Mat Balez

Mat Balez is a Vancouver-based product builder.

We can make everything better.  

By profession, I’m a product builder. I enjoy contributing to the technologies that will be significant for the world into which my (many) children are growing up. I believe we can, and should, make everything better. Why not?

I think a lot about AI and what coming superintelligence will mean, particularly for parents and educators. I advocate for teaching AI “super-literacy”, forming independent thinkers, investing in scarcity and preserving human connection.

I believe Bitcoin is fascinating and represents an opportunity to reconsider what money is and how it should serve society. I created the Hello Bitcoin education project to help people understand it.

I co-founded Cityblock Health, a radically different type of healthcare provider for underserved communities. I was the company’s Chief Product Officer until early 2019. 

I helped launch one of the first, and most highly-regarded, online coding bootcamps at Flatiron School in NYC.

And prior to that I was a PM at Google for many years, helping build Google Maps on mobile and bring Google Glass to market.

I now live in West Vancouver, British Columbia with my wife and 4 kids.