By: Zach Miller
Founder and CEO of The Launchpad/TechnologyMatch.com, Tonya Turrell, has spent her professional life helping to transform the way tech buyers and sellers engage. With more than 25 years of entrepreneurial experience—including two notable exits and recognition on the 2024 Inc. Female Founders 250—Tonya exemplifies leadership grounded in resilience, innovation, and purpose. TechnologyMatch.com is a B2B SaaS matchmaking platform that seeks to enhance the tech buying experience with authenticity and transparency. In other words, there are fewer cold calls and more meaningful connections. In this interview, Tonya explores her path from bankruptcy to building impactful business models, her perspective on the future of technology marketing, and how she has designed a platform where relationships—not just algorithms—shape the conversation.
- Tonya, your creation of The Launchpad has redefined tech procurement by prioritizing personalized matchmaking for IT buyers. What sparked the initial idea to shift the focus from traditional vendor-driven models to empowering buyers, and how has your vision for TechnologyMatch.com grown as the platform has gained traction?
Before I dive in, I should share that The Launchpad has officially rebranded to TechnologyMatch. This isn’t just a name change—it represents a full strategic shift from a lead-gen agency to a buyer-first SaaS marketplace, reflecting how IT decisions are made today.
The idea to flip the traditional vendor-driven model stemmed from both personal experience and market insights. In my previous company—a lead generation agency—I saw firsthand how fragmented the process had become. Vendors were pushing outreach, but IT buyers were disengaged. They were screening calls, ignoring cold emails, and doing their own research at their own pace.
Many IT leaders today are Millennials or Gen Z. They’re digital natives, and they expect digital-first, brand-agnostic resources—not sales content. What didn’t make sense to me was why the entire model still centered around the vendor, when the real challenge was getting the buyer’s attention in the first place.
That’s when I knew the model needed to be flipped. I envisioned a platform that starts with the IT buyer—understanding their needs, their business goals, their current environment—and then matching those needs to the right suppliers, resellers, or distributors in our portfolio.
The idea of a marketplace modeled after a dating platform just made sense. It’s human, it’s needs-based, and it respects both sides. Reading Bumble’s story especially inspired me—a female-driven platform where women controlled the connections. I wanted to bring that same level of respect and protection to IT leaders—shielding them from spammy sales noise and giving them control over how they connect.
That’s what gave birth to TechnologyMatch—a way for buyers to find help, and for vendors to build meaningful, intent-driven pipeline.
- Tonya, in your other article, you described how TechnologyMatch aims to alleviate the frustration of IT leaders overwhelmed by irrelevant vendor pitches. Can you explain the key mechanisms behind your platform’s precision matchmaking and how have clients like Disney or IBM responded to this streamlined approach?
The power behind our matchmaking comes from years of deep domain expertise in B2B tech lead gen. Before we built the platform, we built the model—testing and refining it hands-on as a service. We learned what IT buyers respond to, what vendors need to see, and where traditional approaches fall apart.
Timing played a huge role. We launched TechnologyMatch (formerly The Launchpad) six weeks before the COVID lockdown. Suddenly, IT leaders were under intense pressure to pivot to remote work fast. Supply chains were disrupted, and everyone needed reliable tech—yesterday. Because we had already built a diverse portfolio of vendors, we were able to quickly connect IT leaders to solutions—cybersecurity, collaboration tools, and infrastructure.
That real-world testing ground validated our approach and gave us the insights to build TechnologyMatch as a scalable platform—still human at its core, but now digital and self-directed.
Today, buyers like Disney use it to find timely, relevant tech matches. Vendors like IBM use it to engage those buyers when they’re actually in-market. What’s different is the experience: it’s not about chasing leads—it’s about delivering meaningful results, faster.
That’s what Results-as-a-Service means.
- Tonya, your buyer-first philosophy at TechnologyMatch champions privacy and control, setting it apart in the tech procurement space. What motivated you to build a platform that shields IT buyers from aggressive sales tactics, and how do you ensure it fosters mutually beneficial connections for vendors as well?
What really motivated me to shield IT buyers from aggressive sales tactics was what I saw happening behind the scenes in the traditional lead-gen and content syndication space. Buyers’ data was being sold and resold—often labeled as “purchase intent”—without their knowledge or consent. That same data could be sold to dozens of vendors. And what did that lead to?
