A hackathon can be an effective initiative in your innovation strategy, once you understand its main characteristics.
What is a hackathon, anyway?
Much is said about hackathons when it comes to open innovation initiatives. But what are they, anyway?
Hackathons are usually big events that take place over 2 or 3 days (or more) and, frequently, nights. They can be open to the general public (what I usually call an Extra-Hackathon) or they can focus on your internal talents, in an Intra-Hackathon. They are different beasts but are conducted in a similar matter, event-wise.
The extra-hackathon, or just plain hackathon, when sponsored by corporations is typically a way to create awareness and interact with entrepreneurs and potential founders revolving around some particular topic. It can be a form of awareness for developers to learn about and start using a platform that the company markets, it can be a call to solve problems that the company or its clients have already identified, or it can be a plain marketing initiative to bring potential clients, suppliers or partners closer to the brand, and also to develop a closer relationship with them, bringing a more innovative touch to the brand.
An intra-hackathon, on the other hand, is an internal initiative aiming at improving the innovation level and potential of a company’s talents. It can achieve great results by giving employees an opportunity to voice their opinions and perceptions, and also to help them develop business canvas (or less frequently full business plans) and to increase the perception that the company gives them a voice and considers their opinions and inputs as important parts of the creation and innovation programs.
How does a Hackathon fit into your innovation initiative?
- Create awareness outside as well as inside the organization
- Attract interested entrepreneurs and aspiring founders to your brand
- Discover new ideas on how to improve your business and your clients
- Engage your employees and help increase morale
- Find potential new talents and discover possible innovation champions inside your company
Hackathons can have a variety of different objectives. A clear communication of the objectives and expected attendance is needed for a successful result.
Many people think hackathons regularly produce new teams and StartUps. Even if that happens from time to time, it is quite rare to see a team that was assembled on Friday night last after the competition results are announced on Sunday evening. They are an ineffective way of creating new StartUps, and that shouldn’t be the main metric for organizing a hackathon.
Hackathons can be a great initiative in your innovation tool box, if you understand what are the results you can expect from organizing one and create metrics around this expected results.
Despite originating in a technological environment, modern hackathons aren’t exclusively about creating apps or websites or platforms. They can as well be for the creation of new designs, or interfaces or business models. In that way, the company can engage a diverse set of talents from inside and outside the organization. A well organized and executed hackathon can be a great starting point for an innovation plan or program.
It all starts by defining what will be the rationale behind the initiative. What will be the main motivation that will be the soul of the event? It can be a new technology or product that the company will launch and would like to attract developers and have them understand and learn the technology and turn them into advocates or even ambassadors. Or it can revolve around a persona, where clients or prospects are called to work on things that they would like to see your company offering them. Or you can select a list of problems from within your organization or your clients’, and proceed with a hackathon designed to create solutions for that given set of problems.
One thing must be clear: how the winners will be selected from the pool of teams and solutions that will be generated from the event. Is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) the expected result? Is it a business model canvas? An app? A website? Different talents are needed to achieve different objectives. The most well-prepared teams and members will study your rules and objectives beforehand so they will compete with a strong team. The prizes for the winners are also pretty important, as they will be one of the drivers behind your attendance.
- What is the expected result of the hackathon?
- Who is your target attendance?
- How will you spread the word and attract your participants?
- Why will they come and participate?
- What are the expected deliverables by the participants?
- How will the winners be chosen? And what will be the prizes?
Concluding:
Organizing or sponsoring a hackathon can be an effective way of fulfilling the objectives of an innovation strategy, but understand the business rationale behind it is essential for its success. I recommend talking to a specialist in innovation strategy, like one of our professionals, to find out how it might become a part of your innovation plan.
