First Ostro Hackathon

We decided to hold an internal hackathon to foster creativity, explore new ideas, and reset from the day-to-day life in a startup. The event consisted of two dedicated work days (Th/Fri) and a demo/judging day (M). Dedicating company time for this event was a first principle; we wanted people to have the opportunity to engage during their work day. Schedules and life circumstances vary; not everyone can participate outside work hours.??

We outlined a series of tenets that governed our approach:

All are welcome!

• Not just for developers - anyone can join and participate?
• Contributing to this event can come in many forms - creating ideas, coding, QA, etc.

Ideas do not have to relate to our current product suite

• They can be new ideas, something you want to try
• A tool you want to build
• Whatever you want, so long as it has some relevance to Ostro’s (potential) business

Output is something demonstrable

• Working prototype, proof-of-concept
• Pitch deck w/mock in an interactive tool (e.g., Balsamiq)

Ideas were suggested from across the company and we selected a number that had the most interest. To simplify getting started, we predefined teams, created dedicated Slack channels, and facilitated getting the initial kick-off calls running. We wanted enough structure to reduce friction and let people focus on doing the work. Everyone was excited, had the structure to run fast, and all groups had a viable demo by the end of day 1.

Takeaways

1. Have an owner/facilitator for the hackathon that prompts the teams and reduces friction
2. Have a support team that helps with any logistics
3. Have an exec with admin rights on tap to grant access/remove barriers as needed without having to wait for a typical access request process cycle
4. Ensure exec leadership, compliance, and legal are all available to provide instant answers to the hackathon teams