Hackathons have shaped some of the biggest names in tech. Uniswap, Polygon, Instadapp, and even parts of Polkadot all started in hackathons. But these are outliers. The brutal truth? Most hackathon projects never make it past the weekend. And that’s not because developers aren’t brilliant or ideas aren’t solid. It’s because the hackathon system is flawed. ETHGlobal, one of the most prominent hackathon platforms in the Web3 space, has hosted 50+ global hackathons, led to the creation of 6,000+ projects, and distributed over $4.5M in prizes. Yet, how many of these projects turned into real businesses? The numbers tell a story: 70,000+ developers onboarded. 1,000+ hours of educational talks. $250M+ raised by hackathon-born companies. This means that despite thousands of projects being built, only a fraction survive long enough to raise funding. This is a wasted opportunity for Web3. If hackathons are meant to be launchpads, why do they feel more like idea graveyards? Where Hackathons Fail 1 - Too Many Hackathons, No Way to Tell Which Matter Ten years ago, hackathons were rare, and winning one actually meant something. Today, hackathons happen every weekend, across every sector, in every country. ETHGlobal runs multiple events annually.
Solana, Avalanche, and NEAR all have ecosystem hackathons.
Large corporations, DAOs, and even universities are hosting their own. ETHGlobal runs multiple events annually. Solana, Avalanche, and NEAR all have ecosystem hackathons. Large corporations, DAOs, and even universities are hosting their own. Developers now have too many choices. And because there’s no global standard for quality, they waste time building for events that don’t actually help them grow. Unlike Y Combinator, which has a proven track record of launching successful startups, hackathons don’t have a consistent track record of producing real businesses. The result? Developers end up optimizing for short-term wins instead of real-world impact. 2 - Projects Die Immediately After the Hackathon Winning a hackathon doesn’t mean your idea has a future—it just means you built something cool in a short amount of time. But after the event, reality kicks in: There’s no structured follow-up.
There’s no funding pipeline.
There’s no ongoing support. There’s no structured follow-up. There’s no funding pipeline. There’s no ongoing support. Even the best projects fizzle out because hackathons are designed for short-term competition, not long-term execution. 3 - VCs Don’t Track Hackathons, So Good Projects Get Ignored Most venture capital firms don’t take hackathons seriously. Why? Because there’s no filtering mechanism. If you’re an investor looking for the next big thing, hackathons seem like noise: Too many projects.
No way to track post-event progress.
No clear pipeline for follow-up funding. Too many projects. No way to track post-event progress. No clear pipeline for follow-up funding. This is a huge missed opportunity. Some of the best blockchain projects—Uniswap, Aave, and even Filecoin—were born in hackathons. But they succeeded because their founders knew how to navigate the VC world, not because the hackathon gave them a pathway to funding. There’s currently no system that connects the best hackathon projects with the right investors. 4 - Hackathons Reward Flashy Demos, Not Sustainable Ideas Most hackathons focus on technical innovation, not business viability. They reward the most creative use of APIs, not the most scalable ideas.
Judges prioritize technical execution, not real-world adoption.
There’s no requirement to validate market demand. They reward the most creative use of APIs, not the most scalable ideas. Judges prioritize technical execution, not real-world adoption. There’s no requirement to validate market demand. This is why so many hackathon projects never turn into real products. They’re built to impress judges, not to survive in the market. A real startup requires more than a strong GitHub repo. It requires: Product-market fit validation.
Marketing and early user adoption.
Fundraising and operational strategy. Product-market fit validation. Marketing and early user adoption. Fundraising and operational strategy. Right now, hackathons aren’t designed to help with any of that. How We Fix This If hackathons are to remain relevant, we need structural changes. 1 - A Global Hackathon Repository Right now, there’s no way to track the long-term progress of hackathon  projects. We need a centralized, open-source repository where: Every project is listed, updated, and tracked over time.
Developers can continue iterating after the event ends.
Investors can discover high-potential projects and monitor their growth. Every project is listed, updated, and tracked over time. Developers can continue iterating after the event ends. Investors can discover high-potential projects and monitor their growth. Imagine if every project that won a hackathon was required to maintain updates for six months. This would create a public ledger of progress, separating serious founders from those who are just in it for the prize money. 2 - Post-Hackathon Acceleration Winning should mean more than just a cash prize. Hackathon organizers should commit to: Connecting top projects with seed investors.
Providing structured mentorship for 6+ months.
Ensuring projects have early user traction before moving forward. Connecting top projects with seed investors. Providing structured mentorship for 6+ months. Ensuring projects have early user traction before moving forward. This is how real accelerator programs work. Hackathons need to borrow from that model. 3 - Web3 Companies Need to Step Up Right now, big blockchain companies love sponsoring hackathons. https://x.com/ETHGlobal/status/1890447863886540998 https://x.com/ETHGlobal/status/1890447863886540998 But sponsorship isn’t enough. What if every company that sponsors a hackathon agreed to adopt one project per event? Incubate it > Fund it > Help integrate it into the ecosystem. That’s how we turn hackathons into real innovation pipelines. BUILD Bharat Tour: Putting This Into Action At Kalp Studio, we don’t just host hackathons. We’re actively building an ecosystem where projects survive beyond the weekend. Through BUILD Bharat Tour, we are: BUILD Bharat Tour Bringing blockchain hackathons to universities across India.
Tracking projects post-hackathon to ensure they evolve.
Connecting developers with VCs, DAOs, and founders for real-world adoption. Bringing blockchain hackathons to universities across India. Tracking projects post-hackathon to ensure they evolve. Connecting developers with VCs, DAOs, and founders for real-world adoption. And the results? 100K+ in prize pools.
800+ developers onboarded.
3+ projects incubated post-hackathon.
5+ projects mentored into real businesses. 100K+ in prize pools. 800+ developers onboarded. 3+ projects incubated post-hackathon. 5+ projects mentored into real businesses. We’re not here to just host another hackathon. We’re here to change the model. The Future of Hackathons Starts Now Hackathons have the potential to change industries—but not in their current form. To make them real launchpads for innovation, we need: 1 - A global hackathon repository. 2 - A structured investment pipeline. 3 - Post-hackathon acceleration for top projects. 4 - More commitment from blockchain companies. The next Uniswap, Polygon, or OpenSea is being built in a hackathon right now. The question is: Will we let it die there? Or will we build the infrastructure to make it thrive? If you believe hackathons should be more than just a weekend event—let’s talk. Innovation deserves better. It’s time to fix this.

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

Filecoin

NEAR Protocol

Avalanche

Aave

Arweave

Polygon

Polkadot

Uniswap

Solana

Every

GOAT, Memes, and the Millionaire AI Agent

Follow me on Linkedin

Read My Stories

Co-founder

Too Long; Didn't Read

Hackathons Are Broken. Here’s How We Fix Them.

Hackathons Are Broken. Here’s How We Fix Them.

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

GOAT, Memes, and the Millionaire AI Agent

57 Stories To Learn About Hackathons

61 Stories To Learn About Hackathon

An Open Source Lonero Student Hackathon

An Outsider's Journey Through Kaggle

Announcing the Open Innovation Hackathon for College Students

GOAT, Memes, and the Millionaire AI Agent

57 Stories To Learn About Hackathons

61 Stories To Learn About Hackathon

An Open Source Lonero Student Hackathon

An Outsider's Journey Through Kaggle

Announcing the Open Innovation Hackathon for College Students

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Minty

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps