A HitchHiker’s Guide to Being a Non-Technical Person at a Hackathon

The following was written while at the 2016 Bitcoin Hackathon in Miami. I tagged along with friends from Setmine. Our team won the 1st place grand prize, as well as some sweet coffee cups. I didn’t write a single line of code. This is my story.

Saturday 2:00AM
I let the team know I’ll meet them at 5:45AM. I set my alarm, but I knew in my heart of hearts my odds were dicey at best.

Saturday 10:00AM-11:00AM
I wake up and wonder who beat me with a pillow sack of bricks while I slept. I am deliriously sick. I jump into a hot shower to reboot my personality. I look at my phone with missed calls from the team. I debate not going and nursing myself back to health.

12:00PM-1:00PM
I call Jesus to see how things are going and try to work my whole “I’m sick” shpiel into the conversation. It’s met with a long pause ended by a “Is that a joke?” The “Mom I’m sick, I can’t go to school” excuse does not work in real life.

2:00PM

I walk in and try to see how long I can last without being inevitably exposed as a sad sack of nontechnical shit. Almost immediately the guy at the front desk politely asks “so what do you do?” He knows. My blue Zuck hoodie isn’t fooling anyone. “I code,” I say as if I’m Ryan Gosling with his white scorpion jacket in Drive. Realizing how ambiguous that sounded, I clarified I’m more or less here to help with design. Less was appropriate. A poker face is only useful if you know how to play poker.

2:05PM

My friends welcome me with excited, caffeine stimulated greetings. To everyone in the room I look like a regular. I sit at the long oak tables and carve out a small workspace free of chargers, screens, and energy drink cans. I wonder which of the two teams I was on again. I’m met with no answers. I begin to feel like the fat kid who humiliatingly gets picked last for dodgeball — a memory most of us have never actually had but has been drilled into our subconscious from most childhood movies. Don’t be late. Don’t miss registration.

2:10PM

I got placed as an assistant to the designer. Not assistant designer, an actual assistant to the designer, Johnny. I am important. I wipe the cobwebs off my Photoshop and text a few design gifted friends an SOS message. I get some ideas and pointers. I go through YouTube videos to learn. When in doubt, don’t be shy to ask for help — But help can only take you so far, fill the gaps with your own research.

3:00PM-5PM
Several times I would raise my Macbook to the team with my new logo. They look at me with supportive, sympathetic eyes; similar to how one’s parents look at their mediocre kid’s pasta noodles glued on a sheet of paper. I look back in anticipation, hoping I would finally make the cut to be on the fridge. “I know how this is going to sound, but I’m not sure how to really phrase this man, just try to make it look less…ugly”. You know most artists aren’t appreciated until they’re dead, right? Although posthumous admiration seems quaint, I am an impatient man. Back to the drawing board. Don’t let the man bring you down.

5:15PM
I start writing this. I throw on a mix of The Weeknd, Brian Jonestown Massacre. I’m clearly in a mood.

5:45PM
I show my 3PM-5PM paragraph to the team. They find it hysterical. I have gained street credit for being kind of good at something.

6:30PM
I did it. This is easily the best logo in this room right now. Hands down. Johnny thinks it looks good too. Two subjective opinions might as well be an objective truth. I confidently notify the team that our logo is completely ready. It’s met with silence and uncomfortable smiles, smiles aware of my self-acknowledged reputation for mediocre logos in the past few hours. The street credit I gained wasn’t free; it was traded for my professional credibility. I chime in, “Get it? It makes sense right?” I am the Steve Jobs of logo presentations. “Ehh, I kind of like it.” I am validated. “It’s out of our color palette, it will look horrible with everything else,” a legitimate objection. Two subjective opinions do not make an objective truth. “Then we should change everything else, that’s how good it is,” I countered.

6:35PM
I’m back to changing the color scheme. There is no I in team.

7:45PM -
“Hour 5…I’m not sure how much more of this I can take. It feels like it’s been an eternity” — Johnny’s impression of me.

8:00PM
My good friend Quinn and table-neighbor looks over at my phone. “I’m sitting over here coding you’re here looking at shirtless pictures of yourself…” He shakes his head in shame. There will be moments you will be distracted. There will be moments a friend is distracted by you. There will be moments where both happen at the same time, and it will be funny.

8:20PM
I go to the water fountain to fight the dehydration effects of caffeine and stumble into an intense conversation about frameworks and the limitations of PHP. A few years ago I would have assumed they were talking about drugs. I am the kid on the court sidelines hoping he wouldn’t get picked because he doesn’t know how to dribble a basketball. As honest Abe once said, “”Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

9:00PM
I walk outside to the only car in the street (mine) and reluctantly pay for parking until 4AM. I am financially committed.

