About the founder

Matthew Zimmer played his first gig as a solo act: a neighborhood lawn-mowing business he launched as a kid, years before he had a business card, let alone a setlist. That early hustle grew into a real passion for business and technology, which carried him through a Bachelor's and Master's in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, then an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.

He cut his teeth in the majors at Niagara Bottling, spending seven years leading the rapid expansion of the company's manufacturing footprint across California before going independent. Since then, he's built a catalog of his own — different genres, same drive — founding and growing several venture-backed companies, notably StackTek, a single-serve consumer packaged goods company, and cheddr, a SaaS sales incentive management platform.

These days, Matthew splits his time teaching as a professor at both Miramar College and the University of San Diego's Schools of Business, focused on how AI shows up inside brand-new businesses. A proud Michigan native, he's built every company on solid Midwest values — cultures where every player in the band gets a voice, not just the frontman. He's also committed to community service, and loves sharing the unfiltered story: the hits, the flops, and everything that came in between.