Don't justbuild.Ship.

Sydney's go-to-market hackathon. Open to anyone who wants to build.

Every hackathon ends the same way

Forty hours, a demo that works on the second attempt, a prize. After the event the repo goes quiet and nobody opens it again. The part that would have made it real — finding someone who actually wants it — never got scored, so nobody did it.

So we scored it.

Judged on three things. That's it.

01
Live demoIt has to actually run. In front of the room, no video.
02
Commercial caseWho it's for, what they do today, and why they'd switch.
03
Verified signupsReal users who opted in. Not your group chat.

Two of the three have nothing to do with how well you code. That's deliberate.

Scroll to pan the harbourScroll down

Zone 02 — The Shipyard

Seven days, three for selling

A mixer to find your team and get the briefs, a build weekend, then three days with one job: get it in front of real people. Pitch night is the report on what came back.

Dates: TBA
Locations: TBA

Day one — Mixer + briefs

6 until late

TBA

Mixer — find your team
Session6 until late
Briefs released
SessionTime TBC

Days two–three — Build focus

TBA

Days four–six — Ship focus

Time TBC

TBA

Put it in front of real people, chase signups and act on what comes back. More schedule details TBA.

Day seven — Pitch night

Time TBC

TBA

Live demonstrations
SessionTime TBC
Judging + results
SessionTime TBC

The back half is the point

A team that has only ever shown its product to a judging panel hasn't shipped anything — it has performed. Most hackathons end at the demo and leave the selling to whoever still has energy after the build. Here it is the programme: ship days, no scheduled sessions, no ceremony, one job. Pitch night is the report on what happened when you asked real people.

What you walk out with

A product that runs. Not a mockup with a fake login.
A case you can defend to someone who isn't your friend.
Users who said yes because you asked them properly.
Three days that exist only for getting it in front of people.
A team, if you arrived without one.

Zone 03 — Setting Sail

Put your name down

Registration is open. Put your name down for HarbourHack on Luma.

Reasonable questions

I've never shipped anything.
Good — that's the gap this closes. You'll ship in the first thirty-six hours whether it's ready or not, because you can't get signups for a thing nobody can use.
I don't have an idea.
Most people don't, and the ones who arrive with a precious one usually do worse. The kickoff is for narrowing to a single user.
I'm not technical.
Two of the three criteria are yours. A team that can build but can't sell loses to a team that can do both.
Do I need a team?
No. Register alone, say what you're strong at, and your card goes out so people can find you before the doors open.