Simplifying Distribution for Growing Brands | Matt Holden from Glimpse

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All right, everyone. Welcome to today’s episode of Pathmonk Presents. Today, we are here with Matt Holden from Glimpse. Matt is leading marketing at Glimpse, and my understanding is that it helps with managing stores and their billing mistakes. But that’s such a simplified definition, so I’ll let Matt explain it better. Welcome, and glad to have you on the show.

Matt Holden: Hey, thanks, Rick. Great to be here. Glimpse is all about helping to empower growing consumer brands in the CPG retail space. If you’re familiar with KE and Unify distributors, you know they can be a bit of a pain to work with. They take a lot of money back from brands for various reasons, and it’s hard to manage.

So, we have AI that handles the whole process for you. You don’t have to deal with deductions anymore, and money comes back automatically from those distributors, so you can focus on growing your brand.

But that’s just the beginning. This year and beyond, we’re building what I believe will be a one-stop shop for brands in retail to manage a lot more than just deductions. But, baby steps—we have to solve the most painful problems first.

Rick: Of course. And Matt, we were talking offline about how you joined Glimpse and how you connected with the mission of helping both small entrepreneurs and larger stores. But I’m curious—what kind of businesses or industries do you serve best, and what’s the core problem you solve for them?

Matt: Yeah, totally. Right now, we serve brands that distribute to grocery stores in the U.S. through KE and Unify—the two dominant distributors in the space. If you want to sell in Whole Foods, for example, you’re required to use these distributors, and they wield a lot of power over emerging brands.

A lot of these brands are small, up-and-coming businesses trying to improve our food system, and I was really drawn to the mission of empowering the Davids against the Goliaths.

As we grow, our ability to help brands will expand beyond those two distributors. We’re building connections for brands that sell directly to CVS, Target, and other major retail chains. Right now, our primary focus is challenger CPG brands—emerging food and beverage brands you’d typically find in Whole Foods.

Rick: Got it. So, from what I understand, you serve both small entrepreneurs and more established brands. But how do they typically find out about you? Are you present at trade shows, events, or what are your top acquisition channels?

Matt: Yeah, absolutely. It’s been a wild ride. We only launched the service in April 2024, and by January 2025, we’re close to having 100 brands on board.

The biggest channel for us has been trade shows—Expo West, the Fancy Food Show, and distributor selling shows. With the saturation of email and digital content, getting in front of customers in real life is the best way to build relationships, especially in the early days of growth.

Another key channel has been online activations with communities like Startup CPG—an incredible free educational resource for CPG operators. Many successful founders and operators are part of that community, and I knew them from previous roles, so it was a no-brainer to partner with them.

We also do a lot of organic social—primarily LinkedIn. We’re doubling down on building a strong online presence, sharing valuable content, and even creating a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re growing Glimpse. It’s almost like a reality TV show of our journey.

Rick: That’s great. I love that your foundation is built on real human connections—trade shows, communities, even karaoke nights. But on the other hand, social media gives you scalability.

That makes me wonder—what role does your website play right now? Do you see it as a major acquisition tool, or are there areas that could be improved?

Matt: Yeah, absolutely. The website existed before I came on board, and it’s done a decent job for us. Right now, it’s just a simple Webflow landing page—no complex structure—but it gets the basics right.

It explains our key value proposition, has social proof like testimonials and logos, and shares a bit about our Y Combinator experience and investors to establish credibility.

That said, I do think it needs a refresh, especially as our traffic grows. One of the first things I did when I joined was set up B2B pixels so we can identify visitors and reach out to them. Now that we’re seeing more traffic, updating the website is becoming a priority.

As part of our broader branding and design efforts, we’ll be revamping the site with a blog, case studies, a team page, and more. Right now, it’s a simple lead-gen page, but as we move upmarket and target larger companies with longer sales cycles, we’ll need more content to educate different stakeholders.

Rick: That makes sense. Sometimes, at the start, a basic landing page with strong messaging is enough. Then, as you scale, you expand it.

Matt: Exactly. As we 10x our revenue this year and raise another round, we’ll need a more robust site. Larger companies have different buying processes, and we’ll need to cater to multiple decision-makers.

We’re also planning to verticalize our messaging—how we talk to a skincare brand will be different from how we talk to a coffee brand. Our website will evolve to reflect that.

Rick: That’s a solid approach. Speaking of scaling—are there any tools you’re looking forward to using as you grow?

Matt: Right now, we use Webflow on top of HubSpot. There’s still a lot we can do from a RevOps perspective, like setting up automated and personalized email flows based on visitor behavior.

We’re also working with Awesomic, a design-as-a-service platform, to refine our branding. And I’d love to experiment with interactive website elements—maybe even AI-driven personalization—but for now, our focus is on getting people to the website.

Rick: That makes sense. Now, let’s talk about your day-to-day. What does a typical day in your role look like?

Matt: It’s different every day, which I love. There’s always some copywriting—LinkedIn posts, case studies, or collateral. I also collaborate with our team on design briefs and feedback.

A big part of my role is partnerships. Working with businesses that serve the same community as us—doing events, online activations, and co-marketing. It was a key driver in my sales success in the Shopify world, and I see the same potential here.

I also spend time on direct outreach—whether it’s helping with overflow on sales calls or experimenting with creative campaigns. I’m working on a direct mail campaign that ties into a digital strategy, and I’m excited to see how it performs.

Rick: That’s awesome. Let’s wrap up with some rapid-fire questions. Short and crisp answers. Ready?

Matt: Let’s do it.

Rick: Last book you read?

Matt: Angels by Denis Johnson.

Rick: What’s one single thing your company is focused on right now?

Matt: Spreading the word.

Rick: If there were no tech limitations, what’s one thing you’d fix?

Matt: AI to filter through all the AI noise and recommend the right tools.

Rick: One piece of advice to your younger self?

Matt: Start therapy earlier. The better your relationship with yourself, the more successful you’ll be.

Rick: Love that. Final words—if listeners forget everything else, what’s the one thing they should remember about Glimpse?

Matt: If you’re a consumer brand frustrated with KE and Unify, talk to us. We’ll save you time and money—guaranteed.

Rick: Perfect. Thanks for coming on, Matt!

Matt: Thanks, Rick!