A barrage of cold outreach. IT leaders getting a high volume of sales emails per week, many of which are irrelevant or poorly timed. One CIO told me, “I spend more time deleting emails than evaluating solutions.” It’s not helpful—it’s noise. And a huge chunk of it goes straight to the trash.
At some point, I realized we were trying to “create demand” when what buyers really needed was a clear, protected path to relevant solutions. So, we flipped the model. Instead of pushing, we listen. We understand what the buyer needs—and only then do we connect them to vendors who can deliver.
That’s the key to mutual benefit in our platform.
For vendors, this model may change the game. We’re not sending a generic lead list—we’re matching them with pre-qualified buyers who are actively seeking what they offer. Because the intent is real and aligned, conversion rates may be better. Clients who adopt best practices on lead follow-up often see lead-to-pipeline conversion rates that are above industry averages. These rates can vary based on industry, lead source, and sales strategies.
So yes, our buyer-first philosophy protects the IT leader—but it also delivers better outcomes for vendors. When you prioritize relevance and respect, the results often follow.
- Tonya, the Tech Bullion article outlined your ambition to transform TechnologyMatch into a global marketplace with a subscription model by 2025. How are you laying the groundwork to maintain the integrity of personalized matchmaking on this larger scale, and what innovative features do you plan to introduce to enhance the user experience?
Yes, that vision is very much alive—but we’re taking a thoughtful, phased approach.
In 2025, our goal is to scale TechnologyMatch across North America. That includes expanding our vendor network, growing our IT buyer base, and launching a suite of AI-powered tools designed to elevate the user experience.
As we scale, preserving the personalized, high-integrity matchmaking that sets us apart is our priority. We’re doing that by continuing to invest in smart automation without losing human nuance. Interactions—from the buyer’s intake to vendor matches—are being enhanced by AI that learns context, adapts to user behavior, and makes smarter recommendations over time.
For example, we’re rolling out:
- AI-guided buyer agents act like intelligent assistants—helping IT leaders clarify needs, surface solutions, and navigate choices without the sales pressure.
- Dynamic vendor-matching algorithms that optimize based on real-time intent signals and outcome data.
- Feedback loops that allow us to refine every match and continuously improve the quality of connections for both buyers and vendors.
Once we’ve established that momentum and integrity at scale across North America, we’ll look to expand globally in 2026. But we’re not rushing—we’re building this for the long game. We want TechnologyMatch to be the platform IT leaders trust not just for access to vendors, but for outcomes that drive their business forward.
Our model aims to not just scale—it aims to scale intelligently, with care.
- Tonya, your platform caters to the digital-first mindset of modern buyers, particularly millennials and Gen Z, who value efficiency and autonomy in procurement. How do you customize TechnologyMatch’s interface and processes to resonate with these generations, and what future trends do you anticipate will further shape their approach to selecting tech solutions?
From the start, we designed the platform with millennial and Gen Z IT leaders in mind. These are digital natives who value efficiency, autonomy, and authenticity. They don’t want to be “sold to.” They want intuitive tools that help them explore solutions on their own terms—quickly and confidently.
So, instead of mimicking enterprise software or clunky procurement portals, we took our design cues from dating platforms. That may sound surprising, but the logic is simple: matchmaking works when it’s personal, frictionless, and based on shared needs. That same principle applies to tech buying.
Our interface is clean, modern, and action-oriented. Buyers answer a short set of smart questions about their current environment, pain points, and goals—then we match them to vendors who are actually equipped to help.
Under the hood, we’re using AI-powered matchmaking to improve those results continuously. And we’ve already begun deploying AI agents that assist buyers directly, acting like a digital concierge to surface options, answer questions, and guide them through their decision-making process—without introducing sales pressure.
Looking ahead, I believe we’ll see even more movement toward self-serve, context-aware buying journeys, where personalization and trust are paramount. Gen Z, in particular, expects platforms to “get them” instantly—and won’t tolerate friction or fluff. The future of tech procurement will be less about pushing products and more about enabling discovery in a way that feels intelligent, empowering, and human.
That’s the experience we’re working to build every day at TechnologyMatch.
Conclusion
Tonya Turrell’s story is a compelling example of how innovation emerges from listening—to people, problems, and possibilities. From modest beginnings to national recognition, her journey reflects determination and a drive to make B2B buying more human. TechnologyMatch.com is not just a marketplace—it’s a response to the real frustrations felt by tech buyers and sellers. By elevating trust, relevance, and user control, Tonya’s work is helping shape a future where technology purchasing is not only easier—but more empowering.
Published by Jeremy S.
