Entrepreneur, Inventor and Visionary.
Wendell Brown
Wendell Brown is an American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and inventor, known for his innovations in telecommunications and internet technology, computer security, smartphone app development, and the Internet of Things. Brown has founded several notable technology companies, including Teleo, LiveOps, and eVoice.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 1961 Oneonta, New York |
| Nationality | United States |
| Educated in | Cornell University |
| Occupation | Inventor and entrepreneur |
| Known for | Teleo LiveOps eVoice |
Entrepreneur
Brown is considered a pioneer of the informal economy and the work-at-home virtual workforce industry, having co-founded LiveOps as its president and chief technology officer in 2002. LiveOps designs call center and social media management solutions for companies such as Coca Cola, Pizza Hut, and eBay. As of July 2016, LiveOps hired the world’s largest staff of call agents working from home, with more than 20,000 workers, and its cloud platform had processed more than a billion minutes of customer service interactions.
In 2015, Brown founded the cybersecurity company Averon, which develops frictionless identity verification solutions based on mobile technologies. Averon presented its cybersecurity solution concept on the main stage of the TED Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in March 2016. Telefónica has announced a technological alliance with Averon.
In 2011, Brown co-founded Nularis, a developer of high-efficiency LED lighting technology that supplies global franchises, including Hyatt Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
In 2006, Brown co-founded Teleo, an early competitor to Skype, where he created VoIP applications that allow users to make and receive phone calls over the Internet. Teleo was acquired by Microsoft and became part of the Microsoft MSN group in 2006.
As co-founder and president of eVoice, Brown created the eVoice voicemail platform in 2000, the world’s first large-scale Internet-enabled voicemail system. He invented techniques such as voicemail-to-email, visual voicemail, and improved caller ID, innovations that are considered to be some of the first “apps” and were later implemented by Google Voice and Apple. eVoice provided voicemail solutions to AT&T, MCI, AOL and regional telephone companies. eVoice was acquired by AOL Time-Warner in 2001 and became part of AOL’s voice services group.
In 2002, Brown was recognized by MicroTimes technology magazine as one of the top 100 executives in the U.S. computer industry.
As a Silicon Valley angel investor, Brown has helped raise funds for major startups such as Appeo, ADISN, MOEO, and IronPort, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2007 for $830 million.
Software Developer
As one of the first creators of cybersecurity software, Brown founded WalkSoftly in 1996, which launched the first mass-market PC cybersecurity programs. In 1997, Brown developed WalkSoftly’s innovative Internet security suite called Guard Dog, which was recognized by the Software Publishers Association as one of the 4 most innovative security products of the 1990s, and noted by PC Data as one of the top 10 best-selling retail security software products of all time. WalkSoftly was acquired by CyberMedia Inc. in 1997.
Brown founded Hippopotamus Software in the 1980s, one of the first software developers for the Apple Macintosh. Brown’s Hippo-C C compiler was a leading software development environment for Mac and Atari ST computer systems.
Brown is known among fans of classic video games for his design and programming for Imagic of several best-selling games, including Star Wars for ColecoVision, Beauty and the Beast, Nova Explosion, and Moonsweeper for Mattel Intellivision.
In the mid-1980s, Brown developed ADAP SoundRack, a pioneering direct-to-disc audio recording system, which replaced the traditional method of sound editing by splicing tapes. ADAP was used to create and edit soundtracks for Hollywood films and television shows, including Born on the Fourth of July, Darling, I Shrunk the Kids, Die Hard, The Cosby Show, Falcon Crest, and the pilot episode of Beverly Hills 90210. ADAP was used for the recording of artists such as Peter Gabriel, Fleetwood Mac, The Pointer Sisters, Mötley Crüe, David Bowie and Natalie Cole, among others. Using his ADAP technology, Brown provided consulting on sound projects for The Walt Disney Company and Toshiba, and later worked as a telecommunications cryptography expert for National Semiconductor, helping to develop hardware implementations of DS3 algorithms.
Steve Jobs with Brown during the launch of Hippo-C software for Macintosh, developed by Brown, in January 1984.
Inventor
In January 2012, the World Economic Forum in Davos recognized Brown’s inventions in energy efficiency, nominating him for the Technology Pioneer Award. Brown’s innovations in smartphone applications won the CTIA Smartphone Emerging Technology Award in May 2012. Brown’s telecommunications technologies have been used to connect more than a billion minutes of phone calls and are used in millions of voicemail accounts.
Brown has created dozens of patented inventions in the U.S. and other countries, in the fields of cybersecurity, telecommunications, mobile phone apps, virtual workforce, electric vehicles, LED lighting, 3D cameras, renewable fuels, and online music distribution.
