Matt Matros

Founder

National Cleaning Collective (NCC)

NCC is micro private equity providing capital and support to owner/operators in the commercial cleaning & janitorial industry.

Portfolio includes:
- Cleaning Pros of America (Bradenton, FL)
- American Flooring Solutions (Sarasota, FL)
- WeClean WestCoast (Sarasota, FL)

Founder and General Partner

BrandRock

BrandRock helps consumer brand founders and executives sleep better at night by making sure their business has the insurance coverage that they think they have. We read the fine print.

Co-Founder

McKinsey & Company

External advisor to client service teams and clients in consumer-based businesses with an emphasis on innovation.

Senior Advisor

Qurate Retail Group

'Acqui-hired' by CEO to build new digital businesses for global leader in vCommerce. And according to my final review, I "achieved what many thought was impossible."

SVP and Founder, Qurate Digital Ventures

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

Consulting for Keurig Dr Pepper on LIMITLESS and other innovation as part of exiting LIMITLESS in January 2020.

Consulting Entrepreneur

LIMITLESS® (acquired by Keurig Dr Pepper)

I started LIMITLESS® in March 2016 and sold the business to Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) in January 2020. I work with KDP on a consultative basis on LIMITLESS and other innovation. 

The LIMITLESS signature product - Lightly Caffeinated Sparkling Water - is helping people all over the country to #ditchdietsoda once and for all. Each can has zero calories, zero sugar, zero artificial flavors and 35mg of clean caffeine.

Available nationwide at Walmart and other fine retailers.

Protein Bar and Kitchen (acquired by L Catterton)

Founder and Board Director of healthy-food quick serve chain. I sold the business to private equity firm L Catterton in winter 2013. Protein Bar & Kitchen® (PBK) focuses on helping people everywhere live the healthy lifestyle they want to live through a balanced menu of blended drinks, wholesome quinoa bowls, salads, raw juices, and our signature Protein Bar-ritos.

Founder & Board Director

Shopflix

I dreamt up Shopflix as a "modern day QVC." Ultimately 'aqui-hired' by QVC parent company, Qurate Retail Group.

Kraft Foods

Sr. Associate Brand Manager

L'Oreal USA

Marketing Intern

Founder with 3 exits in B2C now playing two hands in B2B (insurance and commercial janitorial). | I post daily lessons & learnings that are your shortcuts.

Founder with two 8-figure exits plus an ‘acqui-hire’. My lessons & learnings are your shortcut.

Currently building unsexy B2B businesses in commercial cleaning and insurance. 

My inspirations are Scott Galloway and Fareed Zakaria and The Economist. 

I’d aspire to be the “Rick Rubin for entrepreneurs.”

These opinions are purely my own and not of any of the companies I am affiliated with.

NCC is micro private equity providing capital and support to owner/operators in the commercial cleaning & janitorial industry.

Yesterday in therapy, I admitted something I’ve been hiding for 28 years.

In 1997, when I was a freshman at USC, I did what a lot of freshmen do: I pledged a fraternity.

Two months into the semester, I got “dinged” — kicked out before initiation.

For almost three decades, I’ve told a different story:

 “I left the fraternity to take an internship at a sports agency. Always kind of regretted leaving…”.

That wasn’t true.

I didn’t leave.
I was asked to leave.
I don’t think my mom even knows that.

On paper, it’s a small moment in a long life. 

But for an 18-year-old who had lost his dad at 11, who was craving belonging and male connection, it was a setback.

Worse, there was no explanation. No feedback. No “here’s why.”

Just a brief conversation on a beer-stained floor where an older brother (dude name Blair, from Solana Beach) told me I didn’t belong.

So I filled in the gaps myself:

Maybe I was too chubby
Not attractive enough
Bad at drinking
Too awkward

Whatever the reason, the conclusion I absorbed was:

“You don’t fit in. And that’s your fault.”

For 28 years, I’ve chased belonging in different forms — companies, groups, labels, titles, achievements. 

I’ve also found myself in places where, again, I just didn’t fit: big PE firms, large public media companies, YPO, certain rooms where I felt a little “off.”

Yesterday, finally saying this out loud, I arrived at a different conclusion:

It’s okay not to fit.

“Fit” is not a moral judgment. It doesn’t mean you’re broken. 

It just means that environment, that group, that culture wasn’t built for you — and maybe you weren’t built for it.

The strange irony is that, as an entrepreneur, I’ve had to make these same “fit” calls about employees, vendors, even customers (not to mention ex-girlfriends). 

