I build the real version
of your product.
For founders with an idea, rough prototype, or failed dev handoff. Design, engineering, infrastructure, and launch handled by one senior engineer.
The first serious version, live.
A fixed-scope build for founders who have outgrown prototypes and need a real product people can use.
- Live product
- new repo
- auth
- data
- payments
- integrations
- realtime
- DNS
- deployment
Things I have shipped.
Green Room
Streaming, for human-made music.Consumer music platform with streaming, iOS, brand, design system, and a custom audio ML model for human-made vs AI-generated music.
Nero
Self-hosted AI agent.AI agent across voice, terminal, web, and SMS with persistent memory, MCP, background work, and real-time emotion on calls.
Pompeii
Workspace for AI agents.AI agent workspace with realtime chat, task runs, voice rooms, persistent memory, triggers, MCP integrations, web, and iOS.
Dialog
Customer research at scale.AI research platform where agents run and analyze interviews across 50+ languages with a 200k+ participant pool.
Lux
Unified data runtime.Rust database that unifies Redis-compatible cache, vectors, time series, relational tables, streams, pub/sub, queues, REST, and persistence in one binary.
Read this before you book.
- You have an idea, prototype, or broken first attempt — and you want the serious version built.
- You have already hit the ceiling with vibe coding, no-code tools, cheap freelancers, or offshore teams.
- You have budget, urgency, and a product you actually care about.
- You want one person owning the whole build so the product feels coherent instead of stitched together.
- You are looking for the cheapest possible way to test an idea.
- You want to manage a rotating cast of developers yourself.
- You need a long-term employee, fractional CTO, or open-ended retainer.
- You are not ready to spend at least $10,000 to get the first serious version built.
A short process.
No theater. One call, one scope, focused build, shipped repo.
- 01
Discovery call
30 min. You describe the idea, prototype, or broken handoff. I tell you whether I can build it, what it would cost, and how long it would take.
- 02
Scope and start
Within a day or two, you get a written scope, a fixed price, and a start date.
- 03
Build
Seven to fourteen days of focused work. Daily updates, private link to the work-in-progress.
- 04
Ship
Live URL. New repo delivered to you. You own all of it.
I'm Matty. Cofounder and CTO of Pompeii Labs, where I've spent three years shipping AI agents and developer infrastructure. Before that, embedded systems engineer on Amazon Alexa.
mattyhogan.com is where I take outside 0-to-1 work — the founding-engineer kind, where the fastest path from idea, prototype, or failed handoff to live product is one engineer who can do all of it. I take a small number of these at a time. If we click on the call, we move fast.
The ones I get most.
How fast is fast?
Most engagements ship a working first serious version in seven to fourteen days. The clock starts the day we agree on scope, not the day of the discovery call.
What do I actually get?
A working product, live, with a new repo delivered to you. If you don't already have the infrastructure to run it (Cloudflare, Supabase, OpenRouter, Stripe, etc.), I'll set those up under your accounts as part of the engagement. You own everything from day one. Brand and design assets too, if those are in scope.
What's not included?
Long-term maintenance, on-call support, and team management. I build the first thing well and hand it over. Ongoing work after launch is a separate conversation.
Who owns the code?
You do. Full IP transfer on delivery. I don't retain any rights to your product, and I don't reuse your code on other projects.
What if my project needs more than $10,000?
$10,000 is the floor for a focused build. Larger projects, full products, agent platforms, and design or brand from scratch are scoped per project and priced accordingly. We talk about it on the call.
How does payment work?
Fixed price. Either full payment up front, or half up front and half on completion. I don't do milestone-based project management for these builds.
How do you ship so fast?
Years of practice, a workflow tuned for it, and a strong AI stack I built and use daily. I do not skip quality to hit timelines — I scope down until quality and speed are both possible.
Are you available right now?
Probably. I take a small number of engagements at a time. If I'm booked, I'll tell you on the call and we'll find a start date that works.