Hacking on Rd.io at Spotify - More than Winning

This is part of my experience when I attended the Spotify NYC hackathon, way back in the day.

Winning is not everything, especially in a hackathon. There is more to hacking/programming than just “winning”.

When I was on the “hackathon circuit” - there were hackathons every week, even online only!

There’s no way to just keep “winning” them - unless you had a brilliant hack that appeals to every hackathon and sponsor, if you did, you probably could start your own company!

Participating in a hackathon all the way to the end and presenting something is already a win.

Considering my game plan where anything and everything can change in an instant - just getting something in front of other people is a monumental challenge, not to mention winning.

Even in hackathons where I did not take any prizes except the sponsor swag, I still won by going as hard as I can the whole time and presenting whatever I had, however bad it was. That result is greater than 0.

If I multiply any result greater than 0, say: 0.000001, by 1,000,000 and get 1.

The sense of comadre at the Spotify NYC Hackathon was high.