I’ve told people, “This just isn’t the right fit” — without always appreciating how loaded that phrase can feel on the other side.

I’m 46 years old and just now using a LinkedIn post to say:

I got dinged.
I felt ashamed.
I lied about it for years.
And I’m finally okay with not fitting in.

If this resonates with you: you’re not alone, and you’re not broken.

Sometimes, it’s just the wrong room.

Oh - and in case you were wondering, my usual "Therapy Thursday" was yesterday because of the holiday lol 

📷 Me as a 19 or 20 year old with my closest buddies from USC. It wasn't part of a fraternity, but we def belonged in Vegas that weekend lol

Founder with 3 exits in B2C now actively buying SMBs | I post daily lessons & learnings that are your shortcuts.

One of the big myths American entrepreneurs love to repeat:

“Saudi Arabia (and the Gulf) are overflowing with capital just waiting to be invested in U.S. startups.”

Reality is almost the opposite.

The serious money in Saudi — whether it’s private investors or sovereign wealth vehicles like the PIF — is overwhelmingly focused on Saudi Arabia itself.

It’s not a giant ATM for the rest of the world. 
It’s fuel for a national transformation.

The mandate is clear:
- Build infrastructure.
- Create jobs.
- Support a young, fast-growing population.
- Enable a real middle class and family formation inside the Kingdom.

That means capital going into housing, logistics, tourism, entertainment, healthcare, education, advanced manufacturing — all the pipes and platforms a modern economy needs.

So if you’re an American founder dreaming of “Saudi money,” here’s the mindset shift:

Don’t think, “How do I get Saudi capital to fund my idea back home?”

Think, “How can my company bring capabilities into Saudi — technology, know-how, jobs, training — and help build what they’re trying to build?”

Saudi Arabia isn’t just a pool of capital. 

It’s a country in the middle of a massive buildout. When I was there it made me imagine what it was like in America in the early 1900s. 

If you stop treating it like a checkbook and start treating it like a partner, the conversation changes very quickly.

📷 My in Riyadh last year with the Saudi Ministry of Investment, which oversees the Saudi sovereign wealth fun (PIF)

#entrepreneurship #SaudiArabia #emergingmarkets #startups #mbs #vision2030

Kait Stephens

Brij

Brij’s mission is to directly connect consumer brands with ALL of their customers.  

Our AI-enabled no-code platform enables omnichannel brands to “bridge” the data gap across all online and offline channels, including black boxes like retail & marketplaces.  

Brands use Brij’s digital rebates, QR code experiences, & dynamic links to drive retail velocity, share content, and collect valuable zero & first-party data.  These connections also serve to meaningfully enhance the customer experience.

CEO & Co-Founder

The Omnichannel Marketer

The Omnichannel Marketer Show is a podcast about how founders & marketers build successful omnichannel brands across DTC, retail and marketplaces.

Host

Found

Co-Founder & CEO

Airbnb

MBA Intern, Product Management & Strategy

PIMCO

• Underwrite private equity investment opportunities with focus on retail
• Innovation Prize Recipient 
• Women’s Bond Club Rising Star Award
• PIMCO Women Steering Committee

Vice President, Portfolio Manager

Portfolio Manager

iStar

Developed valuation analysis and performed due diligence on high yield, structured real estate financings, acquisitions and developments. Project coordinator in public/private partnership with City of NY on development of amphitheater in Coney Island.

Investment Associate

The Blackstone Group

Underwrote and analyzed potential investment opportunities globally on behalf of clients in the Park Hill Real Estate Group

Analyst

Summer Analyst

Goldman Sachs

Assisted team of four Private Wealth Advisors on managing client investment portfolio

Helping brands bridge offline & online commerce 🔁 | Omnichannel Queen 👑 | Host of the Omnichannel Marketer podcast 🎙️ | CEO & Co-Founder @ Brij 🌉 | Angel Investor

👋👋👋 I’m Kait the CEO and Founder of BRIJ! My friends call me the queen of Omnichannel 👑. I also host a podcast called the Omnichannel Marketer 🎙️. 

My background is in Omnichannel Retail and Ecommerce. I help brands solve the pain of having no connection, relationship, or insights from buyers coming through retail and marketplace channels.

I share Omnichannel strategy and best practices. 

And I founded BRIJ, a platform for brands to build Omnichannel Experiences - a new digital touch point in physical channels to communicate key messages, collect 1st party data, and drive reorder.

If you ever want to talk Omichannel, the future of retail, connected experience, or QR codes, I’m happy to chat any time!