9:15PM
I try to get feedback on my writing from Bernie at the other end of the table.
“Nah man I can’t, I really have to grind. I’m literally the worst one here. I just spent an hour working on a problem that took Oscar (our teammate, go team) 10 seconds.” Bernie says modestly.
“Sucks to suck…” I took the high road.
“Wait, you’re writing an article at a hackathon?” I’ve been called out. Bernie is 19.

10:05PM
“Dollar signs? Bitcoin is an international currency,” Bernie said insightfully before he quickly veered off track, “you’re being racist. The judges are going to be like, you’re a racist bigot.” This is actually an amazing point. I forgot Bitcoin is meant to be a replacement/alternative for ALL currency, not just the mighty but rapidly inflating US dollar. Bernie’s insight” Get feedback. Small details matter.

11:00PM
I spent 30 minutes making an 8-Bit character of a miner for our logo to “try something different.” It was turned down in a 2 second “Nahh”. All is not in vain. I now know how to make 8-Bit characters. Hit me up. You never know when you are going to use previous lessons.

1:45AM
The numbers have thinned to about half. If you ask a coder what they are working on, do not expect any punches pulled in terms of specificity. Smile and nod.

2:00AM-4:00AM
This was a blur of energy drinks, caffeine pills, and learning. My logos had a lower survival rate than tadpoles on hot asphalt.

4:15AM
I start getting texts and snapchats from friends detailing their Saturday night debauchery and adventures. I am next to a stack of empty pizza boxes and wired on caffeine. Define your own FOMO.

4:30AM
I show the team my latest rendition. This time the smiles are different. I’m getting a sequence of fistbumps and thumbs up all around the table. Real life emojis, guys, this is serious.

5:00AM-6:00AM
Bernie is scrambling for a logo and asks to use one of my many creations. I have market value.
“I’ll give you an Emergen-C for one,” big spender Bernie offers.
“Those are like 40 cents a packet,” I counter.
“Yeah so is your work.” I am witnessing a master negotiator in action.
As of writing this Bernie is next to me photoshopping coins into a jar. Enjoy those caffeine pills man, you’re going to need them. Supply and Demand.

7:00AM
I have a conversation with an eccentric guy from another team who confidently says the competition is in the bag and the rest of us are competing for second place. He says he is crushing it. First rule of fight club.

7:15AM
Light from outside is creeping into our lair. Being deliriously tired feels more acceptable at night. Our war-room is becoming crowded by energetic well-rested faces. The sunlight is exposing the new sags by my droopy eyes. I wear my Salvador Dali clock face with pride.

7:30AM-10:45AM
My business muscles are getting some exercise. I am helping Jesus practice the pitch. We had a public speaking class together about three years ago. Life. As an app that is made to help non-tech savvy people to use Bitcoin, my ignorance is helpful. You won’t always have the opportunity to play your strengths, but when you do, play them well.

11:40AM
Jesus goes to present the last 30 hours condensed into 2 minutes. Not a stutter, wavering of the voice, or distraction. My logo flawlessly gleams on the big screen. Roaring cheer.

12:30PM
I go for a walk and see my car is now surrounded by orange cones. I hoped my car was not involved in a murder scene and would be property of a forensics team for the day. I move it to a different side of the street. Apparently while I was outside, the guy from 7:00AM that was crushing it presented to a room full of judges and people by wheeling in his messy white board into the front, saying “We are (can’t remember the name)”, dropping the mic, saying a few words inches away from the judges, and clearing the building. You can’t make this up.

1:30PM
I walk back in and miss who got 5th place. And 4th place, these guys. And 3rd place, these guys. And 2nd place, these guys. I look around at our team slowly putting away their things into backpacks. I knew it. We should have dropped the mic. How could we have been so inside-the-box? “First place and winners of the Bitcoin Miami Hackathon and $10k…BitMine!” The rest is a blur of noise and congratulations.

Conclusion
I’m not sure if Woody Allen’s “80% of success is showing up.” quote could apply any better. But to harp on that, it’s the remaining 20% that defines the winners and losers. Every member on the team worked tirelessly all night. Where I was helping crank out logos, some were building the entire back-end functionality. The importance of pushing yourself to learn is what grows you. Putting yourself in an environment with like-minded people you can learn from is putting you on the fast track to grow. Don’t be intimidated by any knowledge gap, push yourself and use your resources to build a bridge.
Huge thank you to Setmine, The Lab, Miami Bitcoin Hackathon. Shout outs to Jesus Najera, Oscar Lafarga, Off-the-grid Balin Sinnot, Johnny Gabos, Berny Garciarivaz, Evan Martinez, Quinn Pruitt, Dennis Hansen