How hackathons strengthen the Blockchain and Web3 community
It’s been about a month and a half since the Polish capital hosted ETHWarsaw 2022, the CEE region’s largest Web3 conference and hackathon. BeInCrypto was on site as a media partner and we witnessed some really lively and insightful discussions throughout the four days of the event which started on September 1st.
The hackathon was undoubtedly one of the highlights of ETHWarsaw 2022. It followed the first two days of the conference and included overnight “hacks” that provided “opportunities for teams and individuals to gain practical, hands-on experience working with applications and advanced tools”. There was also $50,000 in rewards to be won from various competitions.
The hackathon’s most valuable addition, however, was the stage it set for the blockchain and web3 community to network, exchange ideas and forge new alliances and collaborations. We took the opportunity to discuss this with many of the industry insiders who attended the event.
We asked them how events like the ETHWarsaw hackathon help build community, and almost everyone unanimously agreed that hackathons actually strengthen the web3 community. More on that in a bit.
Web3 hackathon benefits
For those out of the loop, a hackathon is an event where developers, non-technical founders, and other creatives can come together to build a solution to problems presented to them as a challenge.
Hackathons provide excellent opportunities for existing and new web3 developers to turn ideas into actual products, and potentially a web3 startup backed by VCs.
The key benefits of web3 hackathons include:
Hackathons promote collaboration and healthy competition
“Community has always been the pulse of the web3 world. Hackathons are a great hands-on, get-your-processors-together approach to solving a real-world problem with a time constraint, said Arabdha Sudhir, VP of Marketing at Halborn, in a conversation with BeInCrypto.
Hackathons, by design, are meant to invoke a competitive spirit among participating teams. And at the same time, they can also drive a growing industry to come together and operate as a tight-knit community with a common goal of growth (often driven by healthy competition).
“The connections made during the hackathon with other companies and people over the ‘let’s win this’ mindset often remain strong. It’s very common for developers, hackers and enthusiasts that you meet during the process to become your next teammates or even your next co-founders .For Halborn, this is a great way to discover and nurture developer talent,” Sudhir added.
Hackathons provide space for new talent
This applies not only to web3 hackathons, but any other hackathon, for that matter.
With hackathons, resumes and difficult personal questions are almost bypassed. Rather, they make it easy for recruiters to zoom in on candidates who are capable and deserving. You can also think of hackathons as a one-stop solution where recruiters can evaluate candidates based on their skills, problem-solving skills, time management and people skills.
Corina Dolghier, Project Manager (Growth) at MakerDAO, elaborated on this point by sharing the company’s recent experience with ETHWarsaw 2022.
Daughter said: “Conferences and hackathons are generally an indispensable opportunity for Web3 companies and DAOs to attract new talent, and ETHWarsaw did a great job of giving everyone the right space, tools and connections to do so.
We were very happy to be a part of it and look forward to seeing the Polish community grow in the Web3 and DeFi ecosystem.”
Helps web2 developers better adapt to the web3 landscape
Web3 hackathons provide the perfect platform where web3 developers can get started with web3 applications. Not only that, but even experienced web3 developers get additional resources, including advanced technology stacks to build and experiment with.
“Most web2 developers need help understanding how their broad knowledge can be applied in the blockchain and crypto industry,” said Vitaly Yakovlev, CTO and co-founder of ZKX.
He added, “Similarly, the majority of web3 developers are still not engaged in the most advanced, cutting-edge blockchain technology. We see the mission of every major conference to be two-fold – share and exchange the ideas of the latest developments in the industry, as well as spread the knowledge about possibilities in web3 for those who are new to it.”
In other words, hackathons give developers the opportunity to implement all the skills they learned from various sources, including online web3 courses, seminars and workshops, countless blockchain newsletters, and what have you!
….And that’s not all
Note that these are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to benefits from web3 hackathons. There are many more, including but not limited to:
- To find a community of like-minded individuals who share the passion and motivation to create unique web3 products.
- Learn from the best in the industry.
- Put your web3 knowledge to work to solve real-world problems.
- Exposure to how to build new, original products using the resources at your disposal.
- Find new project ideas.
- Win attractive rewards for your achievements.
- Network with like-minded web3 professionals, investors, analysts, fund managers and potential partners.
As Thiago Earp, Content Lead at Ramp, says: “Like its spiritual ancestor, the Open Source movement, Web3 is built from the edges: from a bunch of brilliant misfits who spent countless nights and weekends shaping and directing to Bitcoin, to thousands of minds reimagining finance across DAOs.
And these communities are part of the very fabric of Web3. From the first days, forums, informal get-togethers and hackathons where volunteers came together to build have been a major driving force for the space.”
If web3 is a team sport, then web3 hackathons are the platforms where teams unite to explore new horizons.
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