gym.jpg gym and hackathons feel completely different to me.

when you go to the gym, you may wanna look good, be strong, feel sexy or get attention. whatever.

but work still lands in your own body.

judges cannot award you muscles. sponsors cannot do your reps. good pitch cannot replace sleep, protein, hydration and showing up again.

that makes connections there feel more honest too.

you see the same people repeatedly. you see when they struggle, when they improve and when they still come despite having a bad day.

hack.jpg hackathons often feel like opposite.

people meet and immediately start performing competence, ambition and excitement. everyone asks what can win before asking what is worth building.

gym compounds truth.

hackathon can reward convincing fiction.