Momentum Association Management flipped on the open sign on October 1, 2025. Twelve months, three offices, and 16 client and partner associations later, the organization is not slowing down. To mark the first year in business, co-founders Matt Ott and Joe Sapp sat down with the Momentum marketing team to share some insights on their first year in business and what clients and the association community can expect as they look ahead to the second year.
Where did the idea for Momentum come from?
Matt: For me, it goes back further than most people realize. My family owned an AMC when I was growing up. I spent many a “family vacation” traveling and checking off states at an early age. But, while I was visiting these great places, most time was spent in hotels and convention centers helping out at registration tables and watching massive trade show booths go up around me. That AMC was sold when I was in high school, but I had already unintentionally carried a lot of what I learned from watching my mom and grandfather at work into my first association jobs after college. After a short stint at an AMC (shout out to Walt Galanty at AIM), I ended up spending more than 20 years as a direct staff executive, most notably at the National Grocers Association and the Global Cold Chain Alliance. For much of that time working in the direct staff world, I felt like I was competing against AMCs, both personally and professionally.
The more I thought about it, I realized very few people have sat in both seats – as a direct-staff executive and an AMC executive. And I started to think about why that was. As my work in consulting brought me closer to a group of executives on the AMC side, it made me think about my perceptions around what associations lose when they give up their own staff. I knew outsourcing could help advance missions- this is something that AMCs do notoriously do well, share resources with a depth of expertise, with the flexibility to scale up or down. I kept asking why an association had to choose. And, I thought maybe they didn’t have to.
Joe, what went through your mind when Matt reached out?
Joe: What sold me was that we cared about the same things. We both love associations, and we both have real respect for the volunteers who lead them. That shared starting point made the rest of the conversation easy. We both saw the world of associations the same way, including what we knew could bring to the industry if we formed an AMC.
The biggest thing for me was mutual respect for each other’s viewpoints. We each brought a different background in the association space, and instead of seeing that as friction, we saw it as a strength. When two people can challenge each other’s thinking and still land in the same place, you have the foundation for a real partnership. That’s when it stopped feeling like a leap and started feeling like the obvious next step.
What makes Momentum different from a traditional AMC?
Matt: The biggest piece of our value proposition is our flexibility. The greatest example of this, is what we call BYOE, Bring Your Own Executive, or our version of the hybrid staffing model. With us, an association can keep its chief staff executive and/or members of their team in place and still get full-service management, or departmental support around them. Plenty of associations have a great leader but not enough staffing behind that person. We fill the gaps without replacing the people who know the organization best. Alternatively, some boards feel passionately about working with a member of their events team, but want to add strength around them. We are comfortable working in both models and our operations systems promote that flexibility.
I’ll add that I refuse to say one model is better than the other. I've run associations with direct staff and I've worked inside an AMC. The right answer depends on the organization. But, our early returns with our clients certainly have shown that for the right associations you can gain exceptional efficiencies and success working with our team.
Joe: Day to day, I think clients feel that flexibility most in how we handle technology. It’s one of the first questions we get: do we have to change our AMS, our website, or our registration platform? Not necessarily. If a client’s systems are working, we’ll work inside them. If they aren’t, we bring our own technology and operations stack to the table to help them make the move without disrupting their members. Either way, the decision is based on what’s best for the association, not what’s easiest for us.
The other thing clients feel is access. Our boards and staff have leadership at their disposal that has sat in both seats, running associations as direct staff and working inside an AMC. That perspective shows up in both the small decisions as well as the big ones. When a board is weighing a staffing change, or a staff executive needs a sounding board, they’re talking to people who have been there and can help them see their options from every angle.
Lastly, our involvement as owners helps us stand out from other AMCs. Matt and I are in on all the details with our teams and clients. Early on I loved seeing the surprise on a clients face when both Matt and I show up to a committee meeting and realizing we really mean we are involved.
What are you proudest of from year one?
Matt: The results our clients earned. Multiple associations grew top-line revenue by double digits. Four had record years. Three moved from operating losses to positive financial results. Those numbers belong to the boards and staff who did the work. We were fortunate to be in the room.
Joe: The team coming together. We are a start-up. 16 clients said yes to us this year, and with them, came 15 employees and a host of contractors to assist, as well. Wins are great, but having the clients and our staff put trust in us this early when we were still building things has meant the world.
What surprised you most?
Matt: How much of the business still runs on relationships. Nearly every client we've added came through someone who knew us, trusted us, and was willing to put their name behind ours. You can't advertise your way into that.
Joe: How much our clients were ready to embrace change and a different approach. Everybody says it – “we do things differently” or “we are ready to change.” I was surprised at how quickly we had partners, clients, and staff truly ready to embrace that change. How we use technology, how we approach staff structures – people jumped in headfirst.
What was harder than expected?
Joe: Building it. I spent years running an AMC that was built. It was 30 some years old, had the team, the client, the systems. Building the infrastructure, winning business, onboarding clients & staff all at once is a different animal from running a business that was already there.
Matt: Building a company while serving clients at a high level asks a lot of everyone. Year one has been a lot of fun. It has been even more work. I’ve spent a lot of time on planes this year. And speaking of planes, it makes me think of the old adage of “building the plane while you are flying it.” There has most certainly been an element of building the plane while we are flying it in this first year. And in some cases, when we had multiple on boardings at once, we were building many planes simultaneously. That experience has just allowed us to build something that not only wont crash, but it will also get everyone there faster and more comfortably. There will even be some first of its kind innovation in there. After year one, we know what works and what doesn’t. We also know that we need to continually evolve and encourage our staff to do so- bringing their own ideas to everything we do.
What does year two look like?
Joe: We built a lot of infrastructure in the first year not just for a 10-person startup, but for a 100-employee business. We have work to do to continue harmonizing client technology, but year two is about implementing improvements we learned and continuing to deliver on some new ways of how we deliver service to our partners. That includes what we think are novel approaches to technology in the space and smart use of AI.
Matt: More of what's working. We'll keep adding talented, passionate people to the team and investing in the events and technology support our clients rely on. Inbound interest has grown a lot this year, and we want to make sure every new client gets the same level of attention, especially from Joe and I. One of the things that I have prided myself on throughout my career is my ability to build great teams. Teams of volunteers and staff that can align around the mission and pull the rope in the right direction to influence meaningful results. We aspire to do the same thing here. There are a lot of great people out there, volunteers and association professionals alike, and we’d love for Momentum to continue to be the place where we can bring them together to do great things.
Anything you'd like to say to the people who got you here?
Matt: Simply, “Thank you.” I can’t say that loud enough or passionately enough. To the board members and volunteers who trusted us with organizations they care about. To the friends and colleagues who made introductions and gave references. And to our team, who show up every day for associations and the professions they represent. It means the world, truly.
Joe: Same. I had the opportunity to sit in a board meeting with client #3 last week and getting the chance to say thank you in person as we approached 1 full year was special. From the clients to the team that said yes this year, it means the world to us. To our industry friends who stuck by us with advice and support – you are why associations and the communities they build are amazing.
One word for year two?
Matt: Bullish. Even more than a year ago. With the constant change in our world and the association industry, it has left more organizations in an uncomfortable place with more uncertainty, especially when there’s a leadership change or things start trending the wrong way. We want to be the place that boards and members can go to get the help they need to stabilize operations and gain clarity on their value proposition and plans for strategic growth. There’s a lot of associations out there that we know can use our help. And we are anxious to roll up our sleeves and get to work for them.
Joe: Vacation?