In 2008, Brown invented WebDiet, a method that uses mobile phones to count food consumption to improve health. The WebDiet app was recognized as the first to count calories and automate meal orientation.
Early Years and Education
Brown grew up in Oneonta, New York, where he graduated from Oneonta High School. While in high school, Brown began programming and selling personal computer systems, and published his first article on computer science in Byte (magazine). In 2013, he was honored with a permanent plaque on the Oneonta High School Wall of Distinction for his achievements in business and technology.
Brown graduated from Cornell University in 1982, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. While at Cornell, he was awarded a Bachelor of Science scholarship from Hughes Aircraft.
Philanthropy
Brown’s philanthropic commitments include endowing a named scholarship at Soka University of America (Aliso Viejo, California), supporting the Aeronautical Safety Laboratory and Embry-Riddle’s Aeronautical University library, and privately sponsoring South American students in need.
He is a long-time contributor to the Human Rights Campaign for the advancement of LGBT civil rights, and to global Jewish service organizations.
Private life
Brown speaking at TIME in New York City, 2012.
Brown is a speaker, technology juror, and advisor to various communities, including the Israel Conference, the World Economic Forum, TED (conference), Google and MIT Hackathons, Digital Life Design Munich and DLD Tel Aviv Conferences, the Dublin Web Summit, TechCrunch, CTIA – The Wireless Association, AlwaysOn (“Networking the Global Silicon Valley”), El Financiero (Bloomberg), the Mita Institute Tech Talks.
Brown is a member of the Progressive X Price advisory committee for automotive innovation, including the development of new fuel and electric car technologies, an advisor to the MITA Institute Venture Fund, and an advisor to Gener8, a stereoscopic 3D film company, with film credits including The Amazing Spider-Man and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Brown is a licensed private pilot and is active in the development of new designs for aircraft, rockets and electric vehicles.
References
- “Learn About the History of LiveOps”. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “Customers”. October 16, 2012.
- “Liveops Cloud”. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “Agents on Demand”. November 12, 2015. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “About Averon”. averon.com.
- «Machines that learn: A recap of Session 3». November 1, 2016.
- Lomas, Natasha. “Wayra U.K. adds six more startups to its mentoring program”.
- «Management.html”. nularis.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- «Start-up gets backing of e-mail pioneers».
- “Microsoft Acquires Teleo, Innovative VoIP Technology Company – News Center”.
- “Start-up Aims to Speed Internet Messaging”.
- “Software Services Applications Internet Social/6062033-1.html”.
- “Voice messaging system”.
- “Evoice”. virtualpbxcompare.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013.
- “Wendell Brown: Executive Profile & Biography – Businessweek”. investing.businessweek.com.
- “iPhone app gleans healthy grub nearby”. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “MOEO – Vator Profile”. vator.tv. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “Cisco to Acquire IronPort”. Epoch News. PESource. January 4, 2007. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
- Keith Regan (January 4, 2007). “Cisco buys IronPort for $830 Million”. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- “B2B Database of Detailed & Accurate Contact Information – ZoomInfo”.
- “ColecoVision.dk presents: Moonsweeper © 1983 by: Imagic Interactive Entertainment.”
- “Intellivision World :: Official Intellivision FAQ 7.0”.
- “Intellivision Classic Video Game System / Imagic for Intellivision”. Archived from the original on 8 December 2006. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “Hippo-C creator Wendell Brown’s new ADAP SoundRack”. Mac Publishing. August 1988. p. 17.
- “Hippo-C creator Wendell Brown’s new ADAP SoundRack”. Mac Publishing. August 1988. p. 18.
- “Wendell Brown – Advisor @ Crowdfunder – CrunchBase”.
- “wendell brown – Google Search”.
- “DEMOfall 08: WebDiet uses cell phones to help count calories”.
- “Oneonta High Alumni Association”.
- “Cornell Club Steaks and Startups”. Cornell Club of Los Angeles. September 22, 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- “Oneonta’s Own Wendell Brown”. The Oneonta Star. March 2001. p. 7.
- “Oneonta’s Own Wendell Brown”. The Oneonta Star. March 2001. p. 8.
- “Oneonta’s Own Wendell Brown”. The Oneonta Star. March 2001. p. 8.
- “Daren Riley and Wendell Brown of APPEO”.
- “The World Economic Forum”.
- “TED: Ideas worth spreading”.
- “Hacking Generation and Official”.
- “DLD Conference: Digital-Life-Design”.
- “Attendees 2014”. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “CTIA – Everything Wireless”.
- “About AO”. Always On. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
- “Web TV, better investment than network: Wendell Brown”. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- “Wendell Brown/”. mitainstitute.com. (dead link available on the Internet Archive; see history, first and last version).
- “Advisors”. progressiveautoxprize.org. Archived from the original on January 14, 2011.