{{short description|American Internet entrepreneur (born 1972)}} {{Infobox person | name = Matt Rutledge | image = Matt Rutledge.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1972}} | birth_place = [[San Antonio, Texas]] | occupation = Internet entrepreneur }}

'''Matt Rutledge''' (born 1972) is an American Internet entrepreneur, best known as the founder and former CEO of the [[Deal of the day|daily deal]] site [[Woot]]. Woot was acquired by Amazon in 2010, and Rutledge resigned his position at Amazon in 2012. Rutledge launched a new daily-deal site, Meh, in 2014.

==Early life== Rutledge grew up in [[San Antonio]] and [[Carrollton, Texas|Carrollton]], [[Texas]]. He was an undistinguished high school student.<ref name="D Magazine">{{cite web | url=http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2014/july/matt-rutledge-woot-has-a-new-deal-mediocre-corporation?single=1 | title=This Internet Millionaire Has a New Deal For You | publisher=D Magazine | date=July 2014 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Rogers, Tim}}</ref> He then moved to the [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]] area to live with his mother, but returned to Texas to avoid paying some $8,000 in traffic tickets.<ref name="D Magazine" />

==Origins and Founding of Woot== While working at a [[Dallas]]-area computer retailer called Resource Concepts, Rutledge began attending the monthly First Saturday swap meets, selling refurbished PC parts from a truck in the wee hours of the morning. In 1994, Rutledge launched his first company, Synapse Micro, wholesaling tech products to primarily mom-and-pop computer shops.<ref name="D Magazine" />

In 2004, Rutledge launched Woot as an outgrowth of Synapse Micro, offering a single product a day at steeply discounted prices. "I wanted it to be a blog and a store at the same time," Rutledge told [[Inc. Magazine]].<ref name="Inc">{{cite web | url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080901/how-i-did-it-matt-rutledge-woot.html | title=How I Did It: Matt Rutledge, Woot | publisher=Inc | date=September 1, 2008 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Tiku, Nitasha}}</ref> To that end, he encouraged the site's copywriters to be entertainingly frank about the shortcomings of the often obsolete products sold on the site. "We feel that if we don't do a good job describing what's wrong with a product, people will assume we just don't know. That's where most retailers fail. To them, every product is perfect."<ref name="Inc" />

After four years of rapid growth, in 2008 Woot was named the #1 Fastest Growing Private Retail Company in America<ref name="Archive Inc">{{cite web|url=http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/lists/retail-companies.html?o=0&c=200800250 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827102516/http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/lists/retail-companies.html?o=0&c=200800250 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-08-27 |title=Top 100 Retail Companies |publisher=Inc.com |date=2008 |accessdate=March 25, 2015 }}</ref> and the #1 Fastest Growing Private Company in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area by ''Inc.''.<ref name="Archive Inc2">{{cite web|url=http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/lists/dallas-fort-worth-arlington-tx.html?o=0&c=200800250 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827100633/http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/lists/dallas-fort-worth-arlington-tx.html?o=0&c=200800250 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-08-27 |title=Top 100 Businesses in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX |publisher=Inc |date=2008 |accessdate=March 25, 2015 }}</ref>

==Acquisition by Amazon== In June 2010, [[Amazon.com|Amazon]] acquired Woot for a reported $110 million.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fastcompany.com/1665608/amazon-buys-daily-deal-shopping-site-woot-110-million | title=Amazon Buys Daily Deal Shopping Site, Woot for $110 Million | publisher=Fast Company | date=June 30, 2010 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Nosowitz, Dan}}</ref> Rutledge remained as CEO. The company's headquarters remained in Carrollton, although the creative and [[web development]] team, previously based in St. Louis, moved to the Amazon campus in [[Seattle]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.stlmag.com/The-World-of-Woot/ | title=The World of Woot | publisher=St. Louis Magazine | date=July 27, 2010 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Woodcock, Tim}}</ref>

Amazon's ownership of Woot was characterized by increasing complexity of the company's simple [[business model]], moving away from the deal-of-the-day approach to a broader collection of flash sales. Critics claimed that the post-acquisition Woot lost much of its appeal. Woot "was just too eccentric to slot smoothly into a big company that thrives on being orderly. So all those crazy edges got hacked off until it did fit," wrote [[CNET]] blogger Amanda Kooser in 2013. "This approach is all Amazon knows. It's just too bad it had to stomp out a fun little corner of geek commerce and camaraderie in the process."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cnet.com/news/why-i-cant-root-for-woot-anymore/ | title=Why I can't root for Woot anymore | publisher=CNET | date=April 24, 2013 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Kooser, Amanda}}</ref>

Rutledge largely agreed with these criticisms and took some of the responsibility for them, saying he was "unable to represent our needs in a succinct, convincing manner" within Amazon. "The goal-based tactical needs of Amazon were unable to appreciate a relatively small artful business model with different growth drivers."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y13/m10/i07/s02 | title=Woot Founder Dishes on New Venture and Amazon Stewardship | publisher=eCommerce Bytes | date=October 7, 2013 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Corbin, Kenneth}}</ref>

==Founding of Mediocre Laboratories and meh.com==

Rutledge left Woot in 2012 citing his greater interest in creating and growing new companies than in managing an Amazon subsidiary.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/15/woot-founder-leaves-amazon/ | title=Woot Founder And Daily Deals Pioneer Matt Rutledge Leaves Amazon | publisher=Tech Crunch | date=June 15, 2012 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Lawler, Ryan}}</ref>

His first public project after leaving Woot was A Mediocre Corporation, so named, in Rutledge's words, "to lower expectations with the brand".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/09/13/mediocre/ | title=Woot's Founding Team Returns As Mediocre Laboratories To Experiment With E-Commerce | publisher=Tech Crunch | date=September 13, 2013 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Lawler, Ryan}}</ref> Rutledge paid $100,000 for the meh.com domain in June 2014.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dotweekly.com/matt-rutledge-buys-meh-com-100k/ | title=Matt Rutledge Buys MEH.com For $100K | publisher=Dot Weekly | date=June 27, 2014 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=Zoch, Jamie}}</ref>

A Mediocre Corporation launched Meh.com in July 2014,<ref name="BI">{{cite web | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/matt-rutledge-meh-interview-2014-7 | title=After Selling His Daily-Deals Site To Amazon For $110 Million, This Man Left The Company A Year Early To Start A More Ridiculous Version Of His Original Idea | publisher=Business Insider | date=July 10, 2014 | accessdate=March 25, 2015 | author=D'Onfro, Jillian}}</ref> preceded by a [[Kickstarter]] campaign describing Meh as a revival of "The Classic Daily Deal Site". "The underlying premise is that we're building a store that you don't need to buy anything from to have fun," Rutledge told ''[[Business Insider]]''.<ref name="BI" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://mediocre.com/ Mediocre Laboratories] *[http://www.meh.com meh.com]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutledge, Matt}} [[Category:1972 births]] [[Category:American technology company founders]] [[Category:American businesspeople in retailing]] [[Category:Amazon (company) people]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Businesspeople from San Antonio]]