BUILDFAST
HACKATHON

Build a real app for your business — in one day.

$65K+ in prizes & credits

March 14–15, 2026

🌐 Virtual · Zoom + Discord
Register NowSubmit Your Project ↓

🎁 First 100 registrants receive:

$100 in Woz credits + 3 months of Pro access to monologue.to

$250 Stripe + $50 Supabase credits for all participants

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Days
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Hours
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Mins
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Secs

🛠️ Don't wait — start building on Woz today!

Hackathon day participation is optional. Build at your own pace and just submit by the deadline.

100%
Virtual
10 HRS
Duration
$65K+
In Prizes
BUILT ON WOZ
Platform
Prizes

Build it.
Win big.

$65K+ in prizes & credits to launch your startup.

🥈
2nd Place
$7,500
  • $3,000 Anthropic Credits
  • $2,500 OpenAI Credits
  • $2,000 Stripe Credits per category
  • Clerky Lifetime Package
🥇
1st Place
$17,500+
  • $6,000 Anthropic Credits
  • $5,000 OpenAI Credits
  • $3,000 Stripe Credits per category
  • $2,500 Cash — sponsored by RevenueCat
  • $1,000 Supabase Credits
  • Clerky Lifetime Package
🥉
3rd Place
$4,500
  • $2,000 Anthropic Credits
  • $1,500 OpenAI Credits
  • $1,000 Stripe Credits per category
🎁 Every Participant Receives
$250
Stripe Credits
$100
Woz Credits
First 100 registrants
3 Months
Pro access to monologue.to
First 100 registrants
$50
Supabase Credits
📢
Top Promoter Prize
$500 Woz Credits

The participant whose post about their app on LinkedIn or X gets the most likes wins. Post about what you built, share your app link, and rally your network!

Eligibility

Who can participate?

🌍 Participation

Open to everyone — students, entrepreneurs, and builders worldwide.

🏆 Prize Eligibility

Prizes can only be won by students currently enrolled in U.S. or Canadian business schools or undergraduate institutions. Must be 18+ to win prizes.

Representing
The Largest Inter-Business School Hackathon
Stanford GSB Stanford GSB
Harvard HBS Harvard HBS
Wharton Wharton
Dartmouth Tuck Dartmouth Tuck
MIT Sloan MIT Sloan
Columbia Columbia
Chicago Booth Chicago Booth
Berkeley Haas Berkeley Haas
About the Event

Build something
real. Today.

BuildFast by Woz is a one-day virtual hackathon where entrepreneurs, students, and builders use the Woz platform to turn a business idea into a fully functional mobile app. No coding experience required.

Whether you're a solo founder, a student with a startup idea, or a team of builders — this is your chance to go from concept to working product in just 10 hours. Build real apps. Pitch to real judges. Win real prizes. Winners will be announced on Sunday, March 15th.

Powered by Woz — the AI platform that lets you describe your app in plain English and builds production-ready mobile apps for you. No coding, no hiring engineers. Just your idea and Woz.

🚀
Build a working app in one dayFrom idea to functional MVP in 10 hours
🧠
No coding experience requiredWoz turns plain English into real apps
🏆
Pitch to expert judges for prizesCash prizes and more on the line
🎓
Open to everyone worldwideStudents, entrepreneurs & builders welcome

"I'm not technical, and I rebuilt our existing app in a single day. The Woz and Claude Code integration gave me the ability to ship in ways I never could before. It's dramatically faster than traditional development workflows."

Ryan Dalton — YC Startup Founder

Schedule

One day to build.
One day to win.

All times in PST (Pacific Standard Time).

