What is a hackathon?

What is the purpose of a hackathon?

Published on the 11th of July 2024. 2.5 min read.

Hackathon meaning, definition, and key aspects

Meaning

Hackathons are events designed for collaboration to solve problems or identify new opportunities.

Definition

Hackathon is a competitive event, where people gather to collaborate on any kind of project in a limited time.

Etymology

The term “Hackathon" combines the words "hack" and "marathon.

• Hack: In the nerds’ world, "hack" refers to the rapid development of a new software application or system, often with limited resources.

• Marathon: a long-distance race that is typically run without stopping.

The word “ hackathon” was first used on June 4, 1999, for a cryptographic development event hosted by OpenBSD in Calgary, Canada.

Duration

• 4 to 72 hours, usually referred to as a classic hackathon

• More than 72 hours, usually called an innovation challenge

Types of hackathons

• Physical or on-site

• Virtual or online

• Hybrid

• External

• Internal or Company hackathon

Benefits of hackathons

• Physical or on-site hackathons

  1. In-person interaction, networking, and collaboration

  2. Engagement and immersive atmosphere, capable of lifting networking, creativity, and a strong sense of community

  3. Creation of content and marketing material such as videos and social media posts for brand awareness and perception

  4. Real-time feedback to participants from mentors and jury

  5. Team building and camaraderie spirit among participants

• Internal hackathons

  This type of event is organised by a company, inviting its employees and, sometimes, also customers and providers.

  Most common benefits and goals:

  1. Boosting creativity

  2. Creating new internal synergies

  3. Encouraging cross-functional collaboration between different departments

  4. Strengthening the teamwork

  5. Promoting an innovation mindset and culture

  6. Enhancing and accelerating problem-solving

  7. Making the employees think outside the box

  8. Accelerating process/product development

  9. Generating new ideas

  10. Retaining top talents

  11. Acquiring the skills of the future

  12. Raising workplace attractiveness and improving the company’s public perception

  13. Receiving feedback from employees

• Virtual or online hackathons

  1. Global reach and accessibility

  2. Flexibility of time schedule and workload

  3. Lessened constraints of the maximum number of participants due to location space

  4. Absence of venue, catering, transport, and logistic costs

  5. Online hackathons are generally more sustainable due to the point above.

• External hackathons

  This type of event is organised by a company, inviting selected and targeted external profiles.

  Most common benefits and goals:

  1. Let relevant audiences test the company’s products / solutions / software / technology

  2. Innovate a business, a process, or a product

  3. Scout, find and hire highly skilled talents

  4. Crowdsource new perspectives and fresh external ideas

  5. Develop new apps, platforms, and software

  6. Build awareness, exposure, promotion, and excitement around a company

  7. Access, enter, and engage with new communities

  8. Market research and validation

  9. Accelerate the development of new products and services

  10. Create new partnerships with other companies or organisations

Structure of hackathons

A successful hackathon should incorporate the following key stages:

1. Hackathon’s goal definition

2. Registration, team formation, and hackathon platform flow

3. Outreach campaign design

4. Hackathon’s deliverables definition: the Hack Guide

5. Ideation and hackathon preparation live sessions

6. Mentoring structure setup

7. Evaluation process definition

8. Awards ceremony hosting

We wrote a full article about this topic that you can read here.

Considerations about hackathons

Hackathons are a proven method to get solid results in a fast way.

However, organising a hackathon is not easy and it’s a matter of coordinating complex tasks.

If you want to know more, we created a comprehensive hackathon guide that explores this topic thoroughly.

Feel free to reach out today to have a chat about hackathons with an expert from our team.