HackAotearoa is going national, starting with Wellington
What Founders Want is running our Wellington chapter, and helping us reach the rest of the country.
HackAotearoa started in Auckland in March 2026. One free day every second Friday where founders show up and build their own thing in the same room. No speakers, no pitching, no programme to apply to. More than 100 builders have come through the door at GridAKL on word of mouth alone.
Now it's expanding beyond Auckland. What Founders Want is launching our Wellington chapter, and taking on the job of helping HackAotearoa reach other cities after that.
Why this partnership
Getting a company off the ground goes wrong in two separate places.
The first is knowing what to do. Which accelerator, whose money to take and on what terms, when you actually need a lawyer, how the government can help. Get these wrong and nobody tells you at the time. You pay for it later, in equity, money and time you can't get back.
The second is doing the work without going quiet. Building alone in your living room drains momentum. The person most useful to a founder is usually another founder a few steps ahead, and most founders go months without sitting next to one.
What Founders Want handles the first. It's a free, neutral online reference: how to raise money without wrecking your company, who does what across the ecosystem, and what things actually cost. No pay-to-play, no advisers taking a cut, no founder ever charged. Around 75,000 sessions since April 2025, with no paid marketing.
HackAotearoa handles the second. The room where you build.
You can read every right answer and still stall out alone. You can have all the momentum in the world and still take the wrong money. The two gaps are real and separate, which is why covering both matters. Both are free. Neither sells you anything.
What this means if you're in Wellington
A free co-working day is coming to Wellington, same format as Auckland. You show up, say what you're building, and build it alongside other founders doing the same thing. Lane Litz, who runs What Founders Want, runs the Wellington chapter in person. The first session and venue are being locked in now, and the details will land on the HackAotearoa page on What Founders Want.
What this means if you're somewhere else
Auckland works. Wellington is starting. The third city is up to you.
Vote for where HackAotearoa should go next. And if you want to make it happen where you are, raise your hand to run a chapter, co-host, or offer a venue. Two minutes, no login.
Vote and raise your hand here.
Who runs what
HackAotearoa owns the brand, the format and the community. What Founders Want is our national distribution partner and runs the Wellington chapter in person. Two independent organisations, not a legal partnership or an advisory arrangement. Founders pay nothing to either, at any point. That isn't a launch offer. It's the whole point.
RSVP to Auckland: luma.com/hackaotearoa
More on HackAotearoa: hackaotearoa.nz
What Founders Want: whatfounderswant.com
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