Hackathon Codaro
16 teams, about 90 people, over 25,000 PLN in prizes
A one-day hackathon at Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw: 16 teams, about 90 people and over 25,000 PLN in prizes. Four of us organised it from zero in one month, without spending any of our own money.
Overview
On 24 February 2026 the Codaro team ran a hackathon at Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw, where we were residents. 16 teams competed for over 25,000 PLN in prizes, and at the peak about 90 people were in the room, participants and panellists together.
None of us had ever been to a hackathon, not even as participants. This was our first one in every sense.
The challenge
Google for Startups gave us a date and the venue. From that moment we had exactly one month and nothing else: no plan, no partners and no money for prizes.
We expected money to be the hardest part. It turned out to be people: we had no budget for promotion and still needed a full room.
How it went
A date and a venue, nothing else
Google for Startups offers the Campus. One month to go.
Hackathon Codaro
A hackathon at Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw: 16 teams, about 90 people and over 25,000 PLN in prizes, organised by the Codaro team in one month.
24 February 2026: the panel on the future of senior developers, seen from the production desk.Organising the hackathon. Second Codaro hackathon
Organised by the team; I helped a little on the day.
My role and collaborators
The organising team was Kacper Kamiński, Jan Matecki, Radosław Soysal and me. I took organisation and on-site work, promoted the event and brought in several partners.
- Marketing: created the Luma event and promoted it, which brought in the most participants
- Brought in partners, including Dziennik Gazeta Prawna
- Ran things on the day: logistics, food, helping teams, and taking the stage to host parts of the programme
What we did
We designed a format that mixes a hackathon with how startups work. There were two tracks, A and B, with broad rules. Three hours before the end, every team got a pivot. The first half was looser and helped people get to know each other; the second half was intense and focused on one concrete task.
Between coding blocks we ran panels with invited guests, including one on the future of senior developers.
Everything was paid for by twenty partners. Google for Startups was the strategic partner; Lovable, JetBrains and n8n were technology partners; Convex and Legimi funded prizes; Helene Zaleski was the grand patron and supported us financially. Media partners included Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Crossweb and SOLID.Jobs.
Outcomes
16 teams, about 90 people in the room and a prize pool worth over 25,000 PLN, with none of our own money spent. Most participants came through the Luma event.
The team ran a second hackathon in July 2026. I only helped a little on the day; it was smaller than the first.
Lessons
It taught me more about running something under a hard deadline than any sprint. And that you do not need to have attended something to organise it well: a clear format and people who show up matter more.