273: What AI Can (and Can’t) Do for Non-Technical Founders Oct 08, 2025

Founders love the idea of skipping engineers and letting AI code their dream app.

Sadly, that dream falls apart fast.

AI can write code, but it also hallucinates, breaks in production, and leaves you with messes you can’t fix if you're not a coder.

What looks like a shortcut turns into a cost...

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272: Why This Is the Best Time to Be a Non-Technical Founder Oct 01, 2025

For years, non-technical founders were second class citizens in tech. 

Not anymore. 

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva shares five reasons why today is the best time in history to start a tech venture without being a coder — and why, in some cases, non-technical founders actually have the advant...

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271: What Big Tech Taught Me About Leading Without Code Sep 24, 2025

 Can you really lead a tech company if you’re not technical yourself?

David Windley has done exactly that.

He’s the former CHRO at Yahoo, held senior HR roles at Microsoft, Intuit, and Activision, scaled a startup from <$1M to $50M as CEO, and now leads HootRecruit — a recruiting tech company. ...

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270: Real People, Real Startups: Lessons from Our Alumni Sep 17, 2025

Most people think you need to be a Silicon Valley insider — or have millions in funding — to start a tech venture.

That’s just not true.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva shares the journeys of four Tech for Non-Techies alumni who built products and startups without writing a single line of code...

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269: 4 Non-Technical Founders Who Built Billion-Dollar Tech Empires Sep 10, 2025

Most founders think you need to be technical to build a billion-dollar company.

But some of the world’s biggest tech giants were started by people who never wrote a single line of code.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva unpacks the journeys of four non-technical founders who rewrote the rules of...

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268: How to Align Founders and Investors (Before Things Go Wrong) Sep 03, 2025

Most founders think securing investors will solve all their problems.

But fundraising often creates a new set of challenges—misaligned expectations, endless reporting requests, and pressure that pulls focus from building the business.

The truth is, raising capital isn’t just about money. 

It’s...

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267: 7 Startup Lessons from BlackBerry’s Rise and Fall Aug 27, 2025

Most non-technical founders dream of building a game-changing tech product—without learning to code.

But bridging the gap between vision and execution? That takes more than just a good idea.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva breaks down 7 essential lessons from the rise and fall of BlackBerry, a...

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266. Founder-Led vs. Product-Led Growth: how to pick the right path for your startup Aug 20, 2025

Most founders dream of creating a product so good it sells itself.

That’s the promise of product-led growth: customers discover, share, and adopt your product with little to no sales effort.

Sadly that's rarely the reality.

In the early stages, almost every founder has to do the hard, unglamor...

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265. From vodka shots to Y Combinator: how a non-technical founder built a global tech company Aug 14, 2025

If you’re a non-technical founder building your first product, this episode is for you.

In today’s lesson, Robyn Exton shares the real story of how she went from branding agency employee to founder of a global tech company — without writing a line of code.

She didn’t raise millions on day one. ...

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264. The vacation strategy for people who can’t switch off Aug 06, 2025

If you’re the kind of leader who is “on” all the time — even on vacation — this episode is for you.

In today’s lesson, Sophia Matveeva shares a practical, honest approach to taking time off without pretending you’ll fully unplug. 

Because when you're in charge, not checking work emails is often...

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263. The feature factory trap: when output doesn’t equal progress Jul 30, 2025

Why do so many software teams feel busy — but deliver so little value?

Fractional tech leader Thanos Diacakis shares why shipping more features doesn’t always mean progress.

Drawing on 25+ years in software — from startups to scaling JUMP Bikes at Uber — he explains how to escape the trap of ov...

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262. Why the CEO is the most dangerous person in a tech startup Jul 16, 2025

Most startup CEOs think they’re the visionary.

But in today’s episode, you’ll learn why the CEO is often the single biggest threat to team productivity — and how to avoid becoming one.

Based on a real conversation with a seasoned CTO and a sales leader who’ve scaled startups to exit, this episo...

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