Team Attention presents

HACKATHON
FOR ALIENS
in San Francisco

You don't need a green card
to build the future.

Partnership Proposal · 2026

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The reality

55% of US unicorns were
founded by immigrants.

Yet millions of brilliant builders are trapped in visa limbo —
brilliant enough to build billion-dollar companies,
but unable to start one.

"I have the skills. I just don't have the papers."
— Every H-1B dreamer who wants to found a company

The immigration system calls you "alien." We call you the next founder.

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"Your accent is your
unfair advantage."

Earth's problems need alien perspectives.
When you've crossed borders, you see opportunities locals can't.

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Our journey

Three steps to Aliens.

Skillthon
3rd Meetup
Human builds AI tools
Seoul · Anthropic
Ralphthon
4th Meetup
Set up AI, go to sleep
Seoul · OpenAI & KV
For Aliens
5th Meetup
Immigrant founders build
San Francisco

The series began in Seoul, now launches in SF —
the natural home for immigrant innovation.

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Who are the aliens?

Four founders. One story.

The Visa-Trapped Engineer
"I have the skills. I just don't have the papers."

H-1B holder dreaming of founding a company. Deep technical skills, terrified of losing visa status.
The International Student
"I graduate in 3 months and my OPT clock is ticking."

F-1 visa, Bay Area CS student. Fluent in code, navigating the H-1B lottery labyrinth.
The Cross-Border Founder
"I built a $2M company back home. Here, I'm starting from zero."

Successful entrepreneur from abroad. Came to SF for the US market and VC network.
The Culture-Tech Connector
"My grandmother's recipe is a billion-dollar idea."

Sees untapped opportunities at the intersection of heritage and technology.
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One prompt

Bring one problem
you face as an alien in America.

Build a solution. Share a story. Start a company.
The format is up to you.

🛂
Visa hell?
Hack it.
🌍
Cultural insight?
Ship it.
🚀
Startup idea?
Launch it.
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The paradigm shift

When your founder is an "alien".

Traditional Hackathon Hackathon for Aliens
Same backgrounds Diverse origins — every country welcome
English only Accents welcome. Build in your language.
Generic tech problems Cultural + visa + cross-border problems
Resume networking Survival networking — co-founders who get it
Judges evaluate code Judges evaluate perspective + cultural insight

USCIS calls you "alien." We call you the next unicorn founder.

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Evaluation

How we judge.

★
Alien Advantage — THE signature criterion
Does it uniquely leverage the team's immigrant or cross-cultural perspective? Could only an "alien" see this opportunity?
01
Technical Execution
Working demo with real AI integration. Is it real or a mockup?
02
Market Potential
Addressable market, revenue model, competitive landscape. Can this scale globally?
03
Founder-Market Fit
Is this team uniquely positioned to build this? Their origin IS their edge.

Target panel: immigrant-origin VCs · successful immigrant founders · technical experts

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You're an alien too

Why this matters to you.

You're a VC who crossed an ocean. You prove yourself to LPs in a market that wasn't built for you. You know what it's like to be the only foreigner in the room.
— The builders here are on the same journey. That's real deal flow.

For Alien VCs

Same Table
Not judging from above — sitting with founders who share your immigrant journey. Relationships built on shared experience last longer.
Real Signal
55% of US unicorns were founded by immigrants. Meet them before they have a deck. This is the pipeline no one else sees.

For Foundation Model Companies

Developer Adoption
API credits → future power users. Builders from 20+ countries on your platform.
Global Reach
Your brand reaches communities traditional marketing can't. Diverse builders create unexpected use cases.
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What participants get

Your launchpad package.

💻
API Credits & Tools
Build with the best foundation models. No cost barriers during the hackathon.
🤝
Network Access
Curated introductions to VCs, founders, and hiring managers. Winners get guaranteed pitch meetings.
🌐
Community & Culture
Lifetime alumni network. All meals from immigrant-owned SF restaurants — eat the culture you're building for.
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Team

Team Attention

AI-native guild. Seoul, Korea.
4 events · Anthropic & OpenAI backed · 200+ AI builders community

GB Jeong
Pozalabs Co-founder & CTO
SpaceY CPO
9 years
Hoyeon Lee
Socar
Project Pluto (NY)
9 years
Jake Park
Dr.Now Co-founder
Terminal X (NY)
7 years
Jayce Kim
Karrot · Ohouse
Baysians (US) Co-founder
7 years
Jinhyung Park
Sionic AI
#1 Claude Code user
worldwide

bong@team-attention.com · linkedin.com/in/gb-jeong · github.com/team-attention

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The bigger picture

These hackathons are the foundation
for Hacker Houses.

Every hackathon builds a local community. Every community becomes a permanent home for builders.

HQ
San Francisco
Where it starts. The immigrant founder capital of the world.
ASIA HQ
Seoul
Our home base. 200+ AI builders and 4 hackathons deep.
ROBOTICS
Shenzhen
Hardware meets AI. The robotics frontier.
TALENT
Bangalore
The world's largest developer community.

Hackathon → Community → Hacker House. That's the playbook.

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What we build together

We create Video Content
and Community.

Video Content
High-quality content from the hackathon — the process, demos, and breakthroughs. This is how the immigrant founder narrative spreads.
Community
Build a community of immigrant founders in SF that persists after the event. Global network of builders who understand each other's journey.

We're looking for partners who want to
co-create this value with us.

GB Jeong · bong@team-attention.com

Team Attention · Seoul × San Francisco · 2026

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