Matt Watson scales third startup to exit; shifting full capacity to his tech services company

July 8, 2024  |  Nikki Overfelt Chifalu

Matt Watson, At Capacity, Full Scale

At Capacity is returning to the company where it all began; the SaaS platform recently sold to CAMP Digital, co-founder and serial entrepreneur Matt Watson confirmed.

Details of the sale were not disclosed, but the exit comes just 16 months after Watson and Meg Stapleton launched At Capacity.

Click here to read more about the exit.

Matt Watson, At Capacity, Full Scale

The catalyst for At Capacity — a smart advertising platform geared toward small business owners who offer home services like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work — was developed when Watson joined Edina, Minnesota-based CAMP Digital in May 2022 as its EVP of Software Development and worked alongside Stapleton. 

“This was a great example of working with an existing company that has ideas but they don’t have the ability to execute on them internally,” Watson explained. “Meg and I were able to partner with CAMP Digital to take their idea and get it to market. We were so successful at it that they decided to buy the company back to keep it as their own strategic advantage in the market.”

“More entrepreneurs should look to partner with existing corporations to help them take their ideas and bring them to market,” he added.

From the archives: Serial entrepreneur jumps back into the founder seat with smart online advertising platform

The sale marks the third startup exit for Watson, who is also the co-founder of Full Scale and host of the Startup Hustle podcast. Following the $147 million sale of VinSolutions in 2011, he sold his second venture — the APM solutions startup Stackify LLC — to privately owned Huntington Beach, California-based Netreo in 2021.

Editor’s note: Full Scale is a financial supporter of Startland News. Matt Watson is expected to be featured at Startland News’ next Innovation Exchange event — July 17 at Plexpod Flashcube — as part of a conversation on entrepreneurial expertise. Click here to register.

“It is hard to believe, honestly,” Watson noted. “Successfully creating any kind of tech company is hard. Somehow I have started and exited three SaaS companies, plus I own Full Scale which is doing great with 300 employees.”

The biggest difference [with At Capacity] was the short timeframe,” he continued, noting the short but productive interlude between its founding and sale.

Watson plans to remain involved in assisting the CAMP Digital team with the At Capacity product, he said, but his primary focus will be on Full Scale — a tech services company that helps client businesses build teams of software engineers.

“I started At Capacity before I knew I was going to buy out my business partner at Full Scale and become the CEO,” he explained.

RELATED: Serial entrepreneur Matt Watson completes strategic buy-out of Full Scale

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , , , , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2024 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        Overland Park startup nabs $100K from Steve Harvey’s ABC show

        By Tommy Felts | August 25, 2017

        As if the national exposure wasn’t enough, local entrepreneur Hilary Philgreen walked away from “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome” on ABC with a $100,000 prize. The show, which aired Sunday, allows inventors to compete for cash to help accelerate their businesses. Overland Park-based StinkBOSS is a solution for everyday odor, eliminating bacteria using ozone technology. Designed for…

        SoftBank invests $4.4 billion in WeWork

        By Tommy Felts | August 25, 2017

        Global coworking giant WeWork recently raked in a massive investment from SoftBank. The Tokyo-based conglomerate and its $93-billion Vision Fund has injected $4.4 billion into WeWork, which has 23 coworking spaces in the United States — including a shared, 40,000- square-foot workspace in Kansas City in the Crossroads Arts District — and more than 27…

        UMKC hatchling Artist INC takes on new ownership, regional expansion

        By Tommy Felts | August 25, 2017

        Artist INC, a program supporting hundreds of Kansas City artists, announced Thursday that it has new ownership and will further expand in the region. Formerly a program of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Innovation Center, Artist INC is now housed and fully supported by the Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA). A regional arts nonprofit, M-AAA serves…

        E-Scholars grad Heidi Van pushes boundaries with ‘nomadic theater’

        By Tommy Felts | August 24, 2017

        Obstacles along the path to success are often produced in the minds of the creative people themselves, Heidi Van said. “These obstacles are created from self-doubt,” said Van, Fishtank Theatre founder and artistic director. “If you actually looked closer and broke it down into action items, you could probably make a couple of phone calls…