Microsoft and Gitcoin Team Up to Turn the Traditional Hackathon Model Upside Down

For the next 2 weeks, the Ethereal Virtual Hackathon is bountying challenges and rewarding Web3 developers in ETH

ConsenSys Labs is on a mission to rethink hackathons.

Yesterday, we launched two challenges as part of the Ethereal Virtual Hackathon. Both are focused on upending the orthodoxes of finance and banking. Both hope to find new opportunities through Decentralized Finance, and both are part of a bigger quest to find new ways to incentivize hackers to not just exercise their code muscles, but also their entrepreneurial instincts.

We think, with a more flexible structure and new expectations, the hackathon model can be rethought to create not just interesting tech and product builds, but strong signals from ideas and people worth investing in.

So we’re piloting something new. We call it Nights & Weekends.

“We think tomorrow’s big breakthroughs will come from the nights and weekends of top software engineers today.”

–Kevin Owocki, Founder / Chief Janitor of Gitcoin

So what is it?

A remote-first buildathon for hackers and entrepreneurs.

We’ve always believed the competitive advantage of building a decentralized company comes from creating greater access outside of the typical concentrations. So we’re focusing on building a remote, and virtual, system to make sure people with the ambition to make something can participate, wherever they are.

Longer duration for better signals.

We think the point of early products are signals. Traditional hackathons tend to run in a couple short days or evenings, and the most you can get to is a quick build or a quick pitch. We want to see what happens when you give participants the time and expectation of finding real experts, real communities with the problems they’re trying to solve, and getting real feedback.

Our pilot will last 15 days, but we’ll explore longer cycles, with the intention of giving hackers the space to not just build, but test and validate the market.

A program of support and collaboration.

Finally, Consensys Labs will be running daily office hours, open to all participants, to help them move forward, and connect to the right people at the right times. We think a hackathon can be part sprint, part jam session, and part accelerator. At each stage, the Labs team will be available to support everything from idea generation to expert interviews, design, research, and growth. We think creating more collisions between people and expertise will create better outcomes for all.

The Ethereal Hackathon has already kicked off, but it’s not too late to get started. It runs from April 15th to April 30th, just ahead of the Ethereal Summit on May 10–11. Hackathon winners will be invited to join us in New York to present their winning work live in front of 600+ guests interested in building the future of the internet.

If you’re somebody who can’t help but build, and wants to find new solutions to old orthodoxies through Web3, we’d love to meet you. Check out ConsenSys’ Labs Open Finance Bounties, and join the Ethereal Hackathon Discord to follow along!

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author above do not necessarily represent the views of Consensys AG. ConsenSys is a decentralized community with ConsenSys Media being a platform for members to freely express their diverse ideas and perspectives. To learn more about ConsenSys and Ethereum, please visit our website.