Would you invest in a startup coming out of a hackathon?
I am trying to evaluate why I should go to the next hackathon. I had the following reasons until now. but I realize I am just bluffing myself.
1. Network with some hardworking and like minded people - This is still somewhat true. But I realize that I am only in touch with people I teamed up with and not the whole crowd. Besides I think if I go to an iOS dev meetup (since I do iOS) I could network with a lot more iOS devs and other people who show up.
2. Future co-founder - I now realize that you cannot judge a person in 24 hours of a stressful hackathon. And would not know if you can work with that person for the rest of your life. I feel its better to find co-founders at your day job where you've worked with that person for atleast 6 months and you both respect each other. This is coming from my experince.
3. VC exposure - Very very rarely you'd hear a startup that comes out of a hackathon. I really doubt if any VC would pour his/her money in a startup that was formed over a weekend with core team members who barely know each other. You might be able to network with a VC but till date all VCs I met were not only interested in what I was talking but also had a 'Meh - im here just coz these organizers begged me to come' attitude.
4. Starting a startup - I now realize, hackathons or startup weekends are nothing more than fun weekend knowing few people and trying to demo a product to amuse some judges and audience shiz. I would like to hear of a startup that was born at a hackathon and raised at least a million dolla.
There may be some long term benefits. But I just feel all hackathons and startup weekends are overrated. So basically my question to a VC is, would you invest in a startup coming out of a hackathon knowing all the above?