This looks cool as hell, and if my life circumstances were different, I'd be onboard (so to speak).
At the same time, I think that the focus on "48-hour startups" for these kinds of projects selects against a lot of potentially profitable ventures which would require some complexity, and which simply can't be designed and prototyped without at a couple months of work at minimum. Unless you have a compelling innovation already well-fleshed-out in mind, there is a tendency to ape what's already out there, which makes for fun technical exercises, but not always compelling startups.
I hope I'm wrong, though. I wish the participants a safe journey and happy hacking. :)
I agree. But these forced constraints are for a reason: getting you to think a certain way.
So yes, you can pull something complex off...but the trick understanding that seeing is believing :) A good design with grease monkey scripts to give perceived functionality that gets validation from investors is smarter than putting your head down for two years and then reaching out to the market.
I was initially psyched on this (and I still like the idea) but it's not viable for me simply because of the very late timing. (The fact that you can't apply without a Facebook account is a little annoying, too.)
It costs nearly $1000 a participant, so I think $200 is actually a good deal...especially when other hackathons charge $100 but are no where near the same experience.
How are you supposed to launch a startup when you're in a bus? I'd consider a major step of launching a startup to be verifying the problem you're solving actually exists and people will pay for your solution.
At the same time, I think that the focus on "48-hour startups" for these kinds of projects selects against a lot of potentially profitable ventures which would require some complexity, and which simply can't be designed and prototyped without at a couple months of work at minimum. Unless you have a compelling innovation already well-fleshed-out in mind, there is a tendency to ape what's already out there, which makes for fun technical exercises, but not always compelling startups.
I hope I'm wrong, though. I wish the participants a safe journey and happy hacking. :)