Builders NYC: Hack Night #1 -- Flex Your Culture!

​Builders NYC is a new community that celebrates the founders, developers, students, designers, and product-minded builders that encompass all of New York City!

​The theme for tonight is a special one to us and one that celebrates the people of NYC: Flex Your Culture!

​New York City is shaped by people from every background, neighborhood, tradition, and upbringing imaginable. This Hack Night is about turning those stories into something real! Builders will spend the evening creating small projects inspired by their culture, family traditions, language, food, music, neighborhood, community, or anything else that shaped who they are.

​Our format is simple: a short intro from our founder, sponsor lightning talks, a focused hacking block, demos, and casual feedback from other builders.

​Who Should Attend

​This event is for founders, developers, designers, students, product-minded builders, and curious people who want to create something in a focused, high-energy environment.

​You do not need to be an expert. You just need to be willing to build, collaborate, and share what you worked on.

​Team Format

​You can build solo or in a team. We recommend teams of 2–4 people so builders can move quickly, share ideas, and have something demoable by the end of the night.

​Don’t worry if you don’t have a team before arriving. We’ll leave time for team formation before hacking begins.

​You don't need a polished idea to participate. The challenge is simple: Build something meaningful in a short amount of time and share the story behind it.

​What to Bring

​Bring a laptop, charger, and an idea if you have one. If you don’t have an idea yet, that’s completely fine, we’ll give examples and time to form teams.

​Agenda

• ​4:30 PM — Doors Open
  Check in, grab food, meet other builders, and find teammates.

• ​5:00 PM — Welcome to Builders NYC
  A short intro to Builders NYC, the mission behind the community, and what to expect for the night.

• ​5:10 PM — Sponsor Lightning Talks
  Hear from our sponsors and learn about tools, products, APIs, or resources you can use during the hack night.

• ​5:35 PM — Challenge Reveal: Flex Your Culture
  We’ll introduce the theme, explain the rules, and share example project ideas to help teams get started.

• ​5:50 PM — Team Formation
  Builders can work solo or form small teams before hacking begins.

• ​6:00 PM — Hacking Begins
  Teams will spend the evening building small, demoable projects inspired by culture, family, language, food, music, neighborhoods, traditions, community, or personal background.

• ​7:45 PM — Demo Submission + Final Prep
  Teams submit their project info and prepare for demos.

• ​8:00 PM — Demos
  Builders will have the chance to demo what they built. Projects do not need to be perfect, they just need to be real enough to show.

• ​8:55 PM — Closing Remarks
  We’ll wrap up, thank our sponsors and venue, and share what’s next for Builders NYC.

• ​9:00 PM — Event Ends