20 Years to CEO — Matt Clark on Scaling, Culture, and B2B Fintech Success
Matt Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer for Corcentric
Meet the Leader Behind Core Centric
Today, we're diving into the mind of a seasoned executive and entrepreneurial leader, Matt Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer of Core Centric. Matt's journey is a powerful testament to long-term vision, cultural discipline, and agile leadership in the ever-evolving B2B financial technology space.
Matt is responsible for setting and steering Core Centric's strategic vision. He and his team share a fervor for helping Procurement and Finance leaders quickly enhance cash flow by optimizing how they purchase, pay, and get paid. Through a blend of organic growth and strategic acquisitions, Matt has helped Core Centric assemble an unmatched combination of software, advisory, and payments capabilities, positioning them as a global leader in Procurement, Accounts Payable, and Accounts Receivable solutions.
A proud alum of the University of Maryland, Matt is an advisor and guest lecturer for the University of Maryland Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program and an active member of YPO International, the world’s largest leadership community of chief executives. He sits on the Board of Directors for several technology companies and is dedicated to helping businesses thrive in today's unpredictable times. Matt is also a Caron DC Advisory Board Member and is passionate about Caron's mission to restore health, hope, spirituality, and relationships to its patients and their families.
In a recent interview, Matt shared key insights from his 20+ year journey with the company—a journey that began from a technology startup within a larger business and led all the way to the CEO's seat.
The Core Centric Business and Entrepreneurial Origin
Core Centric’s mission is fundamentally about removing friction from B2B relationships and transactions, specifically focusing on procurement, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Matt defines the company as a fintech (financial technology) company and a "tech-enabled services" provider. They operate by combining great technology with managed/advisory services and differentiated payment capabilities.
The founding idea began in the late 1990s, focused on the truck transportation sector, where the founder recognized "a ton of friction" between buyers and suppliers concerning purchase orders, invoices, and payment timing. The solution was a differentiated Group Purchasing Organization (GPO). Unlike traditional GPOs where buyers and suppliers were left to transact on their own, Core Centric told suppliers they would be paid on time, every time, by Core Centric. This innovative model put the company "squarely in the middle of B2B" and led to opportunities to evolve capabilities beyond the GPO into a full suite addressing both sides of a B2B transaction.
Matt notes that their focus is helping companies that are becoming "a victim of their own growth". As revenues grow, if the back-office headcount grows in lockstep, businesses become less scalable. Core Centric steps in to guide businesses toward a "different and better way" that drives scalability without the additional expenses.
The Path to CEO and the Catalyst for Leadership
Matt’s involvement with Core Centric spans over two decades of its 25-year journey. His early career was an entrepreneurial, "do a little bit of everything" experience, running operations and touching practically every piece of the business as he moved up the chain.
The catalyst for his rise to the CEO role came from a pivotal project in 2012: signing and executing the company's largest customer engagement ever. Matt was responsible for ensuring the execution was flawless for this "very complicated" and potentially "break" project for the company.
"Taking a big project on like that and running it, kind of cradle to all aspects... demonstrated the ability to really execute at a high level. And I think that's when my profile probably rose..."
The successful implementation and launch—with the client remaining their largest customer 13 years later—proved his capacity for high-level execution, a key factor in his ascendancy. This experience highlights how demonstrable execution on strategic, high-stakes initiatives can be the ultimate driver for leadership advancement.
Leadership Challenge and the Power of Culture
Upon becoming CEO, Matt's first major correction was addressing the organizational structure. The company, which had been bootstrapped and didn't take outside money until reaching over $100 million in revenue, had drifted too far toward a bureaucratic culture—with too many layers and specialized roles.
His objective was to drive toward the "right culture," recognizing the necessary balance between entrepreneurial speed and necessary corporate process.
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast as Jim Collins would say, all day long and twice on Sunday."
Matt's initial focus was on making sure the culture was strong, having the right people in the right seats, and establishing the right expectations and accountability structures. He believes that maintaining this "delicate balance" between the agility of an entrepreneurial startup and the structure of a scaled global company is an essential, daily challenge.
Crisis Management and Long-Term Motivation
When asked about the biggest problem he's faced, Matt points to the external forces of macroeconomic cycles—from the 2008-2009 recession and COVID-19 to recent challenges with inflation and interest rates. His primary focus during these times is to control what can be controlled, protecting employees and relationships with customers and suppliers.
A point of pride is avoiding large-scale layoffs, instead managing through tough times by focusing on internal improvements—things the company previously "kicked the can down the road on". They use periods of slowed sales activity to position themselves to thrive, not just survive, when the cycle inevitably swings back to the positive. Matt notes that their best sales years often occurred during recessions and the COVID period, as companies finally got the "wakeup call" to move forward with digital transformation and automation.
His ultimate advice, the message he'd put on a billboard, is simply: "Do the right thing". While simple, Matt stresses that doing the right thing is "often not the easiest thing". He sees this core value as a guiding principle for individuals, business leaders, and citizens:
"The culture of a company is defined by the worst behavior you're willing to accept. And that ties right to kind of doing the right thing and not cutting corners and making the hard decision even it's not the easy one."
This long-term perspective—fortifying relationships and building a company to last by adhering to core values—is the foundation for his continued motivation and Core Centric's success.
Written by Jovilyn Dela Cruz
“The culture of a company is defined by the worst behavior you’re willing to accept. And that ties right to kind of doing the right thing and not cutting corners and making the hard decision even it’s not the easy one.
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