Matt Watson scales third startup to exit; shifting full capacity to his tech services company
July 8, 2024 | Nikki Overfelt Chifalu
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.
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
Featured Business
2024 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Kansas City ESO icon Maria Meyers championed for bringing SourceLink to the world stage
A decades-long effort to grow inclusive entrepreneurial communities by strengthening access to critical resources began as a grassroots movement in Kansas City, said Maria Meyers, whose work recently earned her global recognition — and a rare honor in recent years for an American recipient. Meyers, the founder of SourceLink — a first-of-its-kind platform boasting more…
How this startup founder earned $200K in unrestricted, trust-based funding to transform KC’s relationship to food
Long-term community change comes one meal at a time, acknowledged one of Attane Health’s biggest supporters, reflecting on the Kansas City startup’s growth from the “spark of an idea to a full-fledged solution” — ultimately earning its founder a game-changing funding boost. The St. Louis-based Missouri Foundation for Health this month announced its inaugural Spark Prize…
Kauffman awards $5.8M funding pipeline to research how to close wealth gaps in KC, beyond
Eight newly announced research grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are expected to help catalyze research-based efforts aimed at growing equitable economic mobility in Kansas City, regionally, and nationally. More than $5.8 million in research funding will be disbursed over the next three years through this first round of grantmaking through Kauffman’s new research…
KC’s top emerging business is brewing more than just beer at 18th and Vine, owners say
Winning the Emerging Small Business Award is validation that Vine Street Brewing Co. — Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery — is tapped into what the community wants and needs, two of its owners said Tuesday. “It signifies we’re moving along with purpose and that we can really lean into our goals,” explained Annie McGinnis, co-owner and…