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One gem that stood out to me from the article was the author's take on hackathons: "The prizes were nice, but the knowledge, soft skills, and connections were p

One gem that stood out to me from the article was the author's take on hackathons: "The prizes were nice, but the knowledge, soft skills, and connections were prizes in themselves" - which seems like the right way of approaching a hackathon.

davidw 12y ago
> the knowledge, soft skills, and connections To me that kind of points to something I don't like about hackathons: if I want to really dig deep and hack on something, I don't want to be terribly social. On the other hand, I have a lot of fun meeting people and talking, and so on, but at that point, having to go code something is kind of distracting from the social part.
- binarysolo 12y ago
  The "actual work part" provides the filtering that leaves you with relevant people so you don't end up in a hackathon with lots of wantrepreneurs.
  - davidw 12y ago
    I do actual work in an office during the day, or evenings/weekends at home. If I want to get actual work done, it's going to be working on something of my own, not some thing with a random-ish goal, with prizes.
- blister 12y ago
  We have a monthly hackathon locally and I always get so incredibly frustrated when there are only a few groups hacking and a bunch of people standing around bullshitting. It's even more frustrating when one of those groups win with something they brought from home. :(
- sayangel 12y ago
  author here - totally get where you're coming from, but there's huge value in the social part as well. It's not to say I didn't do any coding at the hackathons I went to. But if I was going to immerse myself with other, smarter human beings I might as well talk to them! Finding the balance is tough, but that's why going to these sorts of things was so important to me. Helps you learn how to filter out noise, talk to the right people, etc. If you know what you're looking you can be quite efficient when talking to people.
logicallee 12y ago
I know it's not exactly the point, but I'm curious if sometimes large startups happen at hackathans... Have there been (and if so which ones) startups that were created literally at a hackathon? (meaning didn't exist before, hackathon happened where it was built, then it existed and continued as a startup company around that exact code.)
- sayangel 12y ago
  I swear I'm not paid by TechCrunch for this stuff: http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/11/from-disrupt-ny-to-a-43-million-skype-acquisition-groupme-tells-all/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/11/from-disrupt-ny-to-a-43-mil... GroupMe started at the Disrupt Hackathon. But also startups don't just happen over night and the code will probably change drastically once you scale haha. Scalability isn't the primary focus at most hackathons :)
  - logicallee 12y ago
    thanks :) this is super-interesting, you say it's not paid so thanks for contributing your story! by the by do you have some contact info for a quick followup? your profile doesn't list any.

davidw 12y ago

> the knowledge, soft skills, and connections To me that kind of points to something I don't like about hackathons: if I want to really dig deep and hack on something, I don't want to be terribly social. On the other hand, I have a lot of fun meeting people and talking, and so on, but at that point, having to go code something is kind of distracting from the social part.

binarysolo 12y ago
The "actual work part" provides the filtering that leaves you with relevant people so you don't end up in a hackathon with lots of wantrepreneurs.
- davidw 12y ago
  I do actual work in an office during the day, or evenings/weekends at home. If I want to get actual work done, it's going to be working on something of my own, not some thing with a random-ish goal, with prizes.
blister 12y ago
We have a monthly hackathon locally and I always get so incredibly frustrated when there are only a few groups hacking and a bunch of people standing around bullshitting. It's even more frustrating when one of those groups win with something they brought from home. :(
sayangel 12y ago
author here - totally get where you're coming from, but there's huge value in the social part as well. It's not to say I didn't do any coding at the hackathons I went to. But if I was going to immerse myself with other, smarter human beings I might as well talk to them! Finding the balance is tough, but that's why going to these sorts of things was so important to me. Helps you learn how to filter out noise, talk to the right people, etc. If you know what you're looking you can be quite efficient when talking to people.

logicallee 12y ago

I know it's not exactly the point, but I'm curious if sometimes large startups happen at hackathans... Have there been (and if so which ones) startups that were created literally at a hackathon? (meaning didn't exist before, hackathon happened where it was built, then it existed and continued as a startup company around that exact code.)

sayangel 12y ago
I swear I'm not paid by TechCrunch for this stuff: http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/11/from-disrupt-ny-to-a-43-million-skype-acquisition-groupme-tells-all/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/11/from-disrupt-ny-to-a-43-mil... GroupMe started at the Disrupt Hackathon. But also startups don't just happen over night and the code will probably change drastically once you scale haha. Scalability isn't the primary focus at most hackathons :)
- logicallee 12y ago
  thanks :) this is super-interesting, you say it's not paid so thanks for contributing your story! by the by do you have some contact info for a quick followup? your profile doesn't list any.