Justyn Howard

Justyn Russell “J.R.” Howard is known to poker viewers for his appearances on Hustler Casino Live. A technology entrepreneur, he co-founded Sprout Social in 2010 and, after serving as CEO, became its executive chair in October 2024.

Howard grew up in Northern California. At age seven, he sold mistletoe; as a teenager, he taught himself to program and took on paid programming work. Before launching Sprout, he worked in enterprise software sales, including at Learn.com, a learning management software provider.

A double date helped bring Sprout’s founding team together. In spring 2009, Howard and future co-founder Aaron Rankin were introduced by their wives at Chicago’s Violet Hour, where they bonded over whisky and software. Sprout’s social media management business grew out of Howard’s frustration with the lack of tools for his own sales work.

He rang the Nasdaq Opening Bell on December 13, 2019, when Sprout became a public company. He is also a named co-inventor of a U.S. patent for determining social media posting times. In 2017, Glassdoor ranked him No. 1 among U.S. CEOs of small and medium-sized companies.