The Founders is an Azzet finance series showcasing the inspiring journeys of visionary entrepreneurs who turned ideas into thriving businesses. Dive into captivating stories and insightful interviews with founders and CEOs. They share their challenges, triumphs, and industry insights in this ongoing series.
In 2002, Matt Britton founded Mr Youth, a social media and digital marketing agency which helped brands engage with younger consumers.
The name might just as well have been Mr New Consumer because that is the audience the 49-year old New Yorker has made it his business to know inside out to help his clients engage effectively with them.
This cohort has evolved from "millennials" (born 1981-1996 - the first generation to grow up with the internet), to "Generation Z" (1997-2012, who grew up with mobile devices), and to "Gen Alpha" (2013-mid-2020s, who grew up with artificial intelligence).
“And I think we’re about to enter a completely new paradigm,” Britton says in a recent video.
Britton sold Mr Youth, now known as MRY, in 2011 before founding a number of businesses including his latest, Suzy.com, a consumers insights platform established in 2018 as an evolution of online rewards platform Crowdtap.
“Around 2017, after nearly two decades in advertising, I saw a glaring gap in how brands made critical decisions. Insights were slow, scattered, and lacked authenticity. I envisioned a platform that could deliver real, on-demand consumer input to guide strategy — something truly transformative,” he told Azzet in an interview.
“Suzy was born out of this vision, evolving from Crowdtap, a platform I had helped build to connect brands with consumers. We transformed it into Suzy in 2018, combining Crowdtap’s engaged community with cutting-edge technology to create a tool that delivers fast, actionable insights to help brands make smarter decisions in real time.”
Well-connected investors and partners
At Suzy he has the support of deep-pocketed venture capital, private equity and investment firms with assets under management or more than US$70 billion.
Since it was founded the firm has raised more than $120 million in venture capital from Foundry Group, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Tribeca Venture Partners, H.I.G. Capital, RHO Capital Partners and Triangle Peak Partners.
The platform is also well connected with investors including Thirty 5 Ventures, the media and investment company owned by the family office two-time National Basketball Association champion Kevin Durant.
Since its establishment Suzy has partnered with major enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of US$7.7 trillion (A$12.2 trillion): Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Meta (NASDAQ: META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).
In deciding to establish this business Britton took account of the appetite for better consumer insights and the opportunity to upend traditional research methods while defining a new category and making large investments in technology and people.
“Continuing with conventional research felt counterproductive. Real-time, tech-driven insights weren’t just a perk; they were a necessity. That realization spurred me to build a platform where brands could engage directly with authentic consumer voices,” he says.
He started by validating the concept with potential clients, securing funding, reorganising the team at Crowdtap and launching a minimum viable product, or basic version of the platform, to determine if it would be successful.
“I focused on building a team with complementary expertise. Initially, I hired engineers and product specialists, then brought on sales, marketing, and customer success professionals as demand and resources grew,” he says.
Admitting that ceding day-to-day control to others was challenging, he also recognised that fostering sustainable growth meant trusting qualified leaders to make key decisions while he set the broader vision.
Britton is proud of Suzy.com’s achievements including increasing revenue five-fold over five years, attracting top-tier talent, continuously refining its platform and being named as one of the Inc. Best Workplaces for three consecutive years.
“We’re still in the early stages (of development), but we’ve established ourselves as a trusted, high-growth player in real-time insights. We’ve proven our value and set the stage for even greater impact.
“We’re a market leader in real-time consumer insights, blending technology and robust data to deliver trusted information. Our clients count on us to bring clarity to their strategic decisions.”
Looking to the future
Britton says the sign-posts he watched for to ensure Suzy.com was “moving in the right direction” included customer retention, product engagement, revenue growth and the strength of brand partnerships.
His near-term objectives are to deepen the business’ AI capabilities, expand its client base and strengthen its brand as the “go-to resource for consumer insights”.
“Our goal is to empower faster, more confident decision-making,” Britton says.
“We’re seeing strong, sustained growth — evident in rising client demand, platform usage, and market recognition. We’ve seen a 500% revenue increase over the last five years.”
When he looks for signs of success he wants to see clients making better decisions more quickly, guided by accurate, timely insights, as measured by their results and satisfaction.
“When the company can thrive and innovate independently, I’ll know my role is complete,” Britton says.
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