liako

They were offered 25k funding by The Capital Factory, received mentorship from super-angel Naval Ravikant, and had coverage all over the media like WSJ.

The reason the team didn't proceed is because of personel issues among the team which had they planned better would have no been an issue.

So how's this not a startup? All that would have needed to happen to make it a legal "business" are some documents signed by everyone (which were already prepared)

Here's an overview from someone who did it last year: http://creating.concepts.com.au/2011/02/the_startup_bus_and_...

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.

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.

If you can get the Chicago tech community excited and supportive, that will help the case. We'll make the final decision based on where the most participants and sponsors come from.