Are hackers a threat to companies? Not at all! More and more companies are valuing the know-how and creativity of unconventional strategies. This no longer just means uncovering vulnerabilities in their own firewalls with the help of life hacks. Instead, it's now common practice for large companies to host so-called hackathons or hack days to promote innovation.
Such hack days have emancipated themselves from their former purely IT focus. Today, the focus is on everything from developing new applications with appealing designs to conceptualizing new, disruptive business models. The IT nerd stereotype is outdated – in addition to talented programmers, hack days have also become a hotspot for creatives. And all of this takes place in a relaxed atmosphere – over pizza and energy drinks, talented minds often sit together until late into the night to analyze a wide variety of problems and develop appropriate solutions.
For companies, hackathons are a welcome opportunity to attract outstanding talent with creative ideas. And it's not even necessary to host such an event themselves. Universities have also become true think tanks in this regard – at the Campus Hackathon in Munich, for example, interested parties are coming together for the second time to put the theory they've learned into practice.
Creative approaches to concrete problems
Hackathons have become a popular method for collaboratively developing solutions, especially for specific problems – as was the case at the fourth Burda Hackday from April 22nd to 24th in Munich. The overarching theme of the event is the future of work. Participants are invited to develop their solutions for the workplace of the future from a wide variety of perspectives. These range from ideas for communication and approaches to motivation to individual workplace design.
But it's not just companies and sponsors who benefit from the creations of hackathons. The happenings are also an excellent opportunity for startups with innovative ideas to present themselves and their concepts. Awards, in the form of cash or non-cash prizes, await the best approaches. Far more important than the material aspect, however, is the chance for founders to explore the potential of their ideas and present them to a larger audience. The small circle of interested participants is often the first acid test before ideas are made public. Furthermore, the informal setting often provides opportunities for networking. It's no coincidence that large companies act as supporters – a good opportunity for startups and companies to jointly advance innovations.
Tailor-made support for startups
The concept of hackathons as intensive group work over a short, clearly defined period of time is gaining ground. "Bootcamps" are currently gaining ground in startup support, offering founders concrete steps for their further business development. This includes Google's Launchpad, which will take place in Munich for the second time this April.
Selected internal and external mentors support the founders with critical issues that many young entrepreneurs face in the early stages of their startup. This offering complements existing incubators and accelerators and promotes the local startup ecosystem.
LMU Munich has also embraced this type of support, killing two birds with one stone. In the "Start with Business Planning" course, initiated by LMU Entrepreneurship Center and the Faculty of Business Administration, students are encouraged to move away from theory and into practice. This is done using concrete business plans that the students develop for existing startup projects. This allows students to gain firsthand experience of the practical side of things, and the founders benefit from concrete recommendations for action.
