Matthew Simrell

Matthew has been an entrepreneur his entire life. Starting early with a door-to-door car washing business at age 10 to fund the purchase of his Reebok Pumps to founding the Kansas City Golf Discount Card while in High school to fund the purchase of a brand new 94 Camaro. He took the company from startup to exit selling the business to a local golf retail store all before he turned 18.
Corporate, Cars, & Construction
After college Matthew took the typical corporate job and was less than satisfied with selling his soul for $40k/yr. Wanting more, he sought to find a job where he could get paid what he was worth. Moving back to KC, he took a position in F&I with a national auto dealer where he consistently won national awards and recognition. After 3 years in F&I sales Matthew became burnt out and wanted something different. This opportunity presented itself as a position in outside sales with a lumber company. This was the perfect job! Within 12 months he recruited top custom home and production builders. One day while playing golf with a client, he was asked, "Matthew, why are you not building houses?" Matthew, caught off guard, simply replied, "I don’t know how." His client replied, "Well you have a truck, a cell phone, and you have something none of us have. You have your thumb on the pulse of the market." Matthew chuckled because this was true. Builders didn't just buy from him, they sought his advice about plans, developments, materials, and techniques to reduce cycle time. He replied "I meant I don’t know the first thing about getting my contractor’s license or applying for spec loans." His client threw his club in his bag, got in the golf cart and said, "Get in! We're done! I’m going to make you a builder!” They drove straight to the bank and that year Matthew built 33 new homes and won 8 HBA awards. For years he was a successful until the economy hit the housing market in 2009. Down but not out, Matthew partnered with some friends and opened a new car dealership and drove it to profitability in less than a year. One of the partners decided he wanted to be the sole owner Matthew chose to exit and was more than happy to sell.
Tech
Becoming an equity partner with hyper-startup Purk'd, Matthew found building a tech company is just like building a house. It's all about the team. He is now the founder of CouponCloud launching 2014.