I am curious to hear what are the drivers to participate to Hackathons. Is it to code with other people? To meet new people? To find your next startup job? To prototype an idea you had for a while? Or else?
I use to go to hackathons for few reasons:
1. To have fun developing a new product and coding
2. Meet new and interesting people
3. Look at people skills for when I'm hiring for my company
You say "I used to go". Any particular reason why you stopped going?
Actually no time :)
Fun to be in a context where I'm not meant to be working on my usual projects. Totally greenfield. If I were at home or in the office, I'd just work on my normal work.
What's the biggest downside then?
As I've got older, physical burnout. Many hackathons have a 24 hour limit and run through the night, it seems, and while I can still do 24 hours of work, I sure seem to know about it for the next week or two..