Commerce Catalyst × HQ
Running two companies took everything he had. HQ is how he’s running three.
Matthew Holman runs Commerce Catalyst, the events community known as Utah’s home for ecommerce, and Subscription Prescription, his subscription-ecommerce agency. Both ran on small teams, out of Google Sheets and follow-up lists. Then HQ took over the systems, and the follow-ups stopped being the job. Now he’s also running The Cancel Page, a third business built entirely inside HQ.
Industry
Ecommerce events · subscription agency
On HQ
Two companies · a third launching on it
Before HQ
Google Sheets, GMASS, and manual follow-ups
01 · The challenge
Invite. Follow up. Repeat. For everyone.
The hard part of an events business is the sheer volume of inviting and following up: sponsors and attendees, event after event. Small teams, a lot to stay on top of, and most of it living in Google Sheets and an email automation tool, with a few light CRM attempts along the way.
The agency side had its own version of the squeeze: balancing content for sales, sales itself, and actually delivering the work. Every hour spent on one was an hour the other two didn’t get.
“HQ is the operating system that sits on top of your business and AI. It’s not just what it does, but it’s transformed how we do things.”
Matthew Holman · Founder, Commerce Catalyst & Subscription Prescription, and now - The Cancel Page
02 · The shift
One day. Ninety percent there.
The first task Matthew gave HQ was the one he’d already given up on: a CRM of everyone who had sponsored his events or expressed interest in sponsoring. He’d tried building it with AI three times before, and every attempt turned into a mess he walked away from.
HQ took in the data and the requirements and built the whole thing in one day. That was just the start:
- 01
The CRM that finally stuck.
Every sponsor and every expression of interest, structured and queryable in Airtable, built in a day instead of never. Three earlier AI attempts topped out at 20-30% and got abandoned; HQ's first pass landed at 90%.
- 02
Every tool wired together.
HQ connected Airtable to both event platforms and Mailchimp. Now a campaign is one prompt: “email everyone that attended X event but not Y event about Z event.” And it's done.
- 03
Follow-ups that run themselves.
Sponsor follow-ups take 10 minutes, attendees don't slip through the cracks, and none of it keeps Matthew up at night anymore.
- 04
Content as a system.
HQ owns content creation and contact outreach for the agency, so selling, making content about the work, and delivering the work stopped competing for the same hours.
- 05
A whole new business, built inside HQ.
The most fun he's had: The Cancel Page, churn intelligence for subscription operators, built entirely with AI. HQ ingested a design spec, built AI workers, and manages the website and analytics.
The Cancel Page, live at thecancelpage.com, is the part that says the most. Matthew tried building it before HQ, and that attempt is what brought him to HQ in the first place. “It would have been 100x harder without it.”
03 · The results
Two companies lighter. A third on the way.
The return shows up as revenue plus time, at the same moment. Sales are up big on the events side. Client reports that used to be a project take moments. Sponsor follow-ups take 10 minutes instead of hanging over his head. “I don’t lose sleep on follow-ups anymore.”
Because HQ holds the systems the businesses run on, it also holds the answers: Matthew can ask it any question about the business and it knows. The next phase is bringing the rest of the team fully in. “I can’t wait for them to get fully unlocked.”
And the headline result: Matthew will be running three businesses now instead of two. More automation and more impact, with new services for the community that, in his words, will transcend what’s out there.
The follow-ups run themselves. The founder builds the next thing.