ABOUT
Hi, I'm Matt.
ABOUT ME
I'm a coach, product person, writer, friend, and human being. I spent the first decade of my working life chasing single-track achievement and got good at it. The years since have been figuring out how to be more than one thing at once, without losing the thread.
These days I lead product at Roe, an early-stage AI startup. I also coach a small handful of ambitious leaders who are seeking a meaningful life beyond the conventional path. I also write my blog More Human Possible. I'm always tinkering with something or plotting my next adventure.
Outside work I ski every winter, surf when the swell is right, and backpack when I can get out to the Sierras. I like taking photos, playing board games, and cooking for friends. I live in Palo Alto with my girlfriend who's doing her surgical residency at Stanford.
A QUOTE I COME BACK TO
“People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”
— Joseph Campbell
TIMELINE
2015 — 2018
UC Berkeley · Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
2019 — 2020
APM at Uber · Kleiner Perkins Fellow · Laid off 10 months in
Aug 2020 — Jan 2023
Afterpay (→ Block) · Senior PM · Living nomadically in Hawaii, Tahoe, SF, and NYC
January 2023
Quit my job. “I wasn’t running out of time. I was running out of energy.”
2023
Sabbatical · "A Year of Zero" · Explored climate tech, hosted a podcast, and more
2024
Started coaching, apprenticed under Steve Schlafman at Downshift
January 2025
Started year-long Hakomi somatic therapy training
February 2025
Girlfriend matched at Stanford for surgical residency
June 2025
Moved to Palo Alto, first lease in five years
October 2025
Joined Roe as Head of Product
NOW
Working at Roe, living in Palo Alto, coaching on the side, adventuring on weekends, tinkering with side projects.
© Matt Yao 2026
Palo Alto · ongoing