Lean Tech Direction - The 6-Week Pre-Accelerator for Non-Technical Founders

From idea to first paying customer. Without a CTO. Without guessing. Without the $150k mistake.

A 6-week self-paced pre-accelerator for non-technical founders who are done planning and ready to move. New intake opens monthly – limited spots.

Get Started for $499 ➡️

If you’re a non-technical founder right now, you’re probably caught between two bad options.

Option one: keep building – more features, more tools, more planning – without any real signal that anyone wants what you’re making.

Option two: find a tech co-founder, hire a developer, or brief an agency – and hand over equity, cash, or both before you’ve validated a single assumption.

I’ve spent 10+ years working with founders across Australia and Japan – and inside tech staffing and offshore dev teams. I’ve watched the same expensive pattern play out over and over.

Founders who skip validation burn 6-12 months and $50k-$150k finding out the hard way that nobody wanted what they built.

Lean Tech Direction exists so that’s not you.

WHAT THIS PROGRAM IS

The program

Six weeks. One outcome.

This is not a coding course. Not a theory workshop. Not a set-and-forget video library.

It’s a structured 6-week pre-accelerator that takes you from unvalidated idea to first paying customer – using the leanest possible path.

Each week builds on the last. Every module comes with a worksheet and a clear deliverable. By the end you’ll have a validated idea, a working prototype, a developer relationship you can manage, and your first paying customer in sight.

Lean Tech Direction

From idea to first paying customer.
In 6 weeks.

A self-paced pre-accelerator for non-technical founders. Monthly intake – limited spots. No CTO required.

One payment · $499 USD · 3 months access

What’s inside

Week by week

Week1

Phase 1 – Before You Build

Idea Validation + Customer Discovery

Modules 1 & 2

Most founders skip this and pay for it later. In Week 1 you’ll validate whether your idea is worth building before spending a single cent – and identify the specific humans who will pay for it.

Includes

Module 1: Is Your Idea Worth Building? Module 2: Your First 10 Customers Worksheets for both

🎯Walk away with: a validated idea, a specific ICP, and one real conversation booked.

Week2

Phase 2 – What to Build

MVP Scoping + Stack Decisions

Webinars 1 & 2

You’ve validated the idea. Now you need to figure out exactly what to build – and what to cut. This week covers how to scope an MVP for $10k not $150k and whether you actually need a developer yet.

Includes

How to Build Your MVP for $10k, Not $150k Do You Still Need a Developer? Worksheets for both

🎯Walk away with: a scoped MVP, a stack decision, and a clear build brief.

Week3

Phase 3 – How to Build It

Vibe Coding + Prototype Skills

Tutorials: Lovable · Replit · Stitch

Before you brief a developer you need to understand what’s possible. This week you’ll build a working prototype yourself using the tools non-technical founders are using right now – no code required.

Includes

Tutorial: Building with Lovable Tutorial: Building with Replit Tutorial: Building with Stitch

🎯Walk away with: a working prototype you built yourself. Seriously.

Week4

Phase 4 – Leading the Build

Product Leadership + Hiring Developers

Webinars 3 & 4

Once you know what to build and have a prototype to show for it – it’s time to lead the real build. This week covers how to make product decisions without a CTO and how to hire your first developer without getting burned.

Includes

Leading Product When You’re Not Technical How to Hire Great Developer Talent Worksheets for both

🎯Walk away with: a product decision framework and a hiring process that protects you.

Week5

Phase 5 — Working With Your Dev

Onboarding, Day-to-Day + Retention

Webinar 5 + Onboarding Checklist

Hiring a developer is the easy part. Working with one effectively – without micromanaging, without getting taken advantage of, and without losing them three months in – is what this week covers.

Includes

You’ve Hired a Developer. Now What? Worksheet + onboarding checklist

🎯Walk away with: a weekly rhythm, a red flag checklist, and a handover policy that protects your codebase.

Week6

Phase 6 – Getting to Revenue

First 10 Customers + Ongoing Product

Webinar 6 + 90-Day Roadmap Template

The build is done. Now the real work starts. This week is about getting your first paying customer through direct outreach – no ads, no funnels, no waiting – and keeping your product moving without a CTO.

Includes

From First Customer to Ongoing Product Worksheet + 90-day roadmap template

🎯Walk away with: your first outreach sequence sent, a pricing decision made, and a clear path to customer number one.

🏁

The 6-week outcome

A validated idea with a specific ICP and real customer conversations to back it up
A scoped MVP that won’t cost $150k to build
A working prototype you built yourself before briefing anyone
A developer you hired properly and can manage with confidence
A clear path to your first paying customer

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Everything inside

6 weeks of structured content – video modules, webinars, and tutorials mapped week by week. Work through it at your own pace within your intake window.

Worksheets for each session – one per session, designed to turn watching into doing.

The Lean CPTO – AI advisor access included. Ask it anything you’d ask a technical co-founder, 24/7. Included in your $499.

Monthly group Q&A – bring your live questions, blockers, and decisions. Get real answers, not theory.

Private community – 3 months access to connect with other founders in your intake going through the same build challenges at the same time.

What happens after 3 months – let’s see where you’re at and decide on your next 90 day plan. If you want to stay in the community and keep the Q&A access, we can also explore what that looks like too.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Is this you?

This program is built for you if:

You’re a non-technical founder with an idea – something in Figma, a vibe-coded prototype, or just a strong conviction that the problem is real
You’re in the first 12 months of building and you haven’t launched yet — or you’ve launched and stalled
You’ve thought about finding a tech co-founder or hiring a developer but haven’t pulled the trigger because it feels too risky or too expensive
You’re willing to validate first, build second — even if that means sitting with an uncomfortable truth about your idea
You want a framework you can actually use, not more theory about lean startups

This is not for you if you’re looking for a shortcut. The work is real. The outcomes are real. But you have to show up for them.

TESTIMONIALS

What founders say

“The Lean CPTO has been extremely useful in helping me sharpen my thinking and stay on track. It consistently asks the right questions and helps me look at problems from different perspectives. What I find especially valuable is how it guides the order of questions, which makes my thinking process much clearer and more structured. It also helps me recognise when I’m falling into common founder traps or patterns, and redirects or pauses me before I go too far in the wrong direction.”

– Haruka, Founder (Tokyo, Japan)

“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 modernise our operations with confidence.”

– Kayo Tokumaru, Founder (Tokyo, Japan)

ABOUT MATT

Why Matt

I’m not a startup theorist. I work in tech staffing and offshore dev placement – which means I’ve seen both sides of the developer relationship from the inside.

I’ve watched founders lose 6-12 months hunting a tech co-founder who never showed up. Hand over 20-50% equity to someone who walked six months later. Refinance their mortgage to pay for a build that needed a complete rewrite.

The pattern is always the same. The framework to avoid it is what this program is built around.

10+ years across Australia and Japan. 150+ founders coached. I know what the expensive mistakes look like before they happen – and how to stop them.

PRICING

Your investment

$499 USD

Everything above. One payment. Lifetime access to the content.

No subscription. No upsell pressure. No equity required.

If you go through the program, do the worksheets, and don’t feel like you got at least $499 worth of clarity – tell me. We’ll work it out.

Get started for $499 →

Below button: Already have a question before you join? Chat with the Lean CPTO first – it’s $5 and it’ll give you a straight answer about whether this program makes sense for where you are right now.

Stop guessing. Start moving.

The founders who figure this out aren’t smarter than you. They just had a framework to follow and someone to tell them the hard truth early.

That’s what this program is.

Questions? DM Matt on Instagram or LinkedIn.