Ask HN: How to be productive during a 48h startup weekend?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2016316

by mixu • 16 years ago

9 7 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

In about a month, I am attending a startup weekend (= 48hr weekend hackathon where teams go from idea to product). Any tips on how to get more done during the weekend / how to prepare for the weekend?

I am looking forward to all tips (e.g. networking and all that), however it would be particularly interesting to hear about how I (as a programmer) can prepare and have the right tools/libraries ready...

kaisdavisOR2• 16 years ago

I'm not a programmer, but after a few technical and non-technical project hackathons, I've come away with three pieces of advice:

* Clear communication with your team (if you're working as a team): Have a system for communicating without interruption so you aren't sacrificing productivity for better communication.

* Pomodoro, Pomodoro, Pomodoro: Work in sprints. I favor pomodoro sprints, but whatever works for you. Small time sprints helps avoid burnout and focuses you on the piece of the problem at hand (I need to make X do Y) instead of the whole frickin' thing.

* Set a clear MVP for the 48hours: You've got 48 hours, that's great. But you've also _only_ got 48 hours. You can build something cool, but try to hone down to something that's functional, communicates your idea, and doesn't have bloat. Ask yourself, if you had half as much time, would you include this feature? Be merciless and work to build something awesome that you can get finished.

Good luck! Share whatever you build!

derrida• 16 years ago

What are these things? How do you go to a 'hackathon' if your not a programmer? What do you do? Make it look pretty?

kaisdavisOR2• 16 years ago

Great question, derrida. The projects were launching MVPs of projects over a weekend as part of a larger group or just a few friends working together. I've worked on:

* Copywriting - for a landing page, app, email responses * Setting up the CMS / working on HTML & CSS for the project * Integrating online tools into the project (Wufoo, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Get Clicky, Get Satisfaction) * Marketing - Designing and implementing a process for attracting new users and having them sign up

kgutteridge• 16 years ago

Be really focused in what you intend to deliver and every 2 hours remind yourself what you were setting out to build rather than letting feature creep set in, its not a lot of time so simple ideas executed well will most likely do better

Get plenty of rest before hand

Quite often worth taking an electrical extension with you, incase power runs short

oregonspanish• 16 years ago

I've done two. Won one. I'm not a programmer, so I won't speak to that part. I created an account just to share this.

1. Arrive with a pitch. Figure something out that will keep you excited for an entire weekend. Transmit that excitement in your pitch. The excitement beats a good idea.

2. Ruthlessly recruit. Find your talent before the pitches start and win them over. Nearly everyone has some pet project they'd rather work on, so you may need to listen to theirs' first and let them dismiss it as a crazy idea. Tell them you think it is genius and try to relate it to a part of your project. This wins recruits.

3. Cull. Fire the non-essential team members by taking them over to another group and introducing them to the group. Then run. This may seem cruel, but it will save you from bloat and slowness.

3. Refocus every 90 minutes. If you have a small, smart team, the duties will shake out quickly. But pull everyone back together for 5 minutes every 90 to give updates and to refocus. This is a modified pomodoro and will keep everyone from going down rabbit trails or checking out of the project. You have to lead.

4. Brag. For the final pitch, share your failures and successes brazenly. Show off your team's skills and openly address gaps in skill or knowledge. You will be approached afterwards if someone loves your enthusiasm but sees where they could fill in a gap. Show your product, holes and all. It gets you honest feedback faster and will carry you through to full execution if you listen. Good luck.

imp• 16 years ago

I was a developer in a startup weekend last month, and our team did really well. What helped us the most was that all the developers were familiar with the framework and VCS we were using (Django and git). None of us wasted any time installing anything or reading the how-to docs for beginners. We hit the ground running and wrote the most code of any group by far.

To prepare, make sure you're familiar with at least one popular framework so that you can join a team that's using it. Also, learn git and/or hg if you haven't yet.

If you're lucky (like I was), one of the teams using your framework will also have a good idea.

templaedhel• 16 years ago

Off topic, but where? I am always looking for these to attend, but only know of TC disrupt, and a few in Canada.

Ask HN: How to be productive during a 48h startup weekend?

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