Hackathons: Great Minds at Work

This past weekend was very inspiring.

Hackathons show you what entrepreneurship is all about. You go from concept to prototype in the span of 24 hours or less.

I am not saying that the hack start-ups are necessarily ready for sale - although this has happened… but what I am saying, is that you do not need money or very much time to create something useful. Of the hundred plus hackers in attendance for the Angelhack, there were more than 20 start-up ideas that were turned into working products.

Every team is not created equally. Some teams have amazing leadership, skilled developers and motivated designers. While for others, this may be an overwhelming process. Like everything in life, the more you practice the better you get. After chatting with many of the teams I saw that there were dynamic developer duos, designer/coder teams, idea people and dead weight.

Its important to figure out where you fit very quickly so as not to waste valuable time.

How can you make the biggest impact on your team?

What resources can you bring to the table?

What are you hoping to get out of the experience?

There are many perks to these events. Not only do you get a chance to meet some amazing, smart, creative people, but you are afforded to opportunity to find work on your own terms. Ultimately, the best teams are offered seed capital to kickstart their projects, offered free office space, computers, and prestige. While others are offered jobs with sponsoring companies they integrate into their product.

Take the chance. Its better to fail in 24 hours than to never fail at all.