Tech for Non-Techies
by Sophia Matveeva
Latest episode
329. Why your liberal arts degree is more valuable in the age of AI
329. Why your liberal arts degree is more valuable in the age of AI
About this podcast
If you want to build new things and be known as the innovator in the room — this is your show.
Whether you're launching a tech venture from scratch as a non-technical founder, bringing a new product to market inside a large organisation, or advising tech and VC clients — I'll give you the thinking and the frameworks to do it.
The smartest founders and the most ambitious senior executives are obsessed with the same skill: product thinking.
It's the ability to figure out what is worth building, why it is worth building, and how to make it work.
Founders develop it out of necessity. Senior leaders suddenly need it the moment they reach the top.
Almost nobody teaches it.
I do.
I've taught these frameworks at Oxford, London Business School, and Techstars, written for the Harvard Business Review, and spoken at GITEX and Cannes Lions.
I have over 800 alumni across four continents.
This is not theory.
It is the thinking, tested at the highest level, and now yours.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 330 episodes
- 329. Why your liberal arts degree is more valuable in the age of AI · 18 min · Episode 329Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said that the average graduate with a "soft" degree like English is at risk of ending up "working in…
- 328. Why AI makes people more productive, but companies aren't getting ROI · 20 min · Episode 328You're more productive with AI: your presentation gets done quickly (and it looks pretty too!). But then it gets stuck on your boss's desk or your client's inbox. Nothing moves…
- 327. Co-founder or catastrophe? How to get the relationship right from the start · 34 min · Episode 327Co-founder conflict is one of the top reasons startups fail. And even when it does not kill the company, it can put it at serious risk, distract from building, and make founders…
- 326. The innovator identity: why you need the reputation before you get the opportunity · 18 min · Episode 326Today, in the age of AI, execution is easy. Anyone can write code, produce a report, or generate a LinkedIn post. What AI cannot do is imagine what does not yet exist, spot…
- 325. How to get paid more [TFNT classic] · 15 min · Episode 325Too many smart, hardworking professionals focus on creating value, but never capture it. They take on more responsibility, lead bigger projects, deliver real results — and…
- 324. Are you the expert Claude recommends? How to stand out in the age of AI · 13 min · Episode 324Q4 is here. This is when budgets get signed off and promotions get decided. The opportunities won't necessarily go to the smartest or most hard working people in the room. They…
- 323. The grown up side of crypto: how JP Morgan, Visa and Mastercard are using blockchain to reshape global finance · 31 min · Episode 323Crypto has grown up. It's now no longer just about overnight millionaires and meme coins. It is now how the largest corporations do business. JP Morgan has processed over $5…
- 322. How much does it cost to build an app? And other questions non-technical founders are afraid to ask · 36 min · Episode 322How much does it cost to build an app? Is my agency ripping me off? How do I know if what they built is any good? Am I being too demanding — or not demanding enough? Every…
- 321. Why 80% of AI projects fail — and it's not the AI's fault · 17 min · Episode 321Contrast two AI projects. One cost $600,000 to build, $500,000 per year to maintain and was shut down as functionally unusable. The other cut energy waste, reduced equipment…
- 320. Calendly: the $3bn non-technical founder success story · 27 min · Episode 320Tope Awotona had no co-founder, no coding ability, and three failed startups behind him. None of that stopped him — today, Calendly is worth $3 billion, used by over 20 million…
- 319. Your judgment is your most valuable asset. Are you losing it to AI? · 25 min · Episode 319A financial analyst spots something wrong with a deal. He writes up his dissent. But the AI disagreed. The investment committee spent 90 seconds discussing his objection, and…
- 318. Why US startups beat Europeans, and lessons from Slack and Dropbox · 23 min · Episode 318Slack went viral without spending on ads. Dropbox grew 3,900% without a marketing team. Every founder knows these stories. What most don't know is what was actually happening…
- 317. From Excel spreadsheet to AI company: the non-technical CEO's playbook · 31 min · Episode 317A non-technical CEO built a mobile network, then transformed a startup into an AI company. Here's exactly how he did it — and what he learned about investors. Peter Scott has…
- 316. What makes a great tech product? Product thinking for non-techies · 15 min · Episode 316Did you wake up today thinking that you really want to use a cup? No! Because you are not insane. You woke up thirsty, and then used a cup. That distinction sounds obvious. But…
- 315. What non-technical founders need to know before building with AI · 41 min · Episode 315The number of non-technical founders running billion-dollar companies increased four times between 2013 and 2023. Not because the technology got easier — though it did. But…
- 314. 4 ways non-technical founders get stuck · 20 min · Episode 314Many non-technical founders don't lose money in one big mistake — they lose it in four small stuck points that all feel completely reasonable at the time. In this episode, Sophia…
- 313. Nvidia's most valuable asset is not on its balance sheet · 15 min · Episode 313What is Nvidia actually worth? You could look at their factories, their hardware, their staff. But their most valuable assets — the patents, the processes, the institutional…
- 312. How competitive advantage changed in the age of AI · 17 min · Episode 312If building products isn't your competitive advantage anymore, then what is? Listen to this episode to find out. AI means that everyone can now build (and everyone can copy). So…
- 311. The one metric that tells you if you're really winning · 22 min · Episode 311You can hit your financial goal and destroy your business. You can be surrounded by fans, but none of them become customers. This is demoralising, and it happens when you're…
- 310. Product thinking and personal brand: why you need both to win · 24 min · Episode 310You can be invisible with brilliant ideas. Or you can be everywhere with nothing worth saying. Neither works. In the age of AI, the barrier to building things has collapsed. The…
