I guess I'm different to the target audience for this article. I go to hackathon for fun and a change of scenery. I don't expect my hackathon project to turn into a new startup. I use them to test out new ideas. With the bigger better organized ones like TechCrunch Disrupt I get to meet useful people in companies with APIs I may want to use in the future. I usually go with buddies and we stick it out and produce something at the end.

I've learned lots under the pressure of hacking fast and loose to get a product built and will continue to go for that reason. I'd love to hit a big idea just right and have something sustainable to follow up on of course but I'm okay with just having fun, meeting interesting people and learning.