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Not to mention it cost $500 to enter, meaning negative EV, not as bad as the lotto, but still a losers' gamble.

by goldenkey 13y ago

yeukhon 13y ago
This part I just don't get it. Why? Salesforce is not a small startup. It can definitely afford a 100k hackathon.
- trentmb 13y ago
  The Web-Startup Tool Mindest.
- ReligiousWacko 13y ago
  Not startup but still losing tons of money.
  - yeukhon 13y ago
    i don't know the actual number. They might have a negative net income for a little while due to expense but according to this news, growth is going up. Plus, if you look at Facebook's Tools Engineering position it mentions Salesforce.com so I think the company has a pretty good outlook. Plus, coming, 100k for food and facility is not that much to them when they are giving up 1M. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/salesforce-coms-revenue-growth-accelerates-234800113.html http://finance.yahoo.com/news/salesforce-coms-revenue-growth...
andyakb 13y ago
An entry fee does not make something negative EV. $1,090,000 was added to the prizepool. If it was literally 100% guaranteed that the winner was pre-selected, then it would be -EV if >180 teams entered and all had the same chance of winning a prize. If the event was not rigged, then it is clearly +EV for even medicore participants.
jmacd 13y ago
It did not cost $500 to enter. It was either $99 or Free (there was a free entry promotion for most of the time during the run up to the hackathon).
- goldenkey 13y ago
  I was wrong. Still though, that $99 fee is _per_ person. You'd probably have 2 or 3 people on your team. That's $300 in that case. And if I'm correct, I remember them saying that a 1-person team would have very low chances of winning. Not to mention that the competition is not a 1-day event, it is just a 1-day showing, the winning team put a month of work in addition to what they already had completed as a base. I am not one to take such large gambles when the tables are clearly not in my favor. The whole thing reeks of pre-arranged cronyism.
- philthesong 13y ago
  even if it was free...... how about time?
- DanBC 13y ago
  All entrants had to be a registered attendant of Dreamforce 2013. Are people including that cost too? http://salesforce1million.challengepost.com/ http://salesforce1million.challengepost.com/ > You are, and each of your team members is, a registered attendee of Dreamforce 2013. See the Dreamforce website for event registration information. How much did that cost? DF14 says it's going to be $799 https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF13/register.jsp?d=70130000000tFvi&internal=true https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF13/register.jsp?d=70... I think, but I don't know, that DF13 was the same price? Maybe the 5 is just a key-rollover error from the $99?
- dlotus 13y ago
  Very few people registered at even the $99 hacker pass level, which is why they ended up making it free. Nobody who wasn't already going to DF paid the full conference price to participate in the hackathon. Quit with the hysteria.
schmerdy 13y ago
I don't know what you paid $500 for. The hackathon was free. Zero. $0. Early on they charged $99 for a developer pass, but they reimbursed me and my team members.

Not to mention it cost $500 to enter, meaning negative EV, not as bad as the lotto, but still a losers' gamble.

yeukhon 13y ago

This part I just don't get it. Why? Salesforce is not a small startup. It can definitely afford a 100k hackathon.

trentmb 13y ago
The Web-Startup Tool Mindest.
ReligiousWacko 13y ago
Not startup but still losing tons of money.
- yeukhon 13y ago
  i don't know the actual number. They might have a negative net income for a little while due to expense but according to this news, growth is going up. Plus, if you look at Facebook's Tools Engineering position it mentions Salesforce.com so I think the company has a pretty good outlook. Plus, coming, 100k for food and facility is not that much to them when they are giving up 1M. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/salesforce-coms-revenue-growth-accelerates-234800113.html http://finance.yahoo.com/news/salesforce-coms-revenue-growth...

andyakb 13y ago

An entry fee does not make something negative EV. $1,090,000 was added to the prizepool. If it was literally 100% guaranteed that the winner was pre-selected, then it would be -EV if >180 teams entered and all had the same chance of winning a prize. If the event was not rigged, then it is clearly +EV for even medicore participants.

jmacd 13y ago

It did not cost $500 to enter. It was either $99 or Free (there was a free entry promotion for most of the time during the run up to the hackathon).

goldenkey 13y ago
I was wrong. Still though, that $99 fee is _per_ person. You'd probably have 2 or 3 people on your team. That's $300 in that case. And if I'm correct, I remember them saying that a 1-person team would have very low chances of winning. Not to mention that the competition is not a 1-day event, it is just a 1-day showing, the winning team put a month of work in addition to what they already had completed as a base. I am not one to take such large gambles when the tables are clearly not in my favor. The whole thing reeks of pre-arranged cronyism.
philthesong 13y ago
even if it was free...... how about time?
DanBC 13y ago
All entrants had to be a registered attendant of Dreamforce 2013. Are people including that cost too? http://salesforce1million.challengepost.com/ http://salesforce1million.challengepost.com/ > You are, and each of your team members is, a registered attendee of Dreamforce 2013. See the Dreamforce website for event registration information. How much did that cost? DF14 says it's going to be $799 https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF13/register.jsp?d=70130000000tFvi&internal=true https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF13/register.jsp?d=70... I think, but I don't know, that DF13 was the same price? Maybe the 5 is just a key-rollover error from the $99?
dlotus 13y ago
Very few people registered at even the $99 hacker pass level, which is why they ended up making it free. Nobody who wasn't already going to DF paid the full conference price to participate in the hackathon. Quit with the hysteria.

schmerdy 13y ago

I don't know what you paid $500 for. The hackathon was free. Zero. $0. Early on they charged $99 for a developer pass, but they reimbursed me and my team members.