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and am requesting an uninvolved editor review and apply the following updates.

The current article is significantly out of date. Since its last major revision:

- Stackify was acquired by Netreo (April 2021), which was in turn acquired by BMC Software (April 2024)

- Watson co-founded Full Scale (2018), completed a buyout of his co-founder (December 2023), and serves as its sole CEO

- Watson co-founded and later sold At Capacity (2022–2024)

- Watson published the book Product Driven (2025)

All proposed text is below with independent sourcing. No PRNewswire sources are used.

Matthew Allan Watson (born July 7, 1981, in Oklahoma City) also known as Matt Watson, is an American serial entrepreneur and software executive based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. He is best known as co-founder and CTO of VinSolutions, a SaaS CRM platform for automotive dealerships that was acquired by AutoTrader.com in 2011 for $135 million.[1][2] Following that exit, Watson founded Stackify in January 2012, a developer-focused application performance management company that was acquired by Netreo in 2021.[3] Since December 2023, he serves as CEO of Full Scale, a technology staffing firm he co-founded in 2018 to help businesses build offshore software development teams in the Philippines.[4][5] He also hosts the ''Startup Hustle'' podcast and is the author of ''Product Driven'' (2025), a leadership book for engineering teams.[6][7]

Watson received a Bachelor of Science in computer information systems from DeVry University in 2009.[8]

== Early life and education ==

Watson was born on July 7, 1981, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and moved to the Kansas City area at age five.[9] He grew up in a family that operated flea market booths, an early exposure to small-scale entrepreneurship that Watson has credited with shaping his business philosophy—particularly his preference for building companies without external funding.[9] He began programming in his early teens, writing scripts for text-based online games, and traces an earlier interest in computers to childhood use of a Commodore 64.[10]

Watson enrolled at DeVry University around 2000 to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems. He interrupted his studies to work full-time as a software developer, completing the remaining coursework intermittently over several years and earning the degree in 2009.[11][8]

== Career ==

=== VinSolutions (2003–2011) ===

In 2003, Watson co-founded VinSolutions with non-technical co-founder Eric Steinhardt, building the company from the basement of his Kansas City home.[8][12] Conceived initially as a side project while Watson worked as a developer, the company addressed a gap in the automotive industry: dealerships struggled to upload vehicle inventory and photos to online platforms such as Autotrader.com and Cars.com.[12] Watson served as CTO and sole developer, building a database-driven platform for inventory management, photo syndication, and dealer CRM that evolved into a comprehensive lead management suite.[13][2]

VinSolutions was bootstrapped to approximately $35 million in annual recurring revenue without venture capital, relying on reinvested profits and credit card financing.[12] By the time of its sale the company employed approximately 250 people.[10] In June 2011, AutoTrader.com—then majority-owned by Cox Enterprises and later consolidated under the Cox Automotive brand—acquired VinSolutions for $135 million.[1][2] Watson remained through the earnout period and departed in early 2012.[12]

=== Stackify (2012–2021) ===

Watson founded Stackify in January 2012 in Leawood, Kansas, drawing on operational pain points from VinSolutions where his development team spent significant time troubleshooting production issues with inadequate monitoring tools.[11][14] Stackify's two primary products—Prefix, a lightweight desktop profiler for local development, and Retrace, a production-facing APM solution—were designed to provide developer-centric observability with minimal configuration across platforms including .NET, Java, PHP, Node.js, Python, and Ruby.[14][15] By 2017, Prefix had surpassed 10,000 users across 100 countries.[14]

In April 2021, Netreo, a California-based IT infrastructure management company, acquired Stackify in an undisclosed transaction that expanded Netreo's full-stack monitoring capabilities.[3] Watson subsequently served as CTO at Netreo. In April 2024, BMC Software announced an agreement to acquire Netreo, incorporating Stackify's technology into BMC's Helix observability platform.[16]

=== Full Scale (2018–present) ===

In 2018, amid difficulties hiring software engineers for Stackify, Watson co-founded Full Scale with entrepreneur Matt DeCoursey to provide outsourced software development teams staffed primarily with engineers in the Philippines.[5] Full Scale appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.[17][18]

On December 11, 2023, Watson completed a strategic buyout of DeCoursey, assuming full ownership and the CEO role.[4][5] At the time of the transaction, Full Scale employed more than 300 people globally, with operations in Kansas City, Kansas, and Cebu City, Philippines.[4] The Philippine operations, incorporated as Full Scale Teams PH, Inc., have been recognized with Great Place to Work Certification in the Philippines.[19]

=== At Capacity (2022–2024) ===

In 2022, Watson co-founded At Capacity with Meg Stapleton, launching the company in April 2023 as a SaaS advertising platform designed to help small home-services businesses (such as plumbers and HVAC contractors) manage online lead volume dynamically based on their available capacity.[20] Watson served as CEO and CTO. In July 2024, CAMP Digital acquired At Capacity after approximately 16 months of operation.[21]

== Other activities ==

=== Angel investing ===

Following the sale of VinSolutions, Watson launched the Watson Technology Group in 2012 as a vehicle for angel investing and mentorship of early-stage technology entrepreneurs, focusing on SaaS and B2B software companies.[8][22] Portfolio investments have included DivvyHQ, a Kansas City–based content planning platform in which Watson Technology Group participated as part of a 2015 Series A round; DivvyHQ was subsequently acquired by Lytho in February 2024.[22][23]

=== Startup Hustle podcast ===

Watson hosts ''Startup Hustle'', a podcast covering entrepreneurship and startup growth. He previously co-hosted the show with Matt DeCoursey; Watson became the sole host following the December 2023 buyout of DeCoursey's stake in Full Scale.[5]

=== Product Driven (book) ===

In July 2025, Watson published ''Product Driven: The Software Engineering Leadership Model for Product Thinking, Ownership, and Outcomes'', a book for engineering leaders on building software teams oriented around product outcomes rather than output.[7] Watson also produces a related newsletter and podcast under the same title.[24]

== Personal life ==

Watson lives in Leawood, Kansas.[9] He is an inductee of the Belton High School Hall of Fame in Belton, Missouri.[25] He is a supporter of Sporting Kansas City.[22]

== References ==