Peter Ma looked around his San Francisco condo and realized he'd won everything in it. His flat-screen TV, home theater system, 3D printers, phones, tablets, computers and furniture were either hackathon prizes or purchased with hackathon earnings. Stashed under his leather couch -- which he'd bought with an Amazon gift card -- was a thick stack of 2- and 3-foot-long cardboard checks commemorating his most cherished wins. "The only non-schwag I have are shoes," he said.
With his gray hoodie and close-cropped goatee, 33-year-old Ma looks like any of the thousands of computer programmers roaming the city, but he's part of an elite corps. He and about a dozen friends travel the hackathon circuit. They build apps, connected devices and other products during all-night, fiercely competitive programming contests where sleep is scarce and caffeine is plentiful. The sessions are usually sponsored by corporations, and top prizes mean serious cash.
Some of the hackers have jobs. Some do contracting work. Some have corporate sponsors. Almost all of them are working on a pet startup idea. For Ma and a few others, hackathons are a job. Ma knows he would make more money if he had a more traditional career. He just doesn't want one.
Source: Bloomberg
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @05:08PM (1 child)
...a one-way trip to Poland.
(Score: 3, Touché) by looorg on Wednesday April 05 2017, @05:26PM
... at least they let you use the wi-fi at the black site to make that anonymous post.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 05 2017, @05:34PM
I wonder if there's any health insurance in that pile of schwag.
No benefits, no HR costs, and no guarantee that someone working for them actually needs to be paid. No wonder corporations love the idea!
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday April 05 2017, @05:36PM (1 child)
The only non-schwag he has are shoes? Instead of buying that leather casting couch he could have bought shoes at Amazon instead. So many shoes ... I'm sure he could save his next gift card for that.
“I’d much rather earn that money in two days so I don’t have to take the programming job for two months”, "... and his strategy is down to a science. He knows how to maximize his time and prizes. He enters competitions based on the quality of the sponsors (read: big money)", "... drop out after they get jobs, get married or their immune systems can no longer withstand the stress of poor diet and no sleep." Is it just me or do they sound a lot like hookers?
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday April 05 2017, @06:08PM
He should start pimping. Better ROI :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @07:10PM (2 children)
First price was a sandwich (or more precisely half a sandwich)... There was one contestant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @08:15PM (1 child)
How was the sandwich?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 05 2017, @11:29PM
No one won :(