SEP 4, 2026 - OCT 17, 2026
PRODUCTBC
MULTI-WEEK BUILD-A-THON
Registration for fall 2026 cohort is now closed.
Sponsored By
We are looking for Build-A-Thon Mentors!
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Build-a-thon is an in-person, hands-on product development program where you'll work in a team to identify a real user problem, design and prototype a solution, and pitch your product strategy live at Demo Day.
OVERVIEW
MISSION
Whether you’re an aspiring PM with no formal experience, an early-career PM, a seasoned PM exploring something new, or a non-PM professional curious about product work, the Build-a-thon is designed for you.
- Build a real product from 0 to 1, from first idea to working prototype.
- Work through the core stages of product development: discover, design, build, launch, and pitch.
- Leverage AI tools at every stage to research, prototype, and ship faster.
- Collaborate in small teams with peers from BC’s product community.
- Learn directly from experienced practitioners throughout the program.
- Pitch to a panel of judges and leave with a portfolio-ready case study.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
A multi-week product development program guiding participants through:
- Discover – Identify and validate user problems
- Design – Develop product concepts and experiences
- Build – Create prototypes and test solutions
- Launch – Develop go-to-market strategies
- Pitch – Pitch in front of judge
PROGRAM EXPECTATIONS
The Build-a-thon is designed as a hands-on product development experience where participants build product skills through the full product lifecycle, from problem discovery to final pitch.
The program is not intended to serve as a standalone pitch opportunity for previously built products. While participants may bring ideas or explore existing problem spaces, teams are expected to develop and refine their ideas through the Build-a-thon process and demonstrate their product thinking, decision-making, and learnings throughout the program.
OUR INSTRUCTORS
WORKSHOPS
Speakers
Lauren Isaacson
Lauren is Founder and Research Director of Curio Research in Vancouver. Over 20+ years she's led research for TELUS Digital, Mozilla, BC Hydro, SAP, and Google Cloud. She holds an MBA from Pepperdine and served as 2023/24 QRCA President. Her workshop gives PMs lightweight discovery methods to use right away.
Session: User Research & Validation
Matt Karakalic
Matt Karakilic is a design leader with 18 years building intelligent systems. He helped architect design systems (UKG), led global teams (Hitachi Energy), and built agentic AI (Matt AI). Now he consults on transforming tedious workflows with AI agents, teaches at Emily Carr, and mentors through Designed Forward.
Session: Product Design
Yuliia Galytska
Yuliia is a Senior Product Designer at Lendesk focused on regulated industries like legaltech and fintech. A former lawyer, she brings clarity and empathy to complex systems. She designs AI-powered features, builds design systems, and leads user research that shapes product strategy and roadmaps.
Session: Product Design
Ryan Smith
Ryan is CEO of Smith Horn Group, Founder of Skillsmith.app, Sr. Partner at Zero to One Events, ex-Shopify Product Lead, and faculty at Emily Carr University. He founded deep learning company Digital Animal and holds a US computer vision patent. His background in Physics (UVic) and an MBA (UBC) bridges the science and the business of building with agentic AI.
Session: Build & Deploy
Anatolii Iakimets
Anatolii is a product marketing leader with 12+ years in B2B SaaS across enterprise and SMB. He specializes in taking highly technical products to market: infrastructure, platforms, network solutions, and API-first tools, with domain depth in telecom, ecommerce, and payments. He's executed GTM strategies at startups and 10,000-person companies.
Session: Go-to-Market Strategy
Chang Han
Chang is Executive in Residence for AccelerateIP, ex-Lead Entrepreneur in Residence at entrepreneurship@UBC, and founder of the Beavers Den angel syndicate and pitch contest. A former litigation attorney and in-house IP counsel, he's now a startup advisor, angel investor, and founder focused on agentic AI and legaltech, and teaches at BCIT.
Session: How to Pitch
Judges
Alan Albert
Alan is Founder and CEO of MarketFit, where he provides strategic and leadership coaching to CEOs, executives, and leadership teams. He has co-founded three software companies, including one acquired by Apple, and has led products generating more than US$1 billion in cumulative revenue. A recipient of the FileMaker Lifetime Achievement Award, Alan also serves as a board director and advisor to software businesses, bringing extensive experience across product strategy, organizational leadership, and company building.
Chang Han
Chang is Executive in Residence for the AccelerateIP grant program for intellectual property, and was Lead Entrepreneur in Residence at Innovation UBC for over a decade, supporting startups across every industry vertical at their earliest stages. He founded the Beavers Den angel syndicate and pitch contest, and serves on numerous startup and nonprofit boards. A former litigation attorney and in-house IP counsel, he is also an angel investor, a founder focused on agentic AI and legaltech, and a BCIT faculty member.
Dominic Wong
Dominic is Managing Director at Invoke, where he helps startups and established brands turn ideas into market-ready digital products. With 20+ years of experience as a multidisciplinary product designer, he’s worked across discovery, user validation, prototyping, MVPs, and product launches. He leads design sprints and brings a strong focus on understanding real users and testing ideas before teams invest heavily in building them.
Elaine Ann
Elaine is General Partner and Co-Founder of Zenith Venture Studio, spinning off AI B2B startups. A veteran of the mid-90s dot-com era, she lived and worked in New York and Silicon Valley for 12 years, and brings 28+ years in product-market fit and UX, with past clients including Fortune 500 companies like Google, Meta, and Airbnb. A Carnegie Mellon graduate, she's also a founding member of AI Startup Hub, a Canadian non-profit for AI founders and investors.
