Event
Attendees
General
Corporate
Logistics
Idea Ownership
Event
- What is the ideal output/ deliverable from the Hackathon?
The spirit is entrepreneurship & entrepreneurs to solve the world’s problems. The ideal outcome is to come up with new & innovative business models/ “minimum viable business” and get these companies incorporated, seed funded and get the first pilot running. - Who runs the event?
We are a “not for profit enterprise” and the hackathon is curated, managed, facilitated and run by our experts. We train young students on design thinking to lead - What happens after the day of the Hackathon?
What happens after the Hackathon Day is important. Your idea will be presented to our investors & corporate partners for possible seed funding and evaluated for pilots - How do you record the output?
We live scribe the event capturing the ideas in a beautiful illustration. There will be videos, pictures and reports after the day. - How do you ensure the ideas are truly innovative and not repeat of existing business models?
Besides sending the existing solutions via email/ webinar; we have a insights session on the day to inspire the attendees about inspirational solutions that are in the market and changing the world. - Are there any Panels?
No. Unless absolutely required to facilitate the context & what next? (e.g. panel on next steps, how to bring the ideas to market with R&D Credits, Crowd Funding, Angels etc) - Who gives the Keynote speech?
The 14yr olds or the future consumers deliver the keynote. The 14yr olds are on the same page as the 60yr olds CEO who are on the same table trying to solve the challenge. The attendees are influencers themselves who give and attend keynotes as a part of their day job all the time. This is the day for them to get their hands dirty, take action and find some solutions rather than talking about it. - Who are the Industry Experts?
Senior executives from the specific challenge area with practical experience and a passion to change the world. - What are your KPIs?
Don’t be alarmed if you see our founder Dhruv running around with a resignation letter template. That is his passion to get you to quit your day job & to encourage you to start your business so save the planet since time is running out. Our core KPIs are the number of new businesses created on/after the day and the direct impact of these businesses on the planet (e.g. tons of plastic removed from the economy, carbon tonnage etc). We have other KPIs around people engaged, ideas generated, international collaboration, diversity & inclusion etc. - How do you form the teams?
Teams are curated before the event to ensure we have balanced teams with the right skills, motivation and passion. - How long is the application process?
Usually a month but it depends on hackathon to hackathon.
Attendees
- What is a good application?
We have a lot of applications and the appetite is phenomenal. Last time we had 360+ applications for 60 spaces. To do justice to everyone, we would love to see a complete application specially we would love to know a bit more about your passion, inspiration & motivation to change the world. - Is the Hackathon only for technical people from IT?
Absolutely not. The word hackathon can be misleading in this context. The goal is to come up with “new business models” or “minimum viable business” and not “minimum viable product” or “technology prototypes”. We have very few people from tech & IT but we did have technology prototypes before. - Who are the attendees?
All hands on deck. They are teenagers, ballet dancers, other creatives, industry experts from behaviour change, marketing, branding, polymers, packaging, finance, funding, investors, management consultant, influencer, retired executives, entrepreneurs, recyclers etc. and C-Suite executives from the biggest brands in the world, decision makers who can make things happen. - What age groups are invited?
For the Junior ones we have had kids as young as 8 under adult supervision. Usually in the Industry hackathons, the min age is 16 . - What is your harassment policy?
Yes we do have one here on http://www.plastichackathon.com/harassment-policy/ - Can I bring my friend?
No, you can not on the day. But you can encourage them to apply before and maybe drop us a line too. The teams are pre curated and we can not have unexpected attendees due to fire safety and other regulations.
General
- Can I mentor the teams?
Not on the day. This is a day to learn, give back and work together. Everyone is on the same page. - I do not want to start my own business but can I volunteer with other startups?
The hackathon is about founders, empowering & inspiring founders to start new startups solving the world’s problems. But, of course you can volunteer in their startups and this is a great networking opportunity to work with them for a day and test out the relationships before jumping on board with them. - Can I speak at the Hackathon?
No. We do not have a lot of time and also everyone has heard all the talks before. This is the day of action and making things happen. However, for specific relevant topics like “Influencing Human Behavior” and depending on the context we may have a few talks. - Can I Invest in startups?
Yes, you can make an angel investment with the startups via the Hackathon Syndicate/ Fund. - Can I sell my new solutions/ product?
No. We do not have time and you do not have the right audience expectations. They are there to innovate and not to be bombarded with “Business Development” or “Sales” talks. This can happen informally but not formally. We have limited time and the focus is to find new solutions but your solution may be a part of the solutions being crafted depending on the context. We run a “Solutions Showcase” with the right audience and the decision makers. Please email [email protected] for more info. - Is Plastic your only focus or you will focus on other challenges like Climate Crisis/ Modern Day Slavery etc?
For now plastic is the focus but we are here to inspire everyone to solve the world’s challenges
Corporate
- How can we help?
We are a not for profit entity registered in the UK trying to solve the world’s biggest challenges since without a planet, nothing else matters. We need your help. We are constantly looking for corporate partners from across the value chain/ industries. You can either sponsor an event or give with your services in kind e.g. consulting/ accounting & legal/ marketing/ video & pictures/ event space/ subscriptions/ tech subscriptions etc. In return, we can deliver custom campaigns/ work for you. Please email [email protected] and lets have a call - We want to run our own internal hackathon to save the world, Can we help us?
Yes, we can help you with that. Please email [email protected] for more info. - Do you have any sector focus for the hackathons?
The current focus is Plastic Pollution/ Ocean/ Circular Economy but we are open to reusing the design thinking methodology to help you solve the issues you care about. - Can we sponsor the Hackathon?
Yes. We are a not for profit and we are always looking for help. Please email to [email protected] for more info. - Do you run Corporate Hackathons?
Yes, we can help you with that. We also run sector specific hackathons. Please email to [email protected] for more info.
Logistics
- Is there media at the event?
Yes - Do we have to bring laptops?
Yes - Do you broadcast live or record videos of the day?
It depends on the event. We have had youtube live sessions and we do take a lot of videos pictures. - What is your max capacity?
It depends on the venue, applications and safety regulations around it.
Idea Ownership
- Who owns the rights to the idea generated in the hackathon?
Firstly, ideas are free, it is the execution that matters.
This is an open innovation event and the ideas can be implemented by anyone. We will also share these online. The goal of the event is to ensure we have maximum impact on the planet, no matter who executes the ideas. However, teams are encouraged to work together and take the idea forward. If any corporate wants to implement the idea they aer encouraged to work with the teams or add them to the advisory board when they implement the idea.