Corporate Hackathons: the Fine Line Between Engaging and Exploiting

New submitter dasacc22 writes "Campbell is inviting developers to hack the kitchen with their recipe API. But wait — the API is private, so first you need to submit an idea. If they like the idea, you'll be given access to develop the app. If they like the app, they may give you some money. Otherwise, you can expect to have an app that connects to an API you no longer have access to. The author of this article covers his recent experiences after engaging with Campbell's Adam Kmiec to try and answer the following: '... my question to software developers out there who are thinking of devoting any real effort to a corporate hackathon like this is: "Why?"'"

Comments

come up with the next big thing and win 5,000$

[tommeke100]

...That way we don't have to invest > 1M$ in R&D to do it ourselves!

Bottom line: not worth it

[lucm]

From a probability point of view, here is the true value of that thing:

(Total prize: $50,000 + $10,000) / (Number of challengers: 30) = $2,000

The access to the API is limited to 3 weeks. This means that what they offer is the privilege of working for $16 per hour as long as you initially provided a good idea for free.

Financially speaking, one is better off working at Mikee Dees for 3 weeks and using the wages to buy lottery tickets (you also get free soft drinks while you work if I'm not mistaken).