The Record
Everything on this page is independently verifiable. Archived URLs. Third-party press coverage. Public records. This isn't a résumé — it's the receipts.
Before Everything
In 2000, a self-taught programmer in Valparaiso, Indiana began building instant-on streaming video for e-commerce — five years before YouTube existed. His model was radical: clients paid nothing up front, only a commission on each sale delivered.
In 2001, he launched Livemercial with the last money he and his wife Lisa had — a round-trip ticket to Las Vegas to demonstrate a technology that didn't exist yet.
The video player was an instant success, increasing video views from less than 10 percent to almost 100 percent. In its first year of incorporation (2003), Livemercial sold more than $44 million worth of products online.
"The 'livemercial' alone is captivating with its instant-on video that requires no loading, no buffering, no waiting. And while we have our audience captivated, we close the sale right there with a secure order form."
— Jordan Pine, VP Marketing, IdeaVillage — quoted in MarketingSherpa, October 13, 2003 [source]
"There would be no IdeaVillage without Livemercial."
— Andy Kubany, Founder, IdeaVillage
IdeaVillage was Livemercial's first client — starting with the Handy Stitch. Their Finishing Touch brand was later acquired by Church & Dwight for approximately $1 billion.
The Scale
"Today, Livemercial is world's largest direct response provider on the internet."
— The press — John Davies, Managing Director, Society of Innovators, May 2008
As described internally: "$600,000 in online sales every day, 365 days a year, for six years."
"I expect 50% of my sales to come from the internet, and Livemercial is a great company to be involved with."
— Kevin Harrington, original Shark on Shark Tank [source]
Enterprise clients (confirmed 2004)
A Pattern of Firsts
One pattern repeated: Mathis built the technology before the industry had a name for it, watched the world catch up, and moved on to the next one.
Instant-on streaming video for e-commerce
YouTube launched 2005; streaming became standard
The landing page (video + order form, no cart)
MarketingSherpa case study, Oct 13, 2003. Format used by every DTC brand today.
Secure order forms embedded in emails
"The only company to successfully include secure order forms directly in e-mails"
HTTPS-first web infrastructure
Google didn't make HTTPS a ranking signal until 2014
Retargeting
Now a multi-billion-dollar industry
txt2buy — mobile ordering via SMS
"The industry's first secure mobile ordering technology"
Social Response — social media for product launches
"Social media marketing" wasn't a job title yet
SIY (Sell It Yourself)
Self-serve inventor launch platform — precursor to GoLive
Online telemedicine platform
COVID proved the need eight years later
What They Said
"I expect 50% of my sales to come from the internet, and Livemercial is a great company to be involved with."
— Kevin Harrington, original Shark on Shark Tank
"Livemercial handles upwards of $500 million of e-commerce business each year."
— The press, May 2008
"Since 2003, Livemercial has sold more than $1 billion of product online, for more than 3,000 clients. More than 100 of those individual offers have exceeded $1 million in online sales."
— Livemercial Ad:Tech SF Press Release, April 21, 2009
"Livemercial is to the internet what commercials are to TV."
— Johnny Mathis Jr. — PricewaterhouseCoopers Startup Radio [source]
"A story of a legend in the making...a young man of genius and innovation."
— John Davies, Managing Director, Society of Innovators, December 2009
Recognition
Inc. 500|5000
3-year growth; one of America's fastest-growing private companies
Indiana 50 Companies to Watch
Selected from 500+ statewide nominations
"20 Under 40" Award
Regional business leadership recognition
SBDC Entrepreneurial Excellence Award
Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center
Society of Innovators Fellow
Ivy Tech Northwest
ERA Platinum Member & Gala Sponsor
5+ nominations in a single year
Discovery Channel PitchMen Partner
Official online marketing partner
The Rebuild
In 2011, at the peak of Livemercial's influence — fresh off the Inc. 5000 list, the Discovery Channel partnership, five-plus ERA nominations, seven offices across three countries, and an aviation division — Mathis walked away.
The direct response internet didn't die because people stopped buying. It died because it stopped evolving. And it stopped evolving the moment its architect walked away.
For thirteen years, the companies left standing kept running the same playbook Mathis had written a decade earlier. Some of those operations were led by former Livemercial employees. None of them innovated.
In late 2025, after more than a decade of silence, he came back.
Working alone, from a laptop in Miami, Mathis rebuilt Livemercial from scratch. In under four months, he created over 25 different tools — AI video production, brand design, commercial scripts, customer management, scheduling, project management — everything a product company needs to go from idea to market.
Most well-funded startup teams with full engineering departments ship less technology in two years. He did it by himself.