The Hard-to-Reach Hackathon
Cold outreach is dead. Access is engineered through distribution, network inference, and credibility systems.
Your mission is simple - get a celebrity on FaceTime.
The Hard to Reach Hackathon is a one-day build sprint for people who believe the fastest way to reach powerful, high-influence individuals is through a product and a costume.
You’ll be given a list of 30 high-profile, hard-to-reach celebrities / public figures spanning politics, music, sport, film, media, and culture. Your team must build a real product, tool, or system that creates a credible path to reaching one of them, and prove it live.
Any approach is valid, so long as you build something real. Software, automation, growth systems, comms engines, social funnels, network maps, or unconventional workflows. If it moves you closer to a FaceTime ring, it counts.
And yes. You must also dress up as a public figure or celebrity. Commitment to the bit is part of the challenge. Whether you show up as your target individual, a different one, or a creative interpretation of them, we encourage you to be bold!
Slides won’t win - Products will. Build something real, demo it live, and defend it. Winners will stand out for speed, creativity, and conviction.
Entrepreneurs First turns exceptional individuals into funded founders. Some arrive with an early idea, others just bring talent. EF backs founders first and connects them to Silicon Valley. EF companies are worth over $11B.
We’ll be hosting at EF’s office with generous support from:
Supabase $5Bn unicorn revolutionising SQL databases.
Eggi Helps sales teams never do cold outreach again.
Builders League Organises unique, collaborative events where participants work together as one large team on a shared challenge.
& more (stay tuned)
🧠Mentors & Jury
You’ll get hands-on support, tools & feedback from mentors at Open AI, Palantir, Google, Vercel, Entrepreneurs First, and leading VCs.
🏆Prizes
🏆Overall winner: $1000 USD cash prize + 3x1:1 private mentoring sessions with a senior startup & investment advisor.
🥇EF Prize: A private 1:1 with an EF Talent Investor - the kind of meeting that opens many doors.
⚡️Best Use of Supabase: $300 in Supabase credits + merch
🎩Best costume prize: $250 for full commitment to the look whilst shipping
🍳Special Eggi Prize: To be revealed onsite..
& more coming
Agenda
9:00 AM - Check-in & coffee ☕️
10:00 AM - Kickoff & team formation
10:30 AM - Build sprint + mentor sessions
1:00 PM - Lunch 🍕🍕(on us, don’t worry)
2:00 PM - Best costume award
5:00–7:00 PM - Final demos & judging
7:00 PM - Awards + photos you’ll regret 😁
Rules
Build from scratch on the day. No pre-written code - we’ll be checking.
Be respectful. We will refuse entry for costumes deemed offensive, discriminatory, or inappropriate.
Only accepted registrations will be permitted to join.
SEE YOU THERE
About LSE Generate
LSE Generate is the award-winning centre for entrepreneurship at the London School of Economics. We support thousands of alum build their businesses globally, with the school producing over 25,000 entrepreneurs globally (more than any other UK university), including 26+ unicorns, such as Allbirds, Scalable Capital, OakNorth, and Lendable.
San Francisco is one of our 20 International Chapters & we will running more events here this year (stay tuned!)