How I Hacked My Way from TC to YC

https://medium.com/@sayangel/how-i-hacked-my-way-from-tc-to-yc-73bc719c6792

by sayangel • 11 years ago

122 28 11 years ago

One gem that stood out to me from the article was the author's take on hackathons: "The prizes were nice, but the knowledge, soft skills, and connections were prizes in themselves" - which seems like the right way of approaching a hackathon.

davidw2• 11 years ago

the knowledge, soft skills, and connections

To me that kind of points to something I don't like about hackathons: if I want to really dig deep and hack on something, I don't want to be terribly social. On the other hand, I have a lot of fun meeting people and talking, and so on, but at that point, having to go code something is kind of distracting from the social part.

binarysolo• 11 years ago

The "actual work part" provides the filtering that leaves you with relevant people so you don't end up in a hackathon with lots of wantrepreneurs.

blister2• 11 years ago

We have a monthly hackathon locally and I always get so incredibly frustrated when there are only a few groups hacking and a bunch of people standing around bullshitting. It's even more frustrating when one of those groups win with something they brought from home. :(

sayangel4• 11 years ago

author here - totally get where you're coming from, but there's huge value in the social part as well. It's not to say I didn't do any coding at the hackathons I went to. But if I was going to immerse myself with other, smarter human beings I might as well talk to them!

Finding the balance is tough, but that's why going to these sorts of things was so important to me. Helps you learn how to filter out noise, talk to the right people, etc. If you know what you're looking you can be quite efficient when talking to people.

logicallee2• 11 years ago

I know it's not exactly the point, but I'm curious if sometimes large startups happen at hackathans... Have there been (and if so which ones) startups that were created literally at a hackathon?

(meaning didn't exist before, hackathon happened where it was built, then it existed and continued as a startup company around that exact code.)

sayangel4• 11 years ago

I swear I'm not paid by TechCrunch for this stuff: http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/11/from-disrupt-ny-to-a-43-mil...

GroupMe started at the Disrupt Hackathon. But also startups don't just happen over night and the code will probably change drastically once you scale haha. Scalability isn't the primary focus at most hackathons :)

mkagenius• 11 years ago

I could’ve spent the $500 on something other than a Rift.

Like? :) It is often the case when someone is really awesome, most of their choices are really good.

eugeneionesco2• 11 years ago

hacked

I don't think that means what you think it means.

blister2• 11 years ago

Did you read the article? It largely describes how he went from a small hackathon to a large hackathon to a YC hackathon to being accepted to YC.

Three distinct "hacks" in a row. Do you object to the word "hack" being used to describe the work that occurs at a hackathon, or are you just being argumentative because you prefer a different meaning?

ztratar• 11 years ago

I'm with the original commentary here. Cool -- he upgraded hackathons. I don't see how that in of itself is "hacking" the system. He didn't break ground or do anything crazy. I think people are starting to apply this term too liberally, though I'll admit the complaints (mine included) aren't going to help.

sayangel4• 11 years ago

Author here! I take it to mean using whatever resources you have available to make something work. And that's what I think I did.

Of course you're free to disagree!

hanlec• 11 years ago

I'm overly impressed with those being able to build a project by the end of a hackathon. In my life I haven't had many chances to participate to one, but I'm also the more methodical type (you can call that over engineering and I wouldn't argue on it).

Any advice on how I could switch to this mode from time to time?

mathattack• 11 years ago

My 2 cents... Don't change who you are.

The world needs lot of folks who can turn out quick prototypes. It needs even more folks who can lock down secure and maintainable code. Find the right company that needs your strength.

(Of course I don't know you, so feel free to ignore me)

dwightgunning• 11 years ago

One option is to head to an event where you don't know anybody and perhaps the theme/topic is unfamiliar yet interesting. Basically set the bar really low for yourself and find a safe environment to fail without consequence.

I won my first hackathon last year... But the organisers never came good on the €1000 prize. Now I wonder what I could have done with that money.

jewel• 11 years ago

I've got a few pieces of advice for you to consider. I'm not sure what will work for you so I'll hit a few broad areas.

One thing is to make FIXMEs, TODO lists, and otherwise write down the areas that might need improvement, so that you can mentally dismiss them and focus on your immediate needs.

When I'm making something new I do "modal programming". Turn off the IDE's auto-compilation (so that you aren't distracted by syntax errors) and write large chunks of code in a single go. If you don't know the API for something, make it up. This is the creative mode.

Once the code is written, switch to the debugging mode. This is where you try and get the code to actually run. I've found that by separating the two activities I don't need as much mental effort and it reduces the total amount of time spent or research required.

Back when I participated in collegiate programming contests we'd prepare for weeks by drilling on very similar problems so that I/O and syntax wouldn't trip us up and we could focus on what made the problem unique.

To apply that approach to hackathons, I'd practice the zero-to-prototype step beforehand until you don't have to do a lot of research in order to get a minimal working program. For example, if you normally create android apps, make sure you can get from nothing to a working tic-tac-toe in an hour.

ahitti• 11 years ago

Angel is the man!

JacobAldridge• 11 years ago

"Sometimes I wonder how many things could have gone differently."

I'm a firm believer that awesome always finds a way, but I love these stories of seemingly small decisions ("I could’ve spent the $500 on something other than a Rift. I could’ve stayed in bed") being major turning points in someone's life.

For me, a pivotal moment was Stanley Kubrick's removal of A Clockwork Orange from circulation in the 1970s, and its subsequent posthumous re-release in 2000. My university cinema had a showing one night; this gave me time to kill on campus after the library closed; during which time I saw a job-board ad for work in a real estate firm.

The job led to a management position post-graduation, which turned into State Operations Manager for a large franchise group, which turned into the business coaching career I've had for almost a decade.

If Kubrick hadn't pulled the film? If he had died a year earlier? Maybe I would have leveraged my journalism degree into that profession instead? From little things, big things grow...

jacquesm• 11 years ago

Aka the butterfly effect. Similar to your story I got a 20 year gig out of a bet over a bar of chocolate... It's really funny how these things work.

GFischer• 11 years ago

I was going to ask you to tell the story, but I guessed it was on your blog, here it is :)

http://jacquesmattheij.com/content/story-behind-wwcom-camara...

gfosco• 11 years ago

Very happy for Angel and wish him the best for the future.. Keep on hacking!

tl;dr I am a harsh judge at Hackathons, and I think that's what we need.

But on the topic of Hackathons and YC Hacks in particular... I expected YC Hacks to be more focused on realistic, actual businesses. I was there and the finalists were mostly disappointing. Vrniture, a cool demo app, is a total non-starter as a business (and I don't think it was ever intended to be one.) The number of people who would have 3d maps of their living space is ~0. The chances of having accurate and well-textured 3d models of sufficient furniture pieces is ~0%. Apparently just getting on "YCs radar" was the intent, and that just doesn't sit well with me unless you're at http://www.stupidhackathon.com/

lewisjoe• 11 years ago

It's quiet common, that blog posts from HN leave me behind with a different perspective of things. In this post, this is what made me so:

"Sometimes I wonder how many things could have gone differently. I could’ve spent the $500 on something other than a Rift. I could’ve stayed in bed instead of going to a hackathon. I could’ve worked on another joke app. I could’ve saved some money and not flown out to Mountain View for a hackathon. But if my parents taught me anything it’s that you have to take advantage of every opportunity you get. So I did."

How I Hacked My Way from TC to YC

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