Brij is building the infrastructure to "bridge" online & offline channels.

Do you know anything about the people who purchased your product at Retail or on Amazon today?

It is a simple, powerful question. That no one in consumer marketing can answer. 

Retail and Marketplace are black box channels… until now.

Where most consumer brands see darkness, Brij sees a new brand touch point, a communication channel, access to customers (and associated data), and new marketing opportunities. 

Brij is an Omnichannel Marketing platform that empowers brands to bridge the offline & online gap to create a connected on-brand experience that provides more value to buyers. 

And helps marketers to know who purchased what, when, and where - every day, in real-time, 24/7/365.

When your Director of Strategic Partnerships gets named a finalist for the 2025 Smarterships Partner Awards, you don't just celebrate - you shout it from the rooftops. 🎉

Sarah (Davidson) Molloy isn't just building partnerships at Brij. She's redefining what partnership excellence looks like in our industry.

Sarah represents our team beautifully across the entire partner ecosystem.

In a world where partnerships can feel transactional, Sarah brings something different. She builds relationships that actually matter. Creates connections that drive real value. And somehow makes it all look effortless (spoiler: it's not).

If you know Sarah, you know she deserves every bit of this recognition. If you don't know her yet, you're missing out on connecting with one of the most thoughtful individuals in our industry.

Drop some love for Sarah (Davidson) Molloy in the comments - today's the day to hype up the humans doing the real work behind the scenes. 

Because these awards celebrate exactly that: the people who show up, deliver, and make magic happen for their teams every single day.

Congrats Sarah! We couldn't be prouder to have you leading partnerships at Brij. 🌉✨

BTW - Sarah is hiring a Partnerships Manager. Couldn’t think of someone better that I’d want to work with!

#partnerships #teamwin #brij

I had my first child at the worst possible time in my career. And it was the best choice I ever made.

When I became pregnant with my daughter, I'd founded my tech startup Brij only one year prior. 

If you're not in the startup world - the first year isn't a time where you can afford to go slow. It's fast, all-in, go-time.

Many people questioned my timing. 

Even more people question the notion of women being mothers and business leaders entirely. (Want proof? I can show you some of my LinkedIn comments. 😂)

But I knew there would never be a perfect time to start a family. 

So, I went for it.

My advice for women who are questioning whether or not they're allowed to do both is this:

- First off - You do NOT need to choose career vs family. It IS possible to do both. I'm here to show you that.

- Start before it feels perfect. It took me thousands of needles, 5 retrievals, 4 embryo transfers, and 2 devastating miscarriages to give birth to my first daughter. That's not the case for everyone, but I'm happy that I chose not to wait to start my journey until my career path felt 100%.

- Create an environment that makes both possible. My success as a mother and entrepreneur is in direct correlation to the strength of my partnership and support system.

It takes a village to raise children, and it's not always easy to balance parenthood and scaling a startup. 

But the bottom line is - you can absolute do both.

Sincerely, a working mom who loves both her jobs. 👧🏼📈❤️

Brij started with two people, a pitch deck, and a belief that offline and online didn’t have to be disconnected.

This Thanksgiving, I’m reflecting on everyone who turned that belief into this incredible company that Brij has become.

This time of year always makes me pause and reflect on how far we’ve come — and how many people make this journey possible.

For so long, it was just Zack Morrison and me building Brij. Now, we’ve grown our team enormously, which has been one of the most gratifying pieces of the job, welcomed amazing customers, and partnered with investors who believed in us long before Brij was anything more than a pitch deck.

To our team:
I am endlessly thankful for this wonderful, A+ group. You show up with heart, talent, and ownership every single day. Thank you for your contribution to building our mission and vision.

Brij would not be what it is without each and every one of you:
Zack Morrison, Alec Shah, Genevieve Flynn, Patricia Riegel, Sarah (Davidson) Molloy, Felipe Maté, Whitney Hudson, Tim Mattessich, Cara Felleman, Gui Groscos, Jenni Cocoa Lee, Arielle Halldin, Emma Laffey, Julia Lang, Alexa Kilroy, Audrey Buck, Lorenzo Sozzi, Lisa Smith, Nicole D’Amore, AJ Hoke, Stephanie Peters, Denis Kuria, Qalb Hussain, Harsh Chaudhary, Navneet Kaur Keer, Madhur Jain, Dashmesh Verma, Sush Ravish, Wilterson Garcia, Arqam Saeed, Diego Silva, Usman Zahid, Erick Casteneda, Zoofishan Khan Hussain, Haris Ali, Maryam Afnan, Alina Arshad, Muhammad Zahid, Bilal Qamar, Nauman Ijaz, Danish Ashraf, Adnan Jamil, Victoria Louise de Guzman

To our customers:
Without you, Brij would not exist!
When I think back to starting the business, I set a goal of having 1 customer.
And now? We’re over 150 brands — a milestone that reminds me we’re solving a real problem and building something that matters.
Thank you to those who took a chance on us early and have continued to be our partners in building this solution to truly bridge the offline and online.

