Mattermark to shut down after being acquired by FullContact, source says for under $500K in cash plus stock; common stockholders will get nothing in the deal
Mattermark, the site for startup and company data, is shutting down its own business after selling in a disappointing outcome to FullContact. Tweets: @ceonyc , @eriktorenberg , @eghosao , @rafat , @zerohash , @thomasrorystone , @joshconstine , @kfungfung , @katie_roof , @katie_roof , @thinker , @joshuaforman , and @premcbhatia Tweets: Charlie O'Donnell / @ceonyc : Always appreciated the way @DanielleMorrill went all in on @Mattermark, grew it out of a pivot, and busted her butt everyday, while being generous in her support of the startup community. When snarky asshats gloat at the tough Mattermark outcome, I'm happy to have her back. pic.twitter.com/JTJGG63uZS Erik Torenberg / @eriktorenberg : Congrats to the @Mattermark team for all they've accomplished over the years. I've always admired @DanielleMorrill @MisterMorrill @SparksZilla @thinker + co for inspiring and educating countless investors and entrepreneurs (myself included). Excited for the next chapter! Eghosa Omoigui / @eghosao : That's a bummer. Props to @DanielleMorrill @MisterMorrill + the entire @Mattermark team & investors. Felt like we went on the entire journey w/ you. Startup'ing ain't easy. Good swing @ the fences. There will be others. Take some time off, pause, reflect. We'll see you in '18. http://twitter.com/... Rafat Ali / @rafat : Sad fate for Mattermark, which was once talked about in the same league as CBInsights. Sometimes hype about building a business outruns the actual work of running a business. http://techcrunch.com/... via @techcrunch Justin King / @zerohash : Dear shareholders “I'm reaching out to share some great news. We are happy to have found an exit for our shareholders”. Scrolls down. Please sign here. Scrolls further “Common stockholders will not be receiving anything in this deal (cash or stock)” https://techcrunch.com/... Thomas Rory Stone / @thomasrorystone : Cautionary tale to future founders via @DanielleMorrill's Mattermark. There's a reason VCs use convertible notes, they convert to preference shares and in single/double $M exits “common stockholders will not be receiving anything in this deal.” http://twitter.com/... Josh Constine / @joshconstine : Not a fan of founders refusing to admit failure, especially when the consequences hurt their team. If employees get nothing in the deal, communication should start “I'm sorry” not “great news” http://www.techmeme.com/... http://twitter.com/... Cameron K.F. Koo / @kfungfung : It's always tough when a company goes out in a fire sale. Even more so at the holidays. But jeez that gap from Series B to shutdown in a year is mind-boggling. http://twitter.com/... Katie Roof / @katie_roof : Yes. Never happy to report on bad news, but it's important for entrepreneurs, startup employees and investors to get an accurate sense of the opportunity — and the risk https://twitter.com/... Katie Roof / @katie_roof : Also a small stock deal http://twitter.com/... Nick Frost / @thinker : Thanks @eriktorenberg! Working at @Mattermark was an incredible learning experience and 3 years I'll never forget. I'm lucky and grateful to have helped build the @MattermarkDaily to 100K+ readers and a legacy of Mattermark supporting the startup community. https://twitter.com/... Joshua Forman / @joshuaforman : It's rough as hell out there. Remember that the emperor has no clothes until you're profitable. And most startups are very far from profitable. http://twitter.com/... Prem Bhatia / @premcbhatia : $17m vanished. Unreal. https://techcrunch.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Mattermark's ending is not a fire sale so much as a quasi-exit: FullContact picks up the company for under $500K in cash plus stock, the business itself winds down, and common stockholders — the employees and early believers who took equity risk — are reported to receive nothing. It lands in a year that already produced sobering endings, including Mode Media's collapse, where investors had lost faith before the company folded.
The deal matters because it shows what a 'successful' outcome can look like at the bottom of a funding cycle: the company is acquired rather than shut outright, yet the structure leaves common holders with zero. That distinction between an exit and a quasi-exit is exactly what the First Round survey's anxious founders — 65% expecting hard fundraising in 2020 — were pricing in.
First-order effects
- Mattermark's common stockholders are wiped out entirely, while FullContact acquires the startup-data assets and team for under $500K in cash plus stock — a fraction of what venture-backed valuations implied.
Second-order effects
- Rival data providers such as CBInsights inherit Mattermark's orphaned customers and its market position by default, consolidating the startup-intelligence category without paying for it.
- The outcome becomes a cautionary reference point for founders and VCs weighing bridge rounds versus selling for asset value, reinforcing the wind-down mood captured in Binary Capital shutting its most recent fund the same year.
Third-order effects
- If this pattern holds, more venture outcomes will resolve as asset-level sales where preferred holders capture whatever value exists and common gets nothing — making Brandless-style shutdowns and quasi-exits the modal endgame of the cycle rather than acquisitions at marked-up prices.
The trend: Late-cycle venture exits are increasingly resolving as low-value asset sales that wipe out common stockholders, forcing the industry to measure exits at the asset level rather than by headline deal announcements.