Affogato at ETHDenver 2019
Best. Hackathon. Ever.
ETHDenver was our first Ethereum conference/hackathon, and it did not disappoint. The BUIDL Week preceding it, the communities, the sponsors, the bufficorn, the venue and the town itself make for an awesome week. We were there just to test our proof of concept and compete in the hackathon, but we ended up experiencing so much more.
Here are some of the things we learned about our project and about ETHDenver:
1. Affogato feedback was positive
We have been bootstrapping Affogato for some months and wanted to see if people are interested in tipping farmers or buying coffee with crypto. The feedback was positive and interesting, and we are more energized to continue developing our solution for coffee farmers. We connected with other exciting projects and got feedback from hackers from all over the world.
2. Bounties are cool
Our hack, SPITL, is a smart contract that allows users to send a tip (in xDai) which is automatically split amongst multiple recipients. One potential use case is coffee shops, where a portion of the tip can go to the coffee grower themselves. Merchants set the split percentages, and a patron simply scans a QR code and enters the total amount of the tip. SPITL is deployed on the xDAI chain to take advantage of the efficiency, speed, and low fees.
Even though we didn’t get into the semifinal round (20 teams), we won a POA bounty. The POA team really liked our project, as it uses the best qualities of the xDAI chain. Some of the feedback we got was to showcase the social impact of our hack. That would have gotten us into the semifinal rounds.
3. Hacking and receiving feedback at the same time is hard
While hacking, people would pass by and start asking questions about Affogato, which is cool and the reason we came to Denver. The downside was less time spent hacking. In the end, our hack was less than desirable on the UX|UI front, but certainly functional.
4. BuffiDAI + BurnerWallet = 😎
The mythical bufficorn is the mascot for ETHDenver, so it was no surprise that the currency used at ETHDenver was buffiDAI, in collaboration with Austin Thomas Griffith’s BurnerWallet. Buying food from the food trucks outside the Sports Castle was a breeze. Sending and receiving xDAI on POA’s xDAI chain was blazing fast and reliable.
5. ETHDenver is different
The vibe and the hacking space are just awesome. The Denver Sports Castle is a huge space (4 floors), complete with a chill room (24-hour DJ on duty), a relaxing room (zen, yoga & massages), and a snack & drinks bar (kombucha!). The hacking atmosphere is also really cool. The number of people wanting to help you out is amazing. The sponsors' area was always full of people and there was plenty of SWAG for everyone!
I heard someone say that ETHDenver was the SuperBowl of Ethereum hackathons, and he was right. Our team is definitely coming back for ETHDenver 2020, and you should too.