Kickoff & Orientation · 8:00–9:00 AM
7:45 AM PST
Tech check & lobby opens
8:00 AM PST
Welcome & Opening Remarks (Ben Collins)
8:10 AM
Challenge Brief & Judging Criteria
8:15 AM
Woz 101 — Hands-On Product Demo
8:55 AM
Closing Remarks & Countdown
Build Sprint · 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
9:00 AM PST
🟢 Hacking officially begins!
9:00 AM PST
#find-a-team opens on Discord
10:30 AM
Discord Drop-in Session #1
11:00 AM
Fireside Chat — Dakotah Rice (Harper) & Lukas Haffer (Casca)
12:00 PM PST
Midday check-in
2:00 PM
Discord Drop-in Session #2
3:00 PM
VC Panel: Pitching & Fundraising — Geoff Donaker (Burst Capital), Taylor Oliver (Cervin Ventures) & Malika Aubakirova
4:30 PM
Submission prep reminder
Sunday, March 15 — Submissions, Pitches & Awards
8:00 AM PST
🟡 Soft Submission Deadline
12:00 PM PST
🔴 Hard Submission Deadline — All projects must be submitted
12:00–1:00 PM PST
Judge Review Window
3:00 PM PST
🎤 Top 30 Teams Pitch (5 min each — 2–3 min pitch + 2 min feedback)
Evening
🏆 Winner Announcement
Keynote & Fireside Chat

Meet our
keynote speakers.

🎙️ Fireside Chat
Dakotah Rice

Dakotah Rice

Cofounder & CEO, Harper

  • 🎓 Harvard Business School dropout
  • 🚀 Y Combinator alum
  • 💰 Raised $54M for Harper

CEO of Harper, an AI-native insurance brokerage handling 1,000+ customers a month with near-full autonomy.

LinkedIn
Lukas Haffer

Lukas Haffer

Cofounder & CEO, Casca

  • 🎓 Stanford GSB alum
  • 🚀 Y Combinator alum
  • 💰 Raised $29M for Casca

Cofounder and CEO of Casca, bringing AI-powered innovation to the lending industry.

LinkedIn
Speakers

Learn from
the best.

Geoff Donaker
Geoff Donaker
Founder & GP, Burst Capital
Former COO, Yelp · Stanford
LinkedIn
Taylor Oliver
Taylor Oliver
Partner, Cervin Ventures
UCSB
LinkedIn
Malika Aubakirova
Malika Aubakirova
Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
Former Google · Stanford GSB
LinkedIn
Feyza Haskaraman
Feyza Haskaraman
Partner, Felicis
Former McKinsey · MIT
LinkedIn
Judges

Expert eyes on
your work.

Ben Collins
Ben Collins
Cofounder & CEO, Woz
LinkedIn
Brad Eckert
Brad Eckert
Cofounder & CTO, Woz
LinkedIn
Harshit Kohli
Harshit Kohli
Glean
LinkedIn
Roop
Roop
Bild AI
LinkedIn
Jordan Hodali
Jordan Hodali
Judge
LinkedIn
Judging Criteria

How we'll score your project

Each submission is evaluated across five weighted dimensions on a 1–10 scale.

01
Business Viability
Does the app solve a real, validated problem for a clearly defined target market? Judges will evaluate the strength of the value proposition, evidence of market demand, the feasibility of the business model (revenue potential, unit economics), and whether there is a realistic path to acquiring and retaining customers.
25% Weight
02
Product Quality
Is the app functional, polished, and well-designed? Judges will assess core functionality (does it work as intended without breaking?), UI/UX quality (intuitive navigation, visual design, consistency), performance and reliability, and overall level of completeness given the time constraints.
25% Weight
03
Use of Woz
How effectively did the team leverage the Woz platform's capabilities? Judges will look at the depth and breadth of Woz features used (database, auth, payments, APIs, AI chat, etc.), how well the team adapted their workflow to get the most out of the platform, and the overall sophistication of the build relative to the tools available.
20% Weight
04
Pitch & Presentation
Was the pitch clear, compelling, and well-structured? Judges will evaluate how well the team communicated the problem and solution, the clarity and confidence of the delivery, the quality of the live demo or walkthrough, and how effectively the team used their 1–2 minutes to tell a persuasive story.
15% Weight
05
Creativity & Innovation
Does the idea stand out from the crowd? Judges will assess originality of concept, creative problem-solving within the constraints, unique or unexpected approaches to the challenge, and whether the solution demonstrates a fresh perspective on the problem space that goes beyond obvious solutions.
15% Weight
Backed By

Our Sponsors

Submissions

Submit Your Project

📣 To be eligible for prizes, you must post about your app on LinkedIn after submitting. Share what you built, tag @Woz, and include a link to your app.

