I've already asked a lot of people to describe AngelHack and they all gave me different answers and opinions. But I guess, what matters the most is what Greg answered when I asked him what AngelHack is all about. Coming from the founder of what is said to be the biggest hackathon in the world, the answer was so simple and yet needed a lot of hardwork to achieve.
"I'm a big ideas guy. I love the idea of going to an event where I can work on brand new concepts and new innovations, and create them and showcase them to the investors' community and to the startup community and bring everyone together."
One difference of this hackathon is that Greg didn't know that AngelHack would be scaling so fast. He started this as just a side project until he got to the first event and the next, then it expanded into more than 50 cities to date.
This is also one big difference of AngelHack from other hackathons held by the likes of Facebook and TechCrunch. These hackathons aren't expanding beyond Silicon Valley, so the participants are concentrated in just one area of the globe. Whereas, the AngelHack 2013 Spring Edition was organized in 32 cities all over the world, bringing in an influx of at least 10,000 participants.
Another difference, and I think this is the major one, is that AngelHack doesn't end once the winners are announced. Because AngelHack is a hackathon and an accelerator program, the winners will get funding, mentoring, and support to scale their startup, plus a trip to Silicon Valley to meet the investors' community. This is a really holistic approach to business and technology that will motivate and inspire people, coders and non-coders alike, to work hard and turn their dreams into reality.
When asked about how he went through with the expansion of AngelHack, Greg told us that finding the right organizers locally is the key to the success of the event in every city. Thanks to Smart DevNet and their partners and sponsors, Angelhack Manila has been really huge.
AngelHack Manila was held last June 8-9, the same weekend that Seoul, Bogota, Washington DC, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur have held Angelhack in their respective cities. I asked Greg why he chose Manila to be at this weekend.
"I like doing work here in the Philippines. I love the culture. And I love how everyone speaks English."
Greg also likes the weather here in the country, which is so much similar to the climate in his hometown, Miami. In fact, he and the group of organizers, startup founders, and influencers from around Asia Pacific are now in Boracay to go on a little vacation.
As AngelHack happens twice a year, Greg mentioned going back here sometime around November for the Fall Edition of this competition. Hopefully, the next Angelhack will be a lot bigger than this one, with participants coming from all parts of the Philippines.
After discussing the prizes for the winning team, which as I mentioned in my previous article was a lot, I asked him for the kind of advice that he'd give to the teams and participants who wouldn't win this hackathon.
"It's not about winning or losing."
Joining the AngelHack Competition is more about meeting each other, building friendships as much as building your product, and learning from each other. This is really about creating a community of developers, business people, investors, and influencers aiming to make life better.
And as a parting note, I said, "Just by joining AngelHack, you already won."
