8 ms·

Salesforce $1 Million Hackathon

58 points by jmacd 13y ago

mmmack 13y ago
It's cool to see https://goinstant.com https://goinstant.com included as one of the APIs too!
jcutrell 13y ago
It really would be good to know definitively if this hackathon allows "mobile applications" that are web-based (not just native).
- craigkerstiens 13y ago
  Definitively HTML5 or web-based mobile apps are absolutely fine and applicable.
a2kadet 13y ago
So Salesforce is going to get an overhaul of the their mobile platform and, as a result, their business for one million dollars? That sounds like a steal to me.
- willis77 13y ago
  You really think they are going to "get an overhaul of the their mobile platform and, as a result, their business" from a three day hackathon? You underestimate Salesforce's size, the complexity of business in general, and about 50 other factors that make an event like this far from a silver bullet overhaul, whatever that means.
  - mp01 13y ago
    From the official rules: "Participants may begin forming their teams and working on their entry...as early as October 25, 2013."
falcolas 13y ago
Allow me to don my cynic hat and add a subtitle to this: "Salesforce's marketing department joins the 21st century."
mp01 13y ago
"Second through fifth prizes may be awarded their prize (in the case of teams, to the team leader) in the form of one or more gift cards." Do they plan on telling people what the gift cards could be for or are they going to wait until teams have worked on their submission for several weeks?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- CaveTech 13y ago
  Congratulations! You've just won a $50,000 gift certificate for SalesForce!
  - yelnatz 13y ago
    Sweet! I can afford signing up for the hackathon.
- Jd 13y ago
  I've won gift cards before by presenting at Dreamforce. They were for globalgiving.org, an awesome non-profit that allows you to donate to another non-profit of your choice.
- lectrick 13y ago
  "Second prize is a set of steak knives." "Third prize is you're fired."
- swamp40 13y ago
  From the discussion board: Winners will receive American Express gift cards payable in US Dollars.
hardwaresofton 13y ago
Can anyone tell me what the "salesforce" API is? And what they do? I'm a little interested, but honestly don't know what the hell they bring to the table, all I've been able to find to describe what they do is business jargon
- dradtke 13y ago
  Salesforce is an online CRM tool and development platform. From a programmer's point of view, it essentially includes the full stack from database to UI, but the API can be used to allow external programs to access its data. That said, as a development platform, Salesforce is definitely a second-class citizen to being a CRM, and I wouldn't recommend using it unless you need a very specific type of application.
  - Jd 13y ago
    That's true but the platform has come a long way since inception and you get instant integration into the CRM data and SFDC customers. It's obviously not the platform of choice from the developer preference side, but there can be business logic that demands it (I've seen some fairly successful startups build native SFDC apps, even contributed some code).
- infinitone 13y ago
  I interned at salesforce. They have quite a few products so its hard to say what is they do in one sentence. But their target market is basically enterprise, they provide cloud infrastructure, they provide employee performance app (work.com - previously was startup Rypple they acquired). Their core product is the CRM (customer relation management) which is not really CRM now but more of a platform that you can add 3rd party apps to (such as work.com). Other products is a yammer-like thing called chatter (not a fan of it) but they give it out as a freebie last i checked. Summed up, i would say they are like the iOS/appstore platform but on the cloud and only for businesses. So i can use it to track my customers then i can add an app that does appointment scheduling for me for those customers, for example.
  - 13y ago
stefl 13y ago
Usually the idea of a hackathon is you make something in a short period of time. Because you can start now, before the event has started, really it's "Hey developers, please make some stuff with our API and then come and show us on the day of our conference". Or have I got this wrong?
- jmacd 13y ago
  A lot of hackathons, like Node Knockout, are announced in advance. http://nodeknockout.com/ http://nodeknockout.com/
  - frankdenbow 13y ago
    NodeKnockout may be announced in advance but entries need to be done within 48 hours : http://nodekockout.com/rules http://nodekockout.com/rules
    - m0th87 13y ago
