Matt has no CS degree, doesn’t know how to code, and doesn’t even read the plans that AI writes. Despite this, he’s built an incredible open source track record with projects like last30days (#1 trending on GitHub with 40K+ stars) and Printing Press (a tool that lets agents use any website or app). Matt has been a huge inspiration for my AI builder journey, and I think you’ll feel the same after watching our conversation.

Matt and I talked about:

(00:00) "I don't read code and the plans are for AI"

(01:19) Compound Engineering: Matt’s go-to agentic loop

(07:07) How Matt builds without a CS degree or reading code

(11:18) Printing Press: Turning any website into an agent CLI

(15:38) How Printing Press finds hidden APIs and GitHub projects

(22:44) Why CLI + skill beats MCP for agent workflows

(32:49) How Matt contributes to Python, Go, and other top repos

(44:28) Why Matt is still afraid to launch finished projects

Thanks to our sponsors:

Linear: The AI agent platform for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft

Wispr Flow: 4x faster than typing with your voice https://ref.wisprflow.ai/peteryang

Riverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/the-ai-agent-system-behind-this-non-technical-founder-matt-van-horn

📌 Get my personal AI operating system with all my skills and prompts: https://www.behindthecraft.com/

Where to find Matt:

X: https://x.com/mvanhorn

GitHub: https://github.com/mvanhorn

Printing Press: https://printingpress.dev

last30days: https://github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill

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Agentic Engineering, Clearly Explained in 50 Min | Matt Van Horn

Behind the Craft

Agentic Engineering, Clearly Explained in 50 Min | Matt Van Horn