To our investors:
Thank you for taking a leap of faith when Brij was nothing more than a pitch deck, and thank you to all the investors after that who have given us the capital to make Brij a reality.
Thank you for your belief in our vision.
John Neamonitis at Lake House, Rachel ten Brink at Red Bite Capital, Diana Murakhovskaya at Artemis, Francisco Aivado Nunes & Miguel Bagulho at Bright Pixel, and Blake Hatten at CEAS

To my family:
Thank you for being my rock.
I could not do this without a strong support system — my wonderful partner, my mom, my sister. Startup life truly takes an army, and I am beyond thankful. Kevin Stephens

I’m reminded today that gratitude isn’t just a holiday tradition. It’s a practice. One that keeps me centered in the chaos and energized for what’s ahead.
Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. 💙🦃

I spent the first half of last week in Atlanta with some of the sharpest operators in B2B commerce, and I walked away with one clear takeaway:

B2B is having its “consumer moment.”

The expectations are higher, the friction is heavier, and the appetite for real transformation is here.

What stood out most to me was how aligned these conversations were with ones we’re having at Brij.

Here are a few themes that stuck with me:

1️⃣ Brands are drowning in manual workflows — and begging for simplification.
Samsung, UPS, Rawlings — everyone talked about friction in the basics:
- Registration
- Warranty
- Verification
- Onboarding
- Product data lookups
- Reseller suppression

This friction directly impacts conversion, customer trust, and repeat revenue, and is the gap Brij fills — automating the workflows that no one wants to own, but everyone feels.

2️⃣ AI is creating massive upside — but only for companies with clean, connected data.

Teams are excited about AI pilots, but data is still:
- Fragmented
- Inaccurate
- Owned by different systems
- Nearly impossible to unify
- Brij’s ability to unify product + customer data through registration is becoming a critical entry point for AI-readiness.

3️⃣ Customer experience is now the deciding factor in B2B.

This was the quiet headline of the entire event.

Whether you're selling gloves, electronics, medical equipment, or industrial parts — the expectation is the same: Zero friction. Clear value. Instant answers.

Ecommerce teams can’t afford onboarding loops, broken verification flows, or warranty black holes.

Simplifying those moments not only improves CX, it’s also one of the fastest ROI drivers.

4️⃣ The big unlock is connected experiences.

Every team said some version of: “We don't need more systems. We need our systems to actually talk to each other.”

The future of B2B looks like:
- Unified data
- Flexible APIs
- Frictionless onboarding
- AEO-ready product information
- Real-time visibility into product ownership
- All things Brij was purpose-built to deliver.

B2B is realizing what we’ve seen in DTC for years:

The brands that understand their customers best grow the fastest. And that understanding starts with product ownership.

That’s where Brij lives.

I left Atlanta energized because the pain points are universal, the need is urgent, and the timing for what we’re building at Brij could not be better.

If you were at B2B Atlanta, I’d love to hear what resonated with you.

And if you weren’t — which of these themes are you seeing inside your org right now?

Eric Brother, Taylor McCaffrey, Patrick Lord, Laura Madigan, Carlos Camacho, Andy H., Derek Gominger, Danielle Arnold, and Milena Melnikova — it was so lovely meeting and speaking with you all.

B2B Atlanta

I only need one conversation to spot a great hire.

That's how we've built a team of A-Players at Brij. I knew when I started the company with Zack Morrison that I ONLY wanted hire the absolute best of the best. The people who take initiative, aren't afraid to innovate, and own their zone of genius.

Now, we've got our hiring process perfected to a tee. 

Here's my 5 steps to dial in your hiring system so you can build your dream team:

1. You need a top-of-funnel strategy.

We have clear systems for attracting inbound candidates to hire, but we don't shy away from going outbound, either. If we see someone who could be a great fit on the @brij team, we don't hesitate to reach out!

2. Your screening process should be optimized for efficiency.

Custom-GPTs are our go-to way to quickly screen applications for aligned values, experience, and skills. 