      That link errors out for me. That said, I've never seen time constraints actually enforced in any real way at a hackathon, and I suspect there's a good amount of cheating at events with decent-sized rewards. Multiply that a thousand-fold for a hackathon offering $1m.
- lojack 13y ago
  The part of this hackathon that concerns me is this: > Are granting us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to: (i) use, review, assess, test, and otherwise analyze your Entry and all its content in connection with this Hackathon; and (ii) feature your Entry and all its content in connection with the marketing, sale, or promotion of this Hackathon and of Salesforce.com (including but not limited to internal and external presentations, tradeshows, and screen shots of the Hackathon Entry process in press releases) in all media (now known or later developed); Maybe this isn't their intention, but win or lose there's nothing stopping Salesforce from taking your submission and running with it.
elmarto755 13y ago
Oh how i wish this was in the UK :(
jnbiche 13y ago
So it costs $99 to participate in this? Let me get this straight -- I pay Salesforce $99 for the privilege of developing mobile software for them, using their API, in return for a (very small) change of winning a big prize? Yeah, I'll stick to developing for those companies who don't charge developers for this kind of free exposure and software (for Salesforce).
- bennyg 13y ago
  This is the backwards version of contract-to-hire.
- redler 13y ago
  It sounds something like those "design contests" -- with an entry fee -- sponsored by companies who would otherwise select and hire a designer or design firm. The company is actually buying a vast pool of ideas, only one of which they have to "buy" -- usually for substantially less than what a real engagement would cost. But in this case, the $1M prize is big enough to add a lottery-like element.
- nickh 13y ago
  You're spot on. Paying to participate is ridiculous. It also works against Salesforce by creating a barrier to entry for people who are on the fence about participating.
- segmondy 13y ago
  If you don't want to spend $99. Don't. Someone is going to, and for spending that $99. They are going to win a million. Many people spend more than $99 to win nothing. Many people spend more than that buying the latest mac book air, registering on the apple store, buying IDEs and libraries to develop their app and they end up making $500 when all is said and done. What's your point? It take's money to make money.
  - jggonz 13y ago
    Even though I disagree with the $99, I agree with you on this one: It takes money to make money. I've developed some great mobile apps, but I'm not as proficient as someone that has done it every day for the past 5+ years... $99 is going to be weed out a lot of people that just don't feel they have the talent in mobile web development to actually have a shot at the $1M (or even the second or third place spot). $99 is the price of the lottery ticket. If you have an amazing idea and want to show it off at this event, you can do so, and still have a chance to win $1M. People like to complain too much.
karthikm 13y ago
Looking for team members to hack along with ... my email is in profile
- bmcd 13y ago
  karthikm I don't see it?
robomartin 13y ago
A lot of negative posts. Here's one way to look at it: You are buying a $99 lottery ticket for the opportunity to win $1,000,000. Except, the probability of winning is in the order of 1 in 1000 rather than 1 in 175,223,510 (US/Powerball lottery). And this lottery isn't won by random chance, it is won based on the merits and quality of your work. And, someone WILL win it. So, yeah, if you have interesting ideas and understand the Salesforce platform it might be really smart to give this a shot. Even the lesser prices might be well worth it for some.
eventhough 13y ago
Grand Prize:$1,000,000 Second Prize:$50,000 Third Prize:$25,000 Fourth Prize:$10,000 Fifth Prize:$5,000 http://events.developerforce.com/en/dreamforce/hackathon/details http://events.developerforce.com/en/dreamforce/hackathon/det...
hakcermani 13y ago
Its a great move by Salesforce. If they get 10K developers it is almost a wash for them. And suddenly they have a huge number of new developers looking at their platform.
Segmentation 13y ago
Are Hackathons of this scale broadcasted on the Internet? It would be cool to see a Twitch.tv for Hackathons. Also, you might think it's not worthwhile considering Hackathons take place over 24+ hours, but then some League of Legends tournaments take place over a week.
ChrisCinelli 13y ago
Pretty much it means working no stop for 30 days. But if you want to work in this space his is a great opportunity to launch your app.

