{"id":3064,"date":"2011-09-09T10:37:22","date_gmt":"2011-09-09T17:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.talesfromthe.net\/jon\/?p=3064"},"modified":"2011-09-09T10:37:22","modified_gmt":"2011-09-09T17:37:22","slug":"suggestions-from-last-years-hackathon-winner-part-7-of-techcrunch-disrupted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/2011\/09\/09\/suggestions-from-last-years-hackathon-winner-part-7-of-techcrunch-disrupted\/","title":{"rendered":"Suggestions from Last Year’s Hackathon Winner (part 7 of TechCrunch, Disrupted)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TechCrunch<\/a><\/p>\n

J\u00e2\u20ac\u2122aime Ohm won the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon as a solo hacker with a personal safety iPhone app.\u00c2\u00a0 WiseDame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tag line is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153making safe living easier, one application release at a time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. It takes basic safety practices \u00e2\u20ac\u201c letting friends or family know what time you expect to be home,\u00c2\u00a0 leaving a note about your plans for the day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and makes them better, faster, and easier.\u00c2\u00a0 Brilliant.<\/p>\n

And a great case study in agile software engineering, too. J\u00e2\u20ac\u2122aime started with an idea for a product she wanted and a set of use cases based her own experience. Next she talked with a bunch of potential early adopters who were variants on a target persona (\u00e2\u20ac\u009dwomen who go out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) and had enough information to build a prototype. Which she did, and iterated rapidly continuing to get feedback, all in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

— me in Now *that’s* what I call disruptive<\/a>, October 2010<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What a difference a year makes!\u00c2\u00a0 Last year’s TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco took place in the aftermath of the the Arrington Kerfuffle<\/a> and Angelgate<\/a>, and wound up with AOL acquiring TechCrunch<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 This year, it’s in the midst of an ugly breakup, involving “tense severance negotations<\/a>” between AOL and former editor Michael Arrington.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Pass the popcorn!<\/p>\n

Techcrunch Disrupt has gotten a lot of heat for its underrepresentation of women.\u00c2\u00a0 This year’s speaker list<\/a> includes Hilary Mason of bit.ly, Rebekah Cox of Quora, Gina Bianchini of Ning, Aileen Lee of Kleiner Perkins, and Marissa Meyer of Google … and over 50 guys, including the author of The Diversity Myth<\/em>, a VC known for his quote about preferring to fund straight white guys<\/a>, and an investor who thinks startups have a competitive advantage because they can discriminate<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 And remember how rapper\/CEO Chamillionaire was the only black speaker last time<\/a>?\u00c2\u00a0 This time, there don’t seem to be any blacks at all on the list.\u00c2\u00a0 Nice.<\/p>\n

Oh well, it is what it is.\u00c2\u00a0 And despite all its imperfections, Disrupt is a great opportunity for visibility for the companies participating in the Startup Battlefield<\/a> — and for the people participating in the opening Hackathon<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 There are some serious prizes this year.<\/p>\n

So for those of you making a run at it, here’s some advice.<\/p>\n

J’aime suggests …<\/h2>\n

Not from me, of course.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve never been.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, I asked J’aime for suggestions.\u00c2\u00a0 Here’s what she said:<\/p>\n