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Sorry, but if you are going to a SW to try and win, you are missing the point of SW. I appreciate that for some winning and losing might be the point, but it's
by jasonlotito 13y ago
Sorry, but if you are going to a SW to try and win, you are missing the point of SW. I appreciate that for some winning and losing might be the point, but it's been impressed upon me by everyone involved with SW that I've met that if you look at winning as the goal, you're going to have a bad time.
Hackathons and Startup Weekends are all about meeting new people, trying new things, and possibly making new friends. It's about trying to accomplish something and sharing it. At SW, it's about getting help in moving that idea forward, in qualifying the idea.
If you treat it like a win/lose scenario, you are going to lose regardless of the outcome.
- jerf 13y agoIf winning is not the point, then why is a win state defined?
- DanInTokyo 13y agoSame reason you give trophies to Little League participants - to provide context for the competition. To add something fun that hopefully underscores what is effectively a networking/show-off event.
- jarofgreen 13y agoThat's a very good question, and one I wish more hackathons would consider. I've seen one hackathon give prizes at the end totally at random, and some that don't do prizes at all.
- jasonlotito 13y agoYou don't define a win state. The event handlers do. Your goals will be different from the event handlers goals. And that's fine. You should have different goals.
- brandall10 13y agoWhat does exploiting a situation to aid a launch have to do with winning/losing? I led a team at one and coached at another and couldn't agree more with your reasons for doing it. My stance is in this case, by turning it into a publicity stunt it detracted from all the good stuff you mentioned. I'm sure no one cared too much as they got to meet Ashton/Demi and the saw all the glitter of a hot startup being launched.