Getting Started

Tips for building
on Woz

Start with 2–3 different prompts. Don't overthink your first attempt — try a few variations of your app idea as short, clear descriptions. Woz will generate a full app from each one, and you can quickly compare which direction feels best.

Keep your initial prompt simple. A concise description works better than a lengthy PRD. If you over-specify upfront, the build will take longer and may not match your vision. Start lean, ship fast.

Iterate once your app is built. After you have a working version, focus on adding features, refining the UI, and improving the details. This is where you'll make your app stand out — layer on polish after the foundation is solid.

📖 Full Help Center & Documentation →
Join the Event

Zoom & Discord Links

📹 Zoom Webinar

Join from any device — PC, Mac, iPad, or Android.

Webinar ID: 953 1366 1383

Passcode: 373061

Phone: +1 650 724 9799 (US) · +1 833 302 1536 (Toll Free)

Join Zoom Webinar →
💬 Discord Community

All hackathon communications, team finding, drop-in sessions, and announcements happen on Discord.

Join #find-a-team to connect with others

Drop-in sessions & office hours hosted here

Join Discord Server →
FAQ

Got questions?

BuildFast is a one-day virtual hackathon powered by Woz where participants build a fully functional mobile app for their business idea in just 10 hours. No coding experience required. Build on Saturday, winners announced on Sunday.
Anyone can participate! While the hackathon is open to entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, small business owners, and aspiring builders from anywhere in the world, we especially encourage business school students to join. This is a unique opportunity for MBA candidates and business students to apply classroom concepts to a real product in a single day — no technical background needed. Whether you're working on a startup idea for a class project or exploring entrepreneurship for the first time, BuildFast is designed for you. Solo participants and teams of up to 4 are welcome.
No! Woz lets you build apps by describing what you want in plain English. The platform handles the technical side. This hackathon is specifically designed for non-technical and technical builders alike.
The hackathon is free to participate in. Woz will provide platform access for all registered participants.
Woz is an AI-powered platform that lets anyone build and launch real, production-ready mobile apps by describing their ideas in plain language. Unlike typical no-code tools that stop at prototypes, Woz generates clean, scalable code and handles backend infrastructure, database, authentication, payments, deployment, and ongoing maintenance — so you can go from concept to the App Store without writing code or hiring engineers. Founded by MIT engineers and backed by Y Combinator, Woz is building the future where anyone with entrepreneurial ambition can turn an idea into a real business. Learn more at withwoz.com.
Teams can have up to 4 members. You can register with an existing team, or come solo — that's totally fine too! If you're joining on your own, you can come with just an idea and find teammates once the hackathon starts. We'll open a #find-a-team channel on Discord where you can pitch your idea, browse what others are working on, and connect with complementary builders. Many of the best hackathon teams form the day of, so don't let not having a team stop you from registering.
Your final submission includes: your working Woz app/MVP (URL), a brief description, a 1–2 minute video pitch (optional but recommended), and a LinkedIn post about your experience building on Woz.
All teams pitch live on Saturday evening (1–2 minutes each). Judges independently review and score each submission across five weighted criteria overnight. The panel deliberates Sunday morning and winners are announced Sunday at 5 PM PST.
Projects are scored on a 1–10 scale across five weighted dimensions: Business Viability (25%) — real problem, real market, feasible model; Product Quality (25%) — functional, polished, and well-designed; Use of Woz (20%) — depth and sophistication of platform usage; Pitch & Presentation (15%) — clear, compelling, well-structured; Creativity & Innovation (15%) — originality and fresh thinking. See the Judges section above for full details on each criterion.
100% virtual via Zoom and Discord. Participate from anywhere in the world.
Don't miss out

Ready to build?

Join hundreds of builders for the BuildFast Hackathon.
March 14–15, 2026.

Register NowSubmit Your Project ↓