of my passing. That’s the motivation behind my 10th startup, Family Central.  

In the end, you need to trust your heart and think how you can make something better in your life.  

Adam: How did you know your business ideas were worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?  

Jason: Take a quiet trip alone for 1-5 days to really think about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you’re going to implement the idea. You need time to visualize success. Then, surround yourself with the best people possible to help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of what you’re doing.  

I knew my business ideas were worth pursuing when I was able to get a team to rally around them. If I call trusted colleagues to tell them about the idea and they say, “hey, that’s a great idea,” it shows me that people are willing to work for a company for limited money, which is what’s needed in the early stages of a startup. When having these initial conversations, it’s important to listen closely to what others have to say about the idea.  

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your businesses? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?  

Jason: I realized growth consumes cash. Entrepreneurs always think when they sell more, they’ll have more cash flow, but what happens is that they need to buy more in advance and the lead time of manufacturing gets greater, so they end up needing more cash to service that growth. This has happened at every company I’ve started.  

You need to test, test, and retest. Build a model of what you’re developing, test it with an initial group of people. Take their feedback and build it again. Keep testing. 

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?  

Jason: First, hire professionals that know how to market and sell your product or service. They can be employees or external consultants, but they need to be experts in the field of marketing.  

Another tip—always have a gross profit margin greater than 65% so you can spend the money on marketing. If you don’t make a material gross profit margin, you’re not going to make it up in the end. You’ll still have cashflow issues, marketing issues, and so it’s best to sell at the highest value possible, but with a material gross profit margin from the start. As your volume increases, other costs will go up, not down, so you want the dry powder necessary to grow the company geometrically.  

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level? Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?  

Jason: The best leaders are the ones who listen to the professionals they hire but lead with definitive direction. At the end of the day there needs to be one person’s hands on the wheel.   

The book, “The One Minute Manager,” by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. and Spencer Johnson, M.D. has made a significant impact on me as a leader. I weave its teachings into my leadership style and give a copy of the book to all employees, so there’s a mutual understanding of my leadership style up front and how I’d like them to incorporate some of the tips into their style too. This has worked well over the years to keep meetings tight and communication to-the-point, so team members can keep working toward our shared goals.  

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?  

Jason: I live by these principles in my personal and professional lives, and feel they stand the test of time.  

1. Always state the truth.  

2. Give your word. 

3. When you give your word—keep it. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?  

Jason: Have an agenda before a meeting. Never meet without one. I learned this advice the hard way when I booked a meeting to potentially work with an influential CEO for my first startup, Cotton Comfort. At the beginning of the meeting, I opened the floor asking what he’d like to accomplish with me and received immediate backlash. He told me that if I ever try to book a meeting with him again without a clear agenda, it’ll be the last meeting we have. I quickly jotted down my thoughts, and we continued with the meeting. But that moment stuck with me. To this day, I come to all meetings with specific agenda points.   

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Jason: Retire when you have enough money—don’t start your 10th company. I’m only joking!


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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