A product generalist who can move between strategy, design, and execution.
I'm Matt Costa, based in Auckland. For nearly twenty years I've helped turn ideas into products, mostly in startups. I've led product teams, built companies, designed products used by thousands of people, and shipped software across web, mobile, and desktop.
Today I work independently with founders and small product teams. I help bring clarity to product decisions, shape what to build next, and move ideas from concept to reality.
How I work
Start with the problem
Clarify the problem, goal, and decision before design.
Design for decisions
Get to a confident product call, not endless exploration.
Keep the process light
Sharper thinking and clearer artefacts beat another meeting.
Make trade-offs visible
What you defer matters as much as what you build.
Ship-ready over theoretical
Every deliverable should help the team decide, build, or ship.
Be wrong fast
Wrong this week beats right in six months, so iterate fast.
Design for clarity
Clarity over cleverness. Users shouldn't have to think twice.
Solve for outcomes, not output
Impact beats output: change behavior and metrics, not just feature count.
Simplicity scales
Simple beats clever when the product has to grow.
Use AI where it helps
Leverage for synthesis and speed, not a substitute for judgment.
Featured roles
Early-stage startups, product and design leadership
Mentoring founders in the accelerator
AI-powered investor relations platform
Product strategy and org building
Design direction and product design
Research, discovery, and end-to-end product design
Award-winning crime prevention platform
Featured studies
- Designing and Building AI Products and Services, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2021)
- Startup School, Y Combinator (2019)
- React Nano Degree, Udacity (2017)
- Design Thinking for Innovation, University of Virginia Darden School of Business (2016)
Let's talk about what you're building
Whether you're reviewing an existing product, planning a new initiative, or trying to get something shipped, I'd be happy to learn more.