58 points by jmacd 13y ago

It's cool to see https://goinstant.com https://goinstant.com included as one of the APIs too!

It really would be good to know definitively if this hackathon allows "mobile applications" that are web-based (not just native).

craigkerstiens 13y ago
Definitively HTML5 or web-based mobile apps are absolutely fine and applicable.

a2kadet 13y ago

So Salesforce is going to get an overhaul of the their mobile platform and, as a result, their business for one million dollars? That sounds like a steal to me.

willis77 13y ago
You really think they are going to "get an overhaul of the their mobile platform and, as a result, their business" from a three day hackathon? You underestimate Salesforce's size, the complexity of business in general, and about 50 other factors that make an event like this far from a silver bullet overhaul, whatever that means.
- mp01 13y ago
  From the official rules: "Participants may begin forming their teams and working on their entry...as early as October 25, 2013."

falcolas 13y ago

Allow me to don my cynic hat and add a subtitle to this: "Salesforce's marketing department joins the 21st century."

mp01 13y ago

"Second through fifth prizes may be awarded their prize (in the case of teams, to the team leader) in the form of one or more gift cards." Do they plan on telling people what the gift cards could be for or are they going to wait until teams have worked on their submission for several weeks?

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
CaveTech 13y ago
Congratulations! You've just won a $50,000 gift certificate for SalesForce!
- yelnatz 13y ago
  Sweet! I can afford signing up for the hackathon.
Jd 13y ago
I've won gift cards before by presenting at Dreamforce. They were for globalgiving.org, an awesome non-profit that allows you to donate to another non-profit of your choice.
lectrick 13y ago
"Second prize is a set of steak knives." "Third prize is you're fired."
swamp40 13y ago
From the discussion board: Winners will receive American Express gift cards payable in US Dollars.

hardwaresofton 13y ago

Can anyone tell me what the "salesforce" API is? And what they do? I'm a little interested, but honestly don't know what the hell they bring to the table, all I've been able to find to describe what they do is business jargon

dradtke 13y ago
Salesforce is an online CRM tool and development platform. From a programmer's point of view, it essentially includes the full stack from database to UI, but the API can be used to allow external programs to access its data. That said, as a development platform, Salesforce is definitely a second-class citizen to being a CRM, and I wouldn't recommend using it unless you need a very specific type of application.
- Jd 13y ago
  That's true but the platform has come a long way since inception and you get instant integration into the CRM data and SFDC customers. It's obviously not the platform of choice from the developer preference side, but there can be business logic that demands it (I've seen some fairly successful startups build native SFDC apps, even contributed some code).
infinitone 13y ago
I interned at salesforce. They have quite a few products so its hard to say what is they do in one sentence. But their target market is basically enterprise, they provide cloud infrastructure, they provide employee performance app (work.com - previously was startup Rypple they acquired). Their core product is the CRM (customer relation management) which is not really CRM now but more of a platform that you can add 3rd party apps to (such as work.com). Other products is a yammer-like thing called chatter (not a fan of it) but they give it out as a freebie last i checked. Summed up, i would say they are like the iOS/appstore platform but on the cloud and only for businesses. So i can use it to track my customers then i can add an app that does appointment scheduling for me for those customers, for example.
- 13y ago

stefl 13y ago

Usually the idea of a hackathon is you make something in a short period of time. Because you can start now, before the event has started, really it's "Hey developers, please make some stuff with our API and then come and show us on the day of our conference". Or have I got this wrong?

