Totem

Makers of the world-famous Friend-Finding Compass. Totem is creating a safer, more immersive, and more beautiful world for everyone.

Co-Founder & CEO

Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce

Board Member

gener8tor

Go-to-Market Mentor

The Company Lab (CO.LAB)

Agile Brand Lab

Brand Strategist

ENGINEERED SILICONE PRODUCTS LLC

Marketing Advisor

Shoetizer

Go-to-Market Advisor

RFYN

Head of Marketing

CentralSauce Media

Founder

321 Web Marketing

Digital Marketing Strategist

Selling a great product should be easy ⚡️ Bring your message into focus and it will be. | Go-to-Market + Brand Strategy

Turning beautiful products into cultural phenomena.

Currently serving as CEO at Totem, one of the world's fastest-growing consumer tech startups. Our team is on a mission to reshape the way people connect and navigate the real world during life's most beautiful moments.

Music and entertainment runs in my veins. I come from a long line of professional musicians and have years of experience as a professional vocalist. Over the years, I've attended hundreds upon hundreds of live shows and festivals. In 2018, a selection of my music journalism was archived by the US Library of Congress in their American Music archives.


"Art is how we decorate space, but music is how we decorate time."

Carter Fowler

🌍 I build brands & experiences that move the world forward

Most frontier tech founders believe they’re communicating their technology clearly.

But being deep in the science makes it hard to understand what your audience actually hears. 

The result is a underwhelming website overloaded with information but failing to make a clear, memorable impression.

Here’s what I see happen:

→ Your tech is groundbreaking, but your site buries the value in complex tech jargon
→ Your message focuses on features, not the outcomes that actually matter to your audience
→ Your website experience feels underwhelming compared to competitors who do it better

People can’t back what they can’t understand - and without clarity and a standout experience, investors, partners and customers move on without ever enquiring.

I build websites for tech startups that make the right people pay attention:

✓  Clear, confident messaging that explains your value in seconds
✓  Credibility built into every interaction, so you look mature, fundable and ready to scale
✓  Website experiences that exude maturity, command attention and cut through the noise

Because your website isn’t just a brochure - it’s the most important sales conversation you’ll ever have. 

And if it doesn’t cut through, nothing else matters.

Matthew C. Gough

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠. 
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨. 

It’s:

- Informative, not decisive
- Impressive, not clear
- Sexy but hollow

Founders do this with products.
Agencies do this with portfolios.

They optimise for approval.
Not action.

The real job of a site ain't to explain everything.

It’s to help someone decide:
“This is for me. - I am home”

Anything that doesn’t help that decision is friction.

Does your site explain or persuade?

Category-leading brands and websites for frontier tech startups 🌎 Turning complex tech into experiences that build clarity and credibility, converting visitors into investors and partners.

Your website is doing exactly what you told it to do.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠. 

A year ago, I was in pure survival mode.

My wife had just delivered our twin girls.
They were premature, in the NICU, and I was scared.

Every week was about keeping my head above water.
I put on a brave face for my family.

Back at the office...

Deadlines were piling up.
Clients were knocking at the door.
River couldn’t carry the load on his own forever.

Now it’s different.

The question ain't, “Will we make it?”

It’s:

“How do we do this properly?”
“Who owns what?”
“What do we say no to?”

This week’s video is a raw look inside my head as we kick off the year.

This ain't a highlight reel. Just the real pressure of building a thriving design agency while learning how to be a dad.

If you’re building while raising a family, you’ll probably relate.

Watch the new episode in the comments 👇🏻

If you missed this drop on Friday afternoon, this video is a pretty raw peek behind the curtain of what it looks like to run a design studio whilst raising twins.

I'm learning every day on how to better show up for my clients, family and coworkers.

If you're a creative business owner, or a founder balancing family life, you'll probably resonate with this.

Video in the comments 👇

taplio

The Battle

Carter Fowler

Matthew C. Gough

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taplio

The Battle

Carter Fowler

Matthew C. Gough

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Matthew C. Gough's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreMatthew C. Gough's LinkedIn Performance