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Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

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Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#51

Post by d0ublespeak »

hbsbsbsndk wrote: post #10

I organized some grassroots hackathon events 10+ years ago. Turnout was mostly students and die-hard geeks who wanted something to do on the weekend. Even in this small pond we had a local startup sponsor and try to shoe-horn their service into it. When I attended bigger events with bigger sponsors it felt like 90% marketing to pitch your idea. The actual technical side was never that impressive or interesting. One c…

Yeah CTFs are definitely a big part of our culture in security. We’re blessed with unending material in the form of vulnerabilities and mis configurations :)

I will say (as someone that runs, organises and builds CTFs) organising meaningful CTFs is becoming slightly challenging though, a lot of challenges are highly treaded ground where one very mature team just comes along and clears the table.

That and generative AI can solve a lot of CTF problems with enough prodding if it’s at all derivative.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#52

Post by sepidy »

kevinsync wrote: post #34

When I was salaried, I never participated in company-sponsored hackathons and actively resisted attending any conferences or anything of the sort. Even back in late 00's / early 2010's it all felt like sponsorship hell, and my point of reference for the activities was nigh-impossible to recreate.. When I was a teenager in the mid-90's, I would go to a monthly Boy Scouts Explorer Post group hosted/sponsored by CompuSe…

LOL totally felt the vibes from your description, could even hear the dial-up sound in my head! XD

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#54

Post by gyomu »

When I was in college (over 20 years ago now), what we called “hackathons” was a bunch of us (4-6 max) holing up in an apartment for the weekend, and working on our personal projects while ordering pizza and sleeping on couches.

It was really nice having a group of people you could demo what you were working on/ask for help or feedback within immediate range at all times. There was also something really peaceful about coding at 5a on Sunday while everyone else was fast asleep.

When I moved to SF, I was so surprised to find out that there were “professional” hackathons. I went to a couple and came to the same conclusion as you.

I do miss the vibe of the OG hackathons I did with my friends, but I was 19 and we had no commitments back then. Nowadays the best way for me to be productive is to have regular meal, disciplined working hours, and good nights of sleep - so no more sleeping on couches with half empty boxes of pizza by my side.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#55

Post by susiecambria »

smelendez wrote: post #35

I haven't been to a hackathon in a long time, but the best ones I remember were explicitly about getting designers and developers to build something concrete but simple for a good cause. I think in some cases just a working prototype was sufficient for the "client," who could then more easily apply for grants to build a more robust or fully featured version. POV, the PBS documentary series, used to have weekend hacka…

The hackathons I attended were focused on solving/addressing the Washington, DC budget (I know, very weirdly specific, but I'm a major policy wonk) and social services.

To the latter, the benefit for me was to have tech folks help the policy folks ask and answer the right questions. Later, specific projects were started to help social service orgs implement some thing.

Have to say, both events (and I attended several of each) were exciting. . . they challenged me in a way I was unfortunately not used to (except in high school and college) and showed that others were actually interested and part of the solution.

The major plus of the budget hackathons was that we got to see students (middle schoolers, IIRC) who were doing whatever it was they were doing and having a blast. As a child advocate (lobbyist on kids issues), this made me very, very happy.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#56

Post by cadamsdotcom »

All the stuff you can do just with software? It was done years ago.

The easy stuff was done and the teams got acquired/acquihired.

The hard stuff was done by VC backed companies.

All the stuff that’s not done is even harder than that.

Hackathon in 2025 is late to the party. But it’s still fun to spend a weekend making whatever you want and be fed - food and credits! - by VC-backed companies trying to juice numbers.

Plus a hackathon is the perfect amount of time to vibecode something cool.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#57

Post by aiforecastthway »

krrishd wrote: post #4

I mostly agree with the premise, but to point out something kinda funny: these complaints are basically identical to the ones I remember from a time I personally remember as the "heyday" of hackathons (early/mid 2010s). I think: - they've had this degree of fakeness for almost the entirety of their existence (as long as they've needed "sponsorship" / been 6+ figure events) - at its best, there also was a scene/subcul…

I have never heard the term "Hackathon" used in any context other than a recruiting/sales event targeted at early-career types.

Meatspace get-togethers focused on hacking, either for a specific project or for a clique, never used the term "Hackathon". At least in my circles. Those were just "get togethers" or maybe "hacking weekends". But with small caps. I.e., not "Hacking Weekends" or "Hackathons", but "a weekend we're scheduling the purpose of which is to hack on something; i.e., a hacking weekend".

Less of an "event for the public" and more like "a group of friends planning a weekend get-away". I think for one of them we managed to get a few thousand or something from someone's employer to cover some costs. But "sponsorship" would be a strong word.

I've never lived in SF so maybe it was more of a thing there.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#58

Post by MortyWaves »

The only hackathons I've been part of were internal ones at a single job. Complete waste of time as the shit executives had already decided who the winners should be. So disheartening to see people deliberately misunderstanding our presentations so that they could vote for the team they wanted to win for political reasons. The final hackathon I did there ended with some execs saying "this is exactly how we will build software going forward" after my presentation.

Of course this was totally forgotten about mere hours after they said it.

I'm in the UK, so don't know what it's like elsewhere, but I get the impression it's pretty much the same thing.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#59

Post by xattt »

cadamsdotcom wrote: post #56

All the stuff you can do just with software? It was done years ago. The easy stuff was done and the teams got acquired/acquihired. The hard stuff was done by VC backed companies. All the stuff that’s not done is even harder than that. Hackathon in 2025 is late to the party. But it’s still fun to spend a weekend making whatever you want and be fed - food and credits! - by VC-backed companies trying to juice numbers. P…

So what’s left for those who didn’t get in on the ground floor? A swift kick in the arse?

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#60

Post by MortyWaves »

binarymax wrote: post #26

The best hackathons are community driven, like the annual Ludum Dare or the advent of code. If you're going to a highrise office building for a hackathon then yeah, it's going to be overly commercial.

I don't think advent of code meets most peoples definition of a hackathon.
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