

Ask HN: Attending a hackathon weekend as a non-tech? - sparknlaunch12

Would you attend a weekend hackathon or startup event etc as a non-technical person? What minimum level of skills and experience would avoid you being laughed out of the venue?
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venturebros
Sorry to hijack but I have always wondered this question myself I am a
developer just a newbie one. I've always wanted to attend a startup weekend I
know enough to be dangerous and I do work as a freelance front end dev but I
am certainly no CS major ninja programmer.

Would I look like a fool if I attended a startup weekend?

~~~
Mz
"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

\-- Steve Jobs

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saiko-chriskun
"laughed" out of the venue? what? that doesn't even make sense. have you ever
been to a hackathon? I've definitely had non-techie friends have a great time
attending events with me.

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sparknlaunch12
Laughed out = not taken seriously because won't be coding, don't own a serious
laptop, haven't worked in the tech industry as a developer/marketer/product
developer.

For people with a non startup background, who have never attended a hackathon,
should they attend to learn new things, add a different perspective to a team,
network?

What is the general experience like?

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jlt
You would find it very rewarding and insightful!

We're genuinely quite friendly people, us hackers - we should make you feel
welcome :)

Have a beer or two with some of the guys and walk around to see what people
are working on - most people will be more than happy to show you their hack!

~~~
sparknlaunch12
That sounds positive. For team events, what contributions would coders want
from non coders?

For example, a startup weekend planning, project management, testing, design,
marketing, pitching? I assume you don't just sit around looking over peoples
shoulders for two days?

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jtchang
Yes. If you want to go then go.

I've been to startup weekend and can say there is a good mix of people of all
levels and backgrounds. When it comes to teams join one for the idea or for
the people. That's about it.

