I recently participated in NerdWallet’s quarterly hackathon and built a tool to help consumers figure out exactly how much they would be spending each month on a new car they are planning on buying, so they can budget appropriately. I’ve participated in PennApps (a college hackathon) before, but never a company hackathon before, and I found the experience extremely enriching and fun! I think it’s something every employee should take part in if its offered at their company, and if not, then take initiative and persuade your managers to try and get it started.
What is a Hack?
In the context of a company hackathon, a hack is anything that provides some value to the company. This means it can take shape as either a new customer product, a technical tool, a detailed process improvement, a business plan, or even something different, so non-technical employees should certainly be involved with the hackathon. In fact, many of the most successful teams are extremely cross-functional, including people from all parts of the company. Think about it - no product is successful without marketing, design, engineering, sales, and more!
Why Should You Get Involved?
- It gives you a chance to take a break from your usual work, get your creative juices flowing, and really invest yourself in something new and exciting.
- It forces you to think beyond more than just your usual job function and take on many more roles. This is great for building skills that you aren’t using as often and can help you become a better team member. Engineers have to think about how to design their product so that it appeals to consumers. Everyone will want to think about how the product fits in with the company’s mission and how it could be used to generate revenue. Business operations members often have to spend time learning about what is feasible from a technical standpoint and what features are most essential for a short demo.
- It gives you exposure to people you might not typically work with. This helps you expand your network and identify the qualities you look for in coworkers. I was able to work with an entirely different group of people to whom I spent the rest of my summer working with, and I was so impressed by the intelligence and thoughtfulness of my team members. Who knows, maybe your hackathon team will lead you to a co-founder for that company you always wanted to start!
How Does it Help the Company?
- As mentioned above, it exposes employees to new teams, creating new connections and possibly new synergies.
- It creates a lot of new company value! In just two days, so many amazing products, tools, and ideas were spawned, many of which have either already shipped, or are in the process.
- It creates a sense of urgency due to the friendly competition for the prizes, which in turn might mean higher productivity than otherwise.
- It can reveal talents in new areas. Perhaps an engineer will make a great PM or business operations member!
All in all, a company hackathon is a great way to spend a couple of days doing something different. And, be confident! Our team, comprised only of interns, went on to clinch Runner’s Up for the Best Consumer Product Prize at our hackathon, and we didn’t have a single specialty front end engineer. Anyone can win if they put in the time and effort with a well balanced team.