Surabhi Potnis
Surabhi is the former Head of Engineering at WineDirect. She brings 10+ years of experience at Silicon Valley companies including LinkedIn and Salesforce, where she built large-scale data and machine learning platforms. A Georgia Institute of Technology graduate, she holds a Master's in Computer Science with a specialization in Machine Learning. Now a solopreneur, Surabhi runs her own AI-native company building B2C products for consumers.
Mentors
Harshad Shinde
Harshad is a Senior Product Manager who builds at the intersection of regulatory complexity, business logic, and scalable technology. Over 8+ years at Avalara and Mindbody, he led cross-border duty automation, launched TrustFile GST during India's national rollout, and ran payments and billing for 1,800+ wellness businesses.
Dashmeet Singh
Dashmeet is a Senior Product Manager at Match Group focused on AI and platform products in B2B SaaS, owning strategy, discovery, roadmaps, and delivery for systems that automate complex workflows. His engineering and customer success background shapes how he assesses feasibility, scopes realistically, and prioritizes what actually ships.
Andy Luu
Andy is a Technical Product Manager II at Global Relay, where he's driven product strategy for four years, following an APM role at PDFTron. He started as a software developer at Groundswell, MDA, and ESS Technology, and holds an Integrated Engineering degree from UBC. He co-founded BobaBot, winning first place at Innovation Onboard.
Sanjay Mahara
Sanjay is a Hardware & AI Product Manager at Safe Fleet and a serial SaaS founder with one exit. He started his first business at 12, repairing computers off Craigslist, and that curiosity carried him into engineering and business. He's spent a decade building deep tech, leading teams, and working where technology meets people.
Siamak Khorrami
Siamak is an AI product leader at ZipRecruiter working on agentic experiences, with a background spanning HealthTech, SaaS, and consumer platforms. He built Amazon Alexa's ads personalization platform from zero to 60M users, owned acquisition at One Medical, and scaled ARR 6x as Head of Product at Tali AI. He's a two-time founder with one exit.
Session Schedule
| Session | Date | Time | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kickoff |
Fri, Sep 4 |
6:00 – 9:00 PM |
Orientation & Team Formation |
|
1 |
Sat, Sep 5 |
1:30 – 4:30 PM |
User Research & Validation |
|
2 |
Sat, Sep 12 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
Product Design |
|
3 |
Sun, Sep 20 |
1:00 – 5:00 PM |
Build & Deploy |
|
4 |
Sat, Sep 26 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
Go-to-Market Strategy |
|
5 |
Sat, Oct 3 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
How to Pitch |
|
6 |
Sat, Oct 17 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
Demo Day |
| Session | Date | Time | Topic | FEAT. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kickoff |
Fri, Sep 4 |
6:00 – 9:00 PM |
Orientation & Team Formation |
Build-A-Thon Committee |
|
1 |
Sat, Sep 5 |
1:30 – 4:30 PM |
User Research & Validation |
Lauren Isaacson |
|
2 |
Sat, Sep 12 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
Product Design |
Matt Karakalic &
Yuliia Galytska |
|
3 |
Sun, Sep 20 |
1:00 – 5:00 PM |
Build & Deploy |
Ryan Smith |
|
4 |
Sat, Sep 26 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
Go-to-Market Strategy |
TBD |
|
5 |
Sat, Oct 3 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
How to Pitch |
Chang Han |
|
6 |
Sat, Oct 17 |
1:30 – 4:30 pm |
Demo Day |
Build-A-Thon Judge Panel |
FAQ
A 6-week hands-on program where you’ll team up to find a real user problem, then design, build, and pitch a solution at Demo Day. It’s as exciting as it sounds!
It’s in person! Kickoff and all six workshops happen in person, so plan on being in the room. Your team will likely also coordinate online between sessions, but the core program is a hands on, in person experience.
PMs at any experience level are welcome, along with designers, developers, marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone else who’s product curious. Whether you’re an aspiring PM with zero formal experience, an early career PM, an experienced PM exploring something new, or a non-PM professional wanting a taste of product work, there’s a spot for you here.
We’re also looking for product experts! If you’re ready to share your wealth of knowledge and join us as a team mentor, sign up here!
Teams come together at kickoff, so you don’t need to show up with one already. We form 15 teams of 3 to 4 people (about 60 participants total), grouped by shared interests, skills, and problem areas, so odds are good you’ll land with people who round out your strengths nicely.
You’ll need to attend kickoff plus at least 4 of the 6 weekly sessions. It’s a hard eligibility requirement, not something a great application can make up for, so take a look at your calendar before applying!
The program itself is free. The only cost is a refundable $50 commitment deposit, due after acceptance. Meet the participation requirements and you get it back (or can choose to donate it to ProductBC). Miss them, and it’s forfeited to the event prize pool.
Just one thing to plan for. Build exercises may require a personal subscription to an AI service such as Claude. That’s not covered by the program, so budget for it before applying.
Yes, each team submits a weekly progress check-in, due every Friday. It’s quick to do and keeps everyone moving in the same direction.
You bet! The winning team takes home a $1,000 cash prize, awarded at Demo Day.
Beyond the prize chase, you’ll leave with a portfolio ready product case study you built end to end, sharper practical product skills, and real relationships within the ProductBC community. That’s the kind of thing that sticks around long after Demo Day.
Not as a standalone pitch. You’re welcome to bring an existing idea, but your team needs to develop and refine it through the program, that’s really the heart of the experience!
Spring 2026 Cohort Gallery
Everyone needs Product Thinking, now more than ever before. If everyone can build, how do you develop judgement and discernment to drive the most customer and business value? How do you mobilize today’s product teams and technology to solve and build for that value?