Lead your AI and tech build. Without a CTO. Without the expensive mistakes.
If you’re a non-technical founder, the build is the hardest part – and not for the reasons most people think.
It’s not that you can’t understand tech. It’s that nobody’s given you a framework for leading it. So decisions pile up, developers fill the vacuum, AI features get bolted on because everyone else seems to have them, and what was supposed to be a lean MVP becomes a $150K+ science project that still hasn’t shipped.
I’ve spent 10+ years working with founders across Australia and Japan – and inside tech staffing and offshore dev teams. I’ve watched founders lose 6-12 months hunting a tech co-founder who never showed up. Hand over 20-50% of their company to someone who walked six months later. Refinance their mortgage to pay for a build that needed a complete rewrite.
The common thread in almost every one of those stories wasn’t bad luck. It was a leadership gap – no clear principles, no decision filters, no way to tell if the work being done was actually good.
Lean Tech Direction exists to close that gap.
This program is designed to protect you from:
- Stalling for months in the tech co-founder hunt while competitors ship
- Handing over equity or $150K+ to a dev relationship you couldn’t evaluate
- Over-engineering your MVP with AI features nobody asked for
- Waking up at demo day to discover the build isn’t what you thought it was
- Second-guessing every technical call because no one gave you the framework not to
For this first 90-day round I’m capping it at 10 founders, with up to 3 who can upgrade into a 1:1 track with Fractional CTO support.
As a founding member, you get pricing that will never be offered again – and direct input into shaping the tools and frameworks as we build them together. In return, I ask that you show up, implement, and let me use your wins (and your hard lessons) as examples for future cohorts.
This is not a set-and-forget course. It’s a working group.
Founding member pricing closes Sunday 29 March, 11:59pm AEST.
Kick-off: Wednesday 1 April 2026.
After that, price goes up and the “help me shape the program” perks disappear.
The outcome is simple – but it changes everything.
In 90 days, you’ll go from “I don’t have a tech co-founder, I can’t tell if my dev is doing good work, and I don’t know where AI belongs in my product” to having one clear tech direction, a safe dev plan, and a set of simple rules for where AI earns its place in your product – and where it doesn’t.
Your developers will execute instead of debate. You’ll make calls without needing a CTO to hold your hand. And the decisions that used to take three weeks of second-guessing will take twenty minutes.
You won’t become a senior engineer. You’ll become the founder who can lead the build.
How we’ll do it
The model is straightforward. Three phases. Each one tightens the screws on risk and ambiguity.
Phase 1: Decisive on Tech (Days 1–30)
We lock your tech principles, preferred stack lanes, and decision filters (including AI vs non-AI choices) so you can make calls without a CTO, stop over-researching, and stop reopening the same question every week.
Phase 2: Confident Dev Leadership (Days 31–60)
We co-design how you hire, brief, and manage devs. You’ll set expectations up front, define “good work” before anything starts, and have a clear way to catch problems early instead of at demo day – including what “good AI usage” looks like for your product.
Phase 3: Lean Shipping (Days 61–90)
We cut your (often AI-heavy) MVP scope down to what actually matters, set shipping and “kill” rules, and get you into a cadence where products ship, learnings are captured, and perfectionism stops running the roadmap.
What you actually get inside:
1. Lean Tech Direction Sprint
We’ll sit down and translate your product vision into Tech Principles, Stack Guardrails, and buy‑vs‑build filters, including clear calls on “AI core feature vs AI helper vs no AI here”.
So you can hand one page to any dev and say “this is how we build and this is how we use AI”, instead of having a different AI‑flavoured architecture pitch in every meeting.
2. Dev Collaboration Setup
Together, we’ll choose the right tools and rhythms for working with remote or local devs and codify your “ways we communicate and update” in a short doc, including how you expect devs to use AI tools in their day-to-day work (and where you don’t want them used).
So you know what your devs are doing each day and week without turning into a full-time project manager or discovering late that someone quietly rebuilt the system with an LLM.
3. Dev Hiring & Vetting Pack
We’ll build your hiring guidelines, interview questions, and test task once, tailored to your product, budget, and AI ambitions, with specific checks for “sensible AI usage” vs “LLM‑everywhere cowboy”.
So you can quickly spot who’s legit, who’s risky, and who’s going to drown you in AI bloat, without pretending to be a senior engineer.
4. Ways of Working + Quality Bar
We’ll define what good looks like before work starts: comms expectations, estimation rules, demo cadence, your non-negotiable quality bar, and what “done” means for both normal and AI-infused features.
So you don’t have to “trust your gut” on every ticket and can hold devs accountable with structure not vibes – including when they reach for AI by default.
5. MVP Scope Cut & Shipping Rules
We’ll ruthlessly separate must‑ship from “later”, and decide where AI actually improves the product and where it just slows you down or adds fragility.
So you get an AI‑smart MVP into users’ hands instead of an “AI-powered” science project that never ships.
6. Founder Tech Office Hours
You’ll have regular access to me and our Tech and Product experts in group to ask questions, share what’s working and what isn’t, to sanity-check architecture, AI choices, and messy dev situations in real time.
