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Global Day Zero · AUS × JPN

Build global
from day zero.

You're senior, well paid, and sitting on an idea you can't shake, but you're not about to quit to gamble on whether it works. Global Day Zero helps you prove it first: make it clear, prove it's real, and design it to travel, while those decisions are still cheap to get right.

Matt Ainsworth portrait
M.A. · Sydney ⇄ Sydney · Tokyo
Watch the session · on demand Founders Across Borders: why you build for one market by accident, and what it costs. With Karen Onuma of GlobalDeal.
Watch the session →
Watch first

Prove it before you go all in.

Why the smartest founders don't quit to chase an idea, they prove it first, while still employed. The thinking behind Global Day Zero, in Matt's words.

Prove it before you go all in · 2.5 min
Worked with
Timee DeNA ANRI CyberAgent Capital Innovators Campus Plus Eight Core Innovation Hub Startup Weekend Timee DeNA ANRI CyberAgent Capital Innovators Campus Plus Eight Core Innovation Hub Startup Weekend
§ 01The program

An idea you believe in, designed to travel.

You won't quit a good job to gamble on an unproven idea, and you shouldn't. The Global Day Zero Sprint takes the idea you can't shake and makes it clear, proven, and designed to travel, in eight weeks, so you find out if it's real before you go all in.

The outcome
Take your idea from fuzzy to validated, with a prototype designed to travel from day zero.
The shift
Stuck and unsure → clear and proven
Before
  • A vague idea you can't quite explain
  • Conviction, but no proof it's real
  • Only ever pictured for home
  • Nothing tangible to show
The Sprint · 4 or 8 weeks
01 Define 02 Validate 03 Design to travel 04 Build
The bridge from stuck to proven
After
  • A sharp idea you can explain in one line
  • Real evidence from real people
  • Designed to travel from day zero
  • A prototype you can put in front of anyone
1:1 Sprint · 2 spots on each track
See the full program

One on one with Matt · Deep or Full · the full method, toolkit, and how to apply

§ 02Free tool

Is your idea designed to travel?

You've got an idea you can't shake. Six questions to find out whether it's designed to travel, before you bet anything on it.

0 / 6
Question 01 / 06
What best describes your idea?
Pick the category that fits closest. This shapes how your results are framed.
Question 02 / 06
Does the problem you solve exist beyond your home market?
Early founders often assume their problem is universal, or unique to their market. Both assumptions are worth testing.
Question 03 / 06
How clear is your idea right now?
Most early founders have conviction before they have clarity. Be honest about how sharp the idea actually is today.
Question 04 / 06
Is your idea designed to travel?
Global from day zero isn't about expanding later, it's about designing now so global isn't an expensive retrofit. How much have you thought about it?
Question 05 / 06
Where are you right now with the idea?
The earlier you get the foundations right, the less you have to undo later. Be honest, this shapes your recommendations.
Question 06 / 06
How locked-in is your idea to your home market right now?
Not the intent · the actual decisions. Currency, pricing, language, compliance, and data all quietly assume a market. The ones that assume only home are cheap to change now and brutal to retrofit later.
Your Global Readiness Report
Readiness dimensions
Idea clarity
-
Validation
-
Global-by-design
-
Designed to travel
-
Problem strength
-
Matt's read
Want the full breakdown?
Get your detailed report by email
A deeper read on all five dimensions, what each score means for your build, and the specific moves to make next. Sent straight to your inbox.
Assessment Report
Ready to act on this?
The Global Day Zero Sprint turns this into a real plan, a validated idea, designed to travel from day zero, and a prototype you can show.
See the Sprint
1:1 with Matt · Deep $3,500 or Full $6,000 USD · 2 spots on each
Not ready to commit? Start with the thinking.
Get Global Day Zero Weekly →
§ 03Words

From founders I've worked with.

I came to Matt @ Innovators Campus as a founder with ideas but not yet the confidence to articulate them clearly. What I found was a room full of people who genuinely wanted each other to succeed · and an environment that made it safe to be a work in progress. The feedback I received on my pitch was specific, honest, and immediately actionable. I left with a sharper message and a clearer sense of what I’m actually building.

N
Newton
Founder, Tokyo, Japan

Matt is truly intelligent, well-traveled, and highly experienced in both Japan and Australia. With his business background, cultural understanding, and tech-savviness, he mentored me to establish my business in Japan and expand to Australia in less than a year.

A
Ali
Founder, Perth, Australia

Matt is a great and responsible person to work with. I tried different coaches before but he is the best · I got a lot of insight every session. If you work with him, I promise you will develop some great outcomes.

R
Ryounosuke
Founder, Tokyo, Japan
§ 04Who I am

Two decades in the room, across two markets.

Nine years working with founders and VCs across Japan, on pitching, product, cofounderships and raises. Back in Australia, mentoring, judging and running events across the ecosystem, with one foot still firmly in Tokyo. I help founders get unstuck and build things that travel.

20+
Years in startups
150+
Founders mentored
13k+
Community members
More about Matt →
§ 05Questions

The honest answers.

What is Global Day Zero?
It's a brand and a method for people who want to build something that works beyond their home market, designed for it from the start instead of bolted on later. The flagship is the 8-week Global Day Zero Sprint. The idea is simple: the cheapest time to design a startup to travel is before you've built anything.
What does "designed to travel" actually mean?
It means making the early decisions, product, pricing, language, assumptions, so they don't quietly lock you into one market. You still validate in one place first. You just design it so the second market is a next step, not a rebuild. Cheap to get right now, brutal to retrofit later.
Who is this for?
Mostly people who have an idea they can't shake, but aren't about to quit a good job to gamble on whether it's real. If that's you, the Sprint is built to help you prove it first. The free assessment is open to anyone wondering where their idea stands.
What's the difference between the Sprint and GDZ Japan?
The Sprint is the starting line: take an idea you can't shake and make it clear, validated, and designed to travel. GDZ Japan is the step up, for founders who already have a product working at home and are serious about entering Japan. Prove it first, then go to market.
Do I have to be planning to go global to find this useful?
No. Even if you only ever sell at home, the discipline, get the idea clear, prove someone wants it before you build, is what saves founders the most wasted time. Designing to travel is the insurance. Validating first is just good sense either way.
Global Day Zero Weekly

Not ready to apply? Start with the thinking.

Every week: how founders in Australia, Japan, and beyond are building globally from day zero. Raises, playbooks, founder profiles, and the occasional hard truth. Free, and worth the open.

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