jmacd 13y ago
A lot of hackathons, like Node Knockout, are announced in advance. http://nodeknockout.com/ http://nodeknockout.com/
- frankdenbow 13y ago
  NodeKnockout may be announced in advance but entries need to be done within 48 hours : http://nodekockout.com/rules http://nodekockout.com/rules
  - m0th87 13y ago
    That link errors out for me. That said, I've never seen time constraints actually enforced in any real way at a hackathon, and I suspect there's a good amount of cheating at events with decent-sized rewards. Multiply that a thousand-fold for a hackathon offering $1m.
lojack 13y ago
The part of this hackathon that concerns me is this: > Are granting us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to: (i) use, review, assess, test, and otherwise analyze your Entry and all its content in connection with this Hackathon; and (ii) feature your Entry and all its content in connection with the marketing, sale, or promotion of this Hackathon and of Salesforce.com (including but not limited to internal and external presentations, tradeshows, and screen shots of the Hackathon Entry process in press releases) in all media (now known or later developed); Maybe this isn't their intention, but win or lose there's nothing stopping Salesforce from taking your submission and running with it.

elmarto755 13y ago

Oh how i wish this was in the UK :(

jnbiche 13y ago

So it costs $99 to participate in this? Let me get this straight -- I pay Salesforce $99 for the privilege of developing mobile software for them, using their API, in return for a (very small) change of winning a big prize? Yeah, I'll stick to developing for those companies who don't charge developers for this kind of free exposure and software (for Salesforce).

bennyg 13y ago
This is the backwards version of contract-to-hire.
redler 13y ago
It sounds something like those "design contests" -- with an entry fee -- sponsored by companies who would otherwise select and hire a designer or design firm. The company is actually buying a vast pool of ideas, only one of which they have to "buy" -- usually for substantially less than what a real engagement would cost. But in this case, the $1M prize is big enough to add a lottery-like element.
nickh 13y ago
You're spot on. Paying to participate is ridiculous. It also works against Salesforce by creating a barrier to entry for people who are on the fence about participating.
segmondy 13y ago
If you don't want to spend $99. Don't. Someone is going to, and for spending that $99. They are going to win a million. Many people spend more than $99 to win nothing. Many people spend more than that buying the latest mac book air, registering on the apple store, buying IDEs and libraries to develop their app and they end up making $500 when all is said and done. What's your point? It take's money to make money.
- jggonz 13y ago
  Even though I disagree with the $99, I agree with you on this one: It takes money to make money. I've developed some great mobile apps, but I'm not as proficient as someone that has done it every day for the past 5+ years... $99 is going to be weed out a lot of people that just don't feel they have the talent in mobile web development to actually have a shot at the $1M (or even the second or third place spot). $99 is the price of the lottery ticket. If you have an amazing idea and want to show it off at this event, you can do so, and still have a chance to win $1M. People like to complain too much.

karthikm 13y ago

Looking for team members to hack along with ... my email is in profile

bmcd 13y ago
karthikm I don't see it?

robomartin 13y ago

A lot of negative posts. Here's one way to look at it: You are buying a $99 lottery ticket for the opportunity to win $1,000,000. Except, the probability of winning is in the order of 1 in 1000 rather than 1 in 175,223,510 (US/Powerball lottery). And this lottery isn't won by random chance, it is won based on the merits and quality of your work. And, someone WILL win it. So, yeah, if you have interesting ideas and understand the Salesforce platform it might be really smart to give this a shot. Even the lesser prices might be well worth it for some.

eventhough 13y ago

Grand Prize:$1,000,000 Second Prize:$50,000 Third Prize:$25,000 Fourth Prize:$10,000 Fifth Prize:$5,000 http://events.developerforce.com/en/dreamforce/hackathon/details http://events.developerforce.com/en/dreamforce/hackathon/det...

hakcermani 13y ago

Its a great move by Salesforce. If they get 10K developers it is almost a wash for them. And suddenly they have a huge number of new developers looking at their platform.

Segmentation 13y ago

Are Hackathons of this scale broadcasted on the Internet? It would be cool to see a Twitch.tv for Hackathons. Also, you might think it's not worthwhile considering Hackathons take place over 24+ hours, but then some League of Legends tournaments take place over a week.

ChrisCinelli 13y ago

Pretty much it means working no stop for 30 days. But if you want to work in this space his is a great opportunity to launch your app.