Accelerate change – hack your business! If you really want to innovate you have to hack your business. And what better way than to host a hackathon with employees and, potentially, customers or partners? We’ve participated in and helped co-create hackathons for a number of our clients and also host internal hackathons on a regular basis. Here’s our how-to guide for a successful event, from idea to implementation to innovation. Besides being a quick way for your company to innovate, hackathons can also provide invaluable experiential learning and help build new connections within your organization and beyond.

1. INNOVATION
THROUGH
HACKATHONS
A Three-Step Guide

2. *A HACKATHON IS AN EVENT WHERE PEOPLE WORK IN MIXED TEAMS TO RAPIDLY
PROTOTYPE A CONCEPT AROUND A SET CHALLENGE DURING A CONDENSED TIME FRAME.
IS YOUR COMPANY STILL TRYING TO INNOVATE USING
BRAINSWARMING OR EMPLOYEE CROWDSOURCING? EVEN THOUGH
THESE METHODS HAVE WORKED FOR SOME COMPANIES IN THE
PAST, THERE ARE MUCH BETTER WAYS TO GO ABOUT INNOVATION.
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO ACCELERATE CHANGE AND INNOVATE YOU
HAVE TO HACK YOUR BUSINESS. AND WHAT BETTER WAY THAN
TO HOST A HACKATHON* WITH EMPLOYEES AND, POTENTIALLY,
CUSTOMERS OR PARTNERS?
BESIDES BEING A QUICK WAY FOR YOUR COMPANY TO INNOVATE,
HACKATHONS CAN ALSO PROVIDE INVALUABLE EXPERIENTIAL
LEARNING AND HELP BUILD NEW CONNECTIONS WITHIN YOUR
ORGANIZATION AND BEYOND.
WE’VE PARTICIPATED IN AND HELPED CO-CREATE HACKATHONS
FOR A NUMBER OF OUR CLIENTS AND ALSO HOST INTERNAL
HACKATHONS ON A REGULAR BASIS. HERE’S OUR HOW-TO GUIDE
FOR A SUCCESSFUL EVENT, FROM IDEA TO IMPLEMENTATION
TO INNOVATION.
ACCELERATE CHANGE –
HACK YOUR BUSINESS!

3. 2
IMPLEMENTATION
1
IDEA
3
INNOVATION

4. IDENTIFY A BUSINESS
CHALLENGE TO BE
SOLVED DURING
THE HACKATHON
IDEA

5. The challenge could, for example, be around
improving internal processes or designing a new
product offering.
You will also need:
> Between 1,5 and 2 days allocated for your hackathon
> Meal logistics plus snacks and drinks sorted
A venue with a few separate rooms so that each
team can have their own space.
Time to start inviting your employees! Consider
including a few customers or partners depending on
the challenge you are trying to solve. If the hackathon
will be around enhancing your customer service, who
better to attend than customers themselves?
IDEA

6. GET WHAT YOU NEED
TO MAKE YOUR
HACKATHON FLOW
IMPLEMENTATION

7. ORGANIZERS/FACILITATORS
The people that take care of getting everything kicked off with an
ideation session, making sure that everyone finds a team and setting
the expectations and ground rules for the event.
You will need 2 people facilitating for every 20 people attending.
ATTENDEES/TEAMS
The most important part of any hackathon. Aim to get a good mix of
skillsets in every group; someone more design-oriented, a technical
person or developer, a third person with strong business acumen, …
Try to keep each group to between 3-5 people.
SCHEDULE
If possible, try to run your hackathon over 1,5 or 2 days. In the first case,
start in the afternoon on Day 1, work through Day 2 and finish up with
presentations in the evening. Calculate 15% for initial ideation and forming
of teams, 70% for the hacking, and 15% for final presentations.
DELIVERABLE
What’s the final thing that needs to be delivered? Tech advancement of
the project is of course nice, but there’s just not enough time to prepare
something that works really well in such a short time frame.
An idea that’s solid, tested, usable and feasible is usually what steals the
jury’s hearts. Presentations are also a great way for the teams to show off
their public speaking skills, and to find new, innovative ways of presenting
the product or service.
(continues on next page)
IMPLEMENTATION

8. IMPLEMENTATION
CONSTANT TESTING
The ideas need to be market-validated as soon as possible – the earlier
the better. That’s the way to overcome confirmation bias and confront the
ideas with reality.
No need for the whole team to sit at the desk and brainstorm when
there’s a whole world out there to ask how they feel about the thing
being created.
PIVOT
The teams need to be encouraged to change their ideas even in the
most radical ways (pivot), and reminded that there’s no penalty in starting
from scratch.
We’ve seen teams win awards with stroke-of-genius ideas quickly
scribbled during the last hour of a hackathon.
MENTORING SESSIONS
Get a few extra people – ideally someone with experience within the
given challenge area – to walk around and meet with all the teams.
The mentors should be available throughout the event to listen to
concepts, provide feedback on product pitches, and give general
guidance where needed.
JUDGES (AND PRIZES)
Have a few entrepreneurs, venture capitalists or senior stakeholders to
join in as judges for who should win the hackathon. Leave enough time
for them to comment on each solution as a fun way to create some
competition between teams.
If possible, have your company buy prizes to up the ante even more.
Anything from flight tickets to Hawaii to a nice diploma and a handful of
Amazon vouchers goes!
IMPLEMENTATION

9. ENSURE THAT THE
BEST CONCEPTS
ARE EXECUTED AND
SUCCESSFUL
INNOVATION

10. There can be only one winner, but you might end up
with more than one promising concept. Make sure that
they are all executed by giving each team an executive
sponsor with the responsibility of making it happen.
Businesses that are prepared to change the way they
work achieve enormous productivity gains, but how do
you ensure that the initiative(s) from your hackathon is
a success? We’ve previously shared a guaranteed way
for organizations to generate a 10x ROI on enterprise
apps explaining how you can verify needs and use
cases, quantifying and prioritizing each opportunity.
And remember: never forget to involve the end users
throughout the development process. Our blog
post on why employees won’t use your app covers
common pitfalls and works as a handbook for how
you scope, release, test, and iterate when creating a
mobile solution.
INNOVATION

11. THE FIRST END-TO-END
MOBILITY COMPANY IN
THE WORLD.
www.dminc.com
Hackathons are a fantastic way to engage employees,
customers and partners and to hack your business.
Interested in hosting a hackathon? Looking for a
partner that can help you innovate? Contact us for
more information!