So any time a dev says “we should just use AI for this”, you’ve got a simple way to say “yes”, “no”, or “not yet” with confidence.
Bonuses for the founding cohort:
Founders’ Agile Lite Kit
A bare-bones playbook for standups, week planning, and retros written for non-technical founders, not scrum masters, with examples of how to keep AI work visible and inspectable in your rituals.
So you can run a simple cadence your devs respect, without learning a new religion or letting “AI experiments” hide off to the side.
Founder-Dev Brief Template
A fill-in-the-blanks template you can use for any new feature or dev hire, with slots to clearly state how (if at all) this part of the product should use AI.
So you can send one clear brief instead of four scattered Looms, and your devs stop guessing how “AI‑heavy” each thing should be.
Founders’ “AI Or Not?” Decision Map
A one‑pager you can run any feature, workflow, or idea through to decide: “AI core feature, internal AI helper, or no AI here.”
So you stop bolting AI onto everything for FOMO and start using it where it actually cuts cost, time, or complexity.
The Group Cohort Experience:
– Short, focused video modules you can binge in a weekend
So you’re not learning “software development theory”, you’re getting just enough to lead your product and make calls with your devs.
– Cohort calls, 3x per month
So you’ve got a regular place to bring live questions, get my eyes on your product and tech decisions, and see how other founders are solving similar problems.
– Private cohort space for day‑to‑day support
So when something blows up in Slack, Jira, or with a contractor, you can drop it in and get a sanity check instead of stewing on it alone.
Why this round is different
That means:
- you get pricing that will never be offered again
- I’m working closely with you to refine the tools and guardrails (including the AI decision stuff)
- in return, you show up, implement, and let me use your wins (and lessons) as examples in future versions
If you want a “set and forget” course, this is not it. This is a working group to de-risk the tech (and AI) side of your business over 90 days.
Your investment as a founding member
Future pricing once this is live:
– Lean Tech Direction (Group): $2,999
– Lean Tech Direction Plus (Group + 1:1): $7,999
Founding member pricing for this first 90-day cohort:
Group:
– Single pay: $1,900
– Or 3 payments of $750 (total $2,250)
Group + 1:1 Upgrade (max 3 founders):
– Single pay: $4,900
– Or 3 payments of $1,800 (total $5,400)
If you choose the Group + 1:1 Upgrade
You get everything in the Group version, plus:
– Fractional CTO eyes on your business
So you’re not just “learning how to think” about tech and AI, you’ve got someone experienced looking over your shoulder on the exact decisions you’re making.
– 2x private 1:1 sessions per month
We’ll use these to review architecture choices, product roadmap, job specs, and specific developer interviews or proposals.
So you don’t sign off on a bad build, a vague role, or a sketchy dev because you missed a red flag.
– Asynchronous access between calls
You’ll be able to send through key docs, questions, and quick updates between sessions.
So you can keep moving during the week instead of waiting two weeks to unblock a decision.
There are 10 cohort spots total.
However, there are 3 additional spots, if you want extra 1:1 support – for founders who want more private help on top of the group work.
You get a 7‑day love‑it‑or‑leave‑it window.
Join the cohort, do the work for a week, and if you don’t feel like you’re getting clearer and more confident about your product, your tech, and your AI decisions, tell me and I’ll refund you. No drama, no essays.
Who this is for.
This is a good fit if:
- You’re a non-technical founder with a real product idea already mocked up in Figma or Lovable
- You’re actively moving toward an (often AI-enabled) MVP in the next 3-6 months, not “someday when I find a CTO”
- You’ve tried courting a CTO or hiring devs and it’s felt slow, flaky, or expensive
- You’re willing to be the leader, make calls, and set direction – including where AI fits – even if you never write a line of code
- You’re coachable, blunt, and okay being told “that’s over-engineered, cut it”
If you’re committed to staying in “I’ll just find a genius tech co-founder who reads my mind and sprinkles AI everywhere” fantasy land, this is not for you.
What Kayo Tokumaru, a non-tech founder had to say:
Matt is incredibly kind and generous with his time and knowledge. As a founder without a strong technical background, I knew that we needed to introduce advanced IT and AI solutions into our company, but I often felt uncertain about where to start. He guided me from the very beginning, patiently explaining everything in a clear and approachable way. Thanks to his support, even as a non-IT company, we were able to successfully implement IT and AI technologies and modernize our operations with confidence.
How to claim a founding member spot:
Step 1. DM me “Lean” via Instagram or LinkedIn – or fill out the quick form below
Step 2. I’ll ask you a couple of quick questions to confirm fit and whether you’re better for group or 1:1.
Step 3. If it’s a match, you’ll pick your payment option, we’ll lock your seat and get you ready for the Lean Tech Direction cohort.
P.S. As soon as you’re in and confirmed, I’ll send you the Founder–Dev Brief Template, Agile Lite Kit, and the “AI Or Not?” Decision Map so you can clean up your current dev and AI conversations this week, even before the first call.
Founding member pricing and the 10 spots are only available until Sunday, 29 March, 11:59pm AEST.
After that, price and access change.
So, apply now before the perks disappear.