First, let me tell you this: I am not a big fan of Hackathon events. And this is precisely because most of Hackathon events market themselves as
“1 weekend and there goes your startup. “
“1 weekend and you have built a product.”
This is BS.
Startups (and for that matter, Products) aren’t built in a weekend. It takes a while to “build” something. One should always remember that Hackathons are a proxy to ‘doing your own startup’, just as karaoke is to launching your own music album.
So why are we doing a hackathon?
Pluggd.in Hackathon: The Why
1. APIs From Indian Startups {Let us Grow The Ecosystem}
Well, we are probably the last ones to enter into this Hackathon game and there is a reason for that. We didn’t want to do just another plain ‘Hack-and-go’ event with no clear call-to-action post event. Like with anything we do, the focus has be on growing the startup ecosystem.
The startup ecosystem.
And what do we precisely mean by that?
At Pluggd.in Hackathon event, we will have Indian startups share their API details and ‘sell’ the APIs to developers (why should you use their API?
). Of course, hackers have all the freedom to build independent hacks (or use Twitter, Google etc APIs), but we thought why not bring Indian startups (the grownups) to talk about their APIs and get hackers to build more amazing stuff using the APIs.
So in the next few days, you will hear announcements from us sharing API details from Indian technology companies – the homegrowns who have really build a great product and now are in a position where they offer a platform ready to support more businesses.
Of course as a hacker, as a wannabe entrepreneur – we welcome you to create your own gig – but if you plan to use APIs (relevant for your product), do keep in mind that there are Indian companies who also offer relevant APIs (and local support).
We just aim to bridge this gap.
2. The UnPluggd: Call-to-Action
So you came up with a hack and did Hackathon – what next? Monday morning – you are back to where you were? Where do you go from here? Well, we have the answer. And that’s UnPluggd.
Startups who demoed at UnPluggd have received great amount of traction post the demo session. Right from hiring to media interviews to meeting the right set of Angels/Investors, they have managed to get the targeted audience for their startup.
And you stand a chance too. 2 winning entries from Hackathon will get a chance to demo at UnPluggd (which is scheduled for November 19th, Pune).*
So 1 fine weekend you hack stuff, and within 2 weeks you get to launch the product at India’s largest startup event. Can it get better than this?
Frankly, tell us – What’s Your Excuse? What’s stopping you?
Pluggd.in’s Hackathon: The What
- Date: November 4th (3 PM onwards), 5th & 6th (entire day) – i.e. 2.5 days event.
- Venue: Jaaga (address here)
- Ticket: Rs. 1800/. Early bird discount: Rs. 1400/ (use the code: HACKBUDDY). The ticket price includes lunch/coffee/snacks) during the 2.5 days of the event.
- Ticketing site link: Ayojak or DoAttend (use the discount code: HACKBUDDY, valid only till Oct 19th).
Hackathon : The Agenda
- Get together the evening of 4th November and find a team (or get yours)
- Get together on 5th morning.
- Get your business idea sounded with mentors, PI team, others.
- Start coding.
- Don’t’ Sleep.
- Don’t Sleep.
- 6th Nov – evening 6 pm – have a prototype ready.
- Demo to mentors, investors, audience, others from 6 pm to 9 pm.
- Sleep.
——————–
UnPluggd Details
- Date: November 19th, Pune.
- Demo Slot Nomination : Form link (Deadline: November 6th, 2011).
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For any query/suggestion, join our Facebook Group: http://facebook.com/groups/unpluggd/
* – subject to hackers’ interest and willingness to ‘jump’.
Image credit:Facebook timeline
