HACKATHON- An experience like no other
Where can you feel excited, nervous, rushed, motivated, tired, passionate, and enlightened, all within 48 hours? Well, you got to be a part of a hackathon to experience these.
The BlackBuck hackathon ‘HACK.kar’ is where ideas become a reality, unthinkable is achieved and disruptive solutions are born. In the month of March, BlackBuck hosted the 3rd edition of its hackathon ‘HACK.kar’ and once again, the ideas that flowed were downright crazy and brilliant. While as always the hackathon resulted in new products, new features, and new solutions, we at BlackBuck are more excited about the superpowers that get unleashed in the hackathon.
Unleashing the Superpowers of ‘Hackathon’
Power of ‘Collaboration’: It all started with the huddle that the teams had in order to identify the problem statements. Developers, designers, business teams, operations teams made most of the opportunity to rub shoulders with each other. And the outcome of the problem statement pitching session took many forms — brand new project ideas, improvements to the existing product, crossover ideas and more. The hackathon established two-way conversations between those that develop the technology and the people that use them. Leveraging each other’s strengths, and working on solutions collaboratively was imperative for the hacking teams to stay on course.
Power of ‘Crazy Innovation’: “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs. In the 48 hours, that is exactly the attitude the determined hacking teams embraced. The need to transform and innovate meaningfully against a highly competitive environment forced the teams to adopt new ways to seek change and improvements. Despite the chaotically fast and short-lived nature of this hackathon, it forced participants to focus on an issue and think about innovations with a diverse set of inputs.
Of course, you can’t be on a coding marathon and expect innovation on an empty stomach. Stocks of pizzas, chips, popcorns, Red Bulls and ice creams sustained the rush in the hackers.
Coming back to the Superpowers, this last superpower is the most exciting one of them all.
Power of ‘Speed’: Delivering breakthrough innovation at a break-neck speed. This has never been more critical and central to driving business value; as it is in today’s world. Over 75 hackers coming up with around 20 product prototypes in 48 hours — that’s speed. There is no doubt that hackathons are the shortest route to significant outcomes that a program can take. When you talk about speed, teamwork plays a very important role. We could see hackers being open about each step with the team. Making sure everyone is the same page saves plenty of crucial time down the line.
The powers stay on…
The powers that come with the hackathon don’t just end with the hackathon. These are there to stay for long. Coming out of a hackathon, the hackers are still full of adrenaline. They are super motivated to finish whatever project they are working on, collaborative approach keeps mushrooming, and they never shy away from placing craziest of ideas on the table.
Well, it all came down to the presentation on the final day. All the hustle and bustle of 48 hours boils down to a 3-minute presentation in front of the judging panel, which by the way included the Co-Founder of Udaan, Amod Malviya, and Shamik Sharma from CultGear, and the eagerly awaiting organization. And after much deliberation, the panel picked the Top 3 Hacks that made the difference in the 48 hours of coding marathon.
As they say, “Expect the unexpected in a Hackathon”, we surely saw some ‘never-thought of’ ideas come to life and now ready to become a part of BlackBuck’s business.
So are we going to announce another call for hackers? Definitely. Stay tuned.