The nostr hackathons where incentives were prize money resulted in almost all dead projects.
Goes to show you can't motivate people to make something of quality with a one time reward.
Some of the projects were outright scams and pure nonsense.
Discussion
That's a shame. Maybe support could be given for certain milestones or something. Or focus on those projects still delivering?
Nah then theyβd just milk that too. Things must start from your own initiative without short term monetary incentive
Yeah, either the passion is there for something or it's not.
Passion or long term vision. Iβm not saying money is not a good incentive, it can be, but it must be backed by a vision and a plan to dedicate time and resources to it
Without a passion or vision many Devs there want free DAO or Opensats money from but don't do any developing and the "incentive" makes them comfortable and they don't have to do anything .. see it all over the "crypto" space
We must provide them with at least 6 months of whores.
scamsπΆβπ«οΈ
That's actually most hackathons, including game jams, regardless of there being a prize or not.
Disregarding the purpose of a hackathon / jams, the actual expectation of these things is to meet people, collab, vibe checks, having fun, and maybe make something cool out of it, with the increased chance of a group continuing their project.
Side purpose: organizer's marketing push and talent hunt.
I could see that being the case when itβs organic, but as soon as you throw in decent rewards, this attracts the wrong kind of person imo - where the chances of all of those things you mentioned happening are much lower.
100%. Thats also why people who complain about bounty size arent really into the project intrinsically
Bounty sizes are typically very low though considering how much work needs to be done
if you are fixated on the bounty size, you are aiming at the wrong target.
sometimes you have the skillset to do something somebody is asking for, but no desire to work on the thing or have other things with higher priority on your list. if you actually enjoyed working on the task, many people would just do it for free. then the bounty is just a bonus.
πππ
didn't win anything but https://formstr.app was initially developed during the nostrasia hackathon π
This is not new though. Abandon-ware is all over the place paid or not, nostr or not. I can't see building a long term project off a short term prize. Must be intrinsically motivated, like you and me.
This is partially why I think grants can work. Not totally, but if I'm already motivated to work on a project and it aligns with community or VC I can pay the bills doing what I want to do. Within reason. Money will always have influence, users will always have influence and so on.
Motivation must come from inside if it has to be sustainable.
Exactly. A one-time prize can finance the journey for people who already have the passion and grit to see it through.
The only projects I'm aware of that are still around from the hackathons were worked on prior to the events or came from already established teams.