Matthew BlodeSpeaking
Talks, panels, and builder sessions
I speak about zero-to-one product building, AI-assisted engineering, developer tooling, and what it takes to ship products that still feel considered.
February 2026
You Can Sense Carelessness
Next.js Melbourne meetup · BuildPass, Melbourne
A talk on product taste, craft, and why users notice carelessness even when they cannot see the code.
- Presented at the Next.js Melbourne meetup.
- Thanked Vercel and BuildPass for hosting in the public post about the talk.
- Shared a dedicated slide deck after the event.
January 2026
Ship Fast or Die
Startmate mentor session · Melbourne
A session for the latest Startmate cohort on how I use Claude Code, what actually slows teams down, and how to ship faster without losing quality.
- Presented to the latest Startmate cohort as a new mentor.
- Focused on Claude Code, shipping speed, and removing sources of drag.
- Published the slide deck publicly after the session.
January 2026
You Don't Have to Make AI Slop
Melbourne builder meetup · Melbourne
A talk about using AI tools without sacrificing product quality, design care, or user experience.
- Presented at an in-person builder meetup in Melbourne.
- Shared slides publicly after the session.
- Used the talk to frame better standards for AI-assisted product work.
July 2025
Building at different scales
The Outlook panel · Melbourne
A panel conversation about building products at Atlassian scale versus startup pace at Fingertip.
- Joined Tarra van Amerongen and Trudi Boatwright for the panel.
- Focused on how methods change with company scale while the mission stays the same: build something people actually want.
Topics
Zero-to-one product buildingAI-assisted engineeringProduct taste and craftStartup execution speedDeveloper toolingCommunity-led learning
Community
A lot of my speaking work is tied to community building through VCMC and Melbourne builder events.
- Co-hosted the first VCMC meetup in Melbourne with 60 attendees.
- Helped grow the VCMC builder group to 70+ people and 15,000+ messages.
- VCMC meetup #2 reached capacity at 52 guests with 16 people on the waitlist and included both in-person and online attendees.