Going to entrepreneurial summer camp during Matt Vincent’s middle school years taught him about free markets and inspired him to set his own path after hearing stories told by successful business people. At the same time, being introduced to Hayden Fry by his cousin who was a defensive linebacker for the Hawkeyes gave Matt an early introduction to Hawkeye pride.
Matt’s dad, Roger, taught him that hard work and integrity take you a long way. He used his University of Iowa industrial engineering degree to build a successful career in operations and supply chain management. “Because my father was general plant manager at Quaker Oats in Cedar Rapids, this led to unexpected perks, such as bringing home bags of just the berries in Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries!”
When it came time to choose a college and a degree, Matt chose the University of Iowa and decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps by studying industrial engineering. “The degree gave me a chance to study a wide variety of engineering disciplines and have the opportunity to narrow in on my interests,” Matt noted.
“Of the many engineering disciplines I studied while following the industrial engineering curriculum, I was most intrigued by the opportunities I had to write software,” he said. “It was enjoyable because I found it required an interesting mixture of creative and analytical thought processes.”
After graduating the UI with honors, Matt moved to Des Moines to be with his wife, Molly. Molly, her parents, and her brothers provided further entrepreneurial inspiration after he saw the business her father had created from acres of farmland in Altoona, Iowa: Adventureland Park.
Soon after moving to Des Moines, Matt started an information technology consulting company, Source Allies. Today Source Allies employs more than 40 IT professionals and builds a wide array of custom software including mobile business applications, agricultural telemetry processing systems, medical payment systems, and home automation.
“Source Allies clients contact us when they have mission-critical custom software needs,” Matt explained. “Our company tagline is ‘Powered by People…in Slippers.’ We came up with this after hearing one of our clients talk about why they preferred working with us: Source Allies employees act like owners, not renters. We have actually worn slippers in our Des Moines office since we moved into it. Wearing slippers is symbolic to us because it represents the kind of comfort you would feel in your own home. It also symbolizes the kind of ownership mentality that we always strive to maintain.”
Matt learned at the University of Iowa that he could do anything he wanted given enough hard work, perseverance, and encouragement. “The university exposed me to the engineering world and allowed me to zero in on my strongest interests,” he said. “It provided bright and energetic professors who inspired me and challenged me and ultimately allowed me to realize that anything you set your mind to is within your reach.”