7 things you learn in a hackathon from a team who’s won top prize

Photo credit: Yusuke Kawasaki.

It was October 15, 2016, moments close to midnight. While some hackathon participants have retreated to their own homes to refresh and call it a night, my teammates, Paul and Pranay, were still busy coding away, crushing bugs, and calling and making API requests.

In the meantime, it was my turn to work on our presentation deck after designing some key screens. The next thing we knew, the sun was creeping in and shining through the tall windows of The Hub at Prinsep Street. Breakfast was served but really, I don’t think anyone had time for those.

It was the first Destination Hack in Singapore by Sabre. They’ve been a long time innovator in the travel industry, and hackathons are just one of their initiatives to involve the public and talented developers to reinvent travel as we know it.

The first line of their FAQ said you can build anything. Everyone had the same 25 hours and, true enough, the hackathon produced a total of 26 innovative ideas for travel.

The following are seven things we learned from Sabre’s Destination Hack.

Your hackathon experience is your own responsibility

It’s best to carry a positive attitude and be friendly — especially if you are yet to find team members. You may have the most innovative tech or business model, but the essence of any hackathon lies in camaraderie and solving real problems as a team.

Listen and be open to other people’s ideas and remember that, at end of the day, it’s just a hackathon. Play nice but also be direct when poking holes on your ideas.

Asking for help makes sense

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. The tech partners will be more than willing to extend their coding hand. There may be some technical protocols or processes that you would need to know, which you will never find out if you don’t ask.

Sometimes, like in the case of Sabre, you can gauge how passionate their partners are whenever they are engaged in questions or system errors at your end. This can be inspiring, and this enthusiasm can rub off on you.

Beyond the technical assistance, ask partners for insights on their own products and user base. As hackathon participants, it’s likely that a certain industry or user behavior will be new to you. It’s just wise to learn from the experts themselves.

You challenge yourself

Know your limits but push yourself a notch. Hackathons can be demanding but hey, you don’t do it every week — or do you? You may lose sleep, yes. You will have to stay awake and alert to finish your work, yes. But the idea of challenging yourself goes beyond your physical efforts; it’s the belief that you can surpass your own set expectations.

After the hack, you become a better iteration of yourself because you are driven to accomplish something you believe in. You get stuff done, and that’s rewarding in itself.

You need to see the bigger picture

As developers and hackers, you may be too deep into your code to think of business goals or your solution’s value propositions. If you don’t care much about business angles or your users, you better have dedicated people in the team to help you make sense of these.

Presentation details and practice matters

There is always something that will go wrong

A hackathon is just the beginning