3. Your hiring team needs to be on the same page.

Everyone in our hiring process has the same expectations of what we're hiring for and who would be the right person to fill it. 

4. Define your company's core values.

The #1 thing we're looking for in Brij candidates: Be an entrepreneur. Startups require qualities in a candidate that a corporate job doesn't - A problem solving mentality and a willingness to wear a lot of hats.

5. Identify their superpower.

I ALWAYS ask candidates one question: "What is your superpower?" Their answer tells us if they're aligned with the core job and responsibility we're hiring for.

The last step in perfecting our hiring process is to move - QUICKLY.

As a startup, this is where our advantage lies. When we find the right person, we get them on board fast.

What's your favorite question you've ever been asked in an interview?

Black Friday looks different this year

And the signals are pointing to an opportunity for brands that is bigger than ever.

According to Retail Brew, record 186.9 million people are expected to shop between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday this year.

That’s 3 million more than last year.

But the stat that really jumped out at me?
👉 72% of Gen Z plans to shop in-store this weekend (compared to 49% of all shoppers).

They now account for a fifth of all spending.

For all the talk about e-commerce, Gen Z is quietly dragging everyone back to brick-and-mortar. And that’s a massive signal.

But, for most brands, retail is also still a black box.

Meanwhile, online behavior is shifting too:

Adobe Analytics predicts a 500% increase in retail site traffic driven by generative AI — and that traffic is converting better than non-AI sources.
So we have:
• More shoppers
• More in-store moments
• More AI-driven online demand
• More fragmentation across channels

And yet, most brands will walk away from Black Friday with record sales but no clearer view of who their customers actually are.

That’s the real miss.

If there’s one thing I hope brands take away from this weekend, it’s this:
💡 Black Friday isn’t just a discount event — it’s a data acquisition event.
And not next year. Right now.

Every transaction, every product interaction, every unboxed moment is an opportunity to identify and activate customers across channels.

Because if you want 2026 to look different — more loyal customers, more repeat purchases, more efficient CAC — the work starts today, not next Q4.

My advice to brands:
1️⃣ Don’t let in-store be a blind spot.
Gen Z is telling us loud and clear: IRL matters. Make sure you can connect that experience to your digital ecosystem.
2️⃣ Capture first-party data at the point of excitement.
When someone discovers, buys, or unboxes — that’s the moment to earn a relationship.
3️⃣ Build the bridge between offline and online now.
2026 will reward brands that refuse to treat retail as disconnected channels.

Check out our Black Friday playbook (link in caption) for more inspo on what you can do now to set yourself up for success well ahead of next BFCM.

The hardest pill to swallow as a retail brand? You’re not "in control."

Yep, this lesson isn’t a fun discovery. 😅

As founders, marketers, and brand leaders, we pride ourselves in controlling the details. In fact, a quest for control is part of what drove me to entrepreneurship. 

Let’s be real - Who doesn’t want to be in charge of their work schedule? 
To execute on your visions and ideas? 
To create your own team culture instead of blending into someone else’s?

But when you work in retail, one thing becomes clear to you, fast:

You can’t control consumers. You have to meet them where they are.

Spending three days at Glossy Beauty & Wellness Summit solidified this truth - The brands that will win in 2026? They’re the ones creating seamless, omnichannel experiences that FOLLOW their customers.

To follow your customers, you need to pay attention. Customers are evolving how they interact and shop with brands quickly and often!  Here are all of my top takeaways from Glossy E-Commerce Summit 2025:

-TikTok is now the #1 source for beauty content and new products over all other social and steaming platforms. 

That means brands can’t afford to stay focused on just the channels they own anymore. Customers might discover your brand on TikTok, add to their Amazon cart and buy it in-person at Ulta - all in the same week.

If you want to keep up with your customer, you have to meet her wherever she shops. And guess what? She expects convenience AND continuity. 

-Paid ads aren’t just for DTC brands anymore.

The best teams using paid ads to support their in-person retail - not just their e-commerce. 

-TikTok is no longer just a "top of funnel" awareness-driving platform.

It's driving conversions across EVERY sales platform. Once again, it's about meeting your customers where they are, not dictating where you want them to shop.

-Your team has to be aligned and connected in its omnichannel marketing efforts.

If your brand, paid and retail teams aren't working from the same strategy (& budget), your brand will never feel cohesive. 

The bottom line? The CUSTOMER is in control.

It's your job to meet her where she's at.

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Matt Matros

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