The World Wide Web, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing—what do these groundbreaking technologies have in common? Zhang Jiannan, founder of DoraHacks, believes they all stem from the "Hacks (hacker spirit)." "When the World Wide Web was born at CERN, it proved one thing to us: to change and improve the way humans live and work, the key lies in using existing technologies innovatively to achieve breakthroughs," Zhang Jiannan explained. "If we always start from scratch, we will never make substantial progress. This is precisely the core value of the open-source movement and hackathons."

Ten years ago, Zhang Jiannan was involved in organizing CERN Webfest 2013, a hackathon dedicated to exploring how to use technology innovatively to serve science and society. Through Webfest, Zhang not only achieved an interdisciplinary fusion of programming skills and physics knowledge but also established lasting and deep connections with hackers from diverse backgrounds around the world. As he participated in more hackathons, his "hacker spirit" grew stronger, ultimately driving him to start his own company. In 2024, Zhang Jiannan returned to Webfest, but this time he was not a participant; he came as the CEO of DoraHacks to witness the event.

Hackathons are social programming events that last several days, characterized by high inclusivity and openness—participants can join without an academic or corporate background. This feature attracts many talented individuals to participate. During the event, hackers collaborate in teams, combining their skills to solve technical challenges through software, hardware, or business plans. This not only brings together physicists, computer scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to showcase their strengths but also gives young developers the opportunity to break through traditional research frameworks, enhance their skills, build portfolios, and expand their professional networks.

"If you are passionate about something, you should be able to dive in and give it your all immediately," Zhang Jiannan emphasized. "Pursuing dreams does not require a specific degree or background."

For researchers just starting in a field, hackathons mean much more than technical challenges. They provide an alternative pathway into a research or industry area, bridging the gap between academic theory and practical application. Many university-hosted hackathons often attract corporate sponsorship, which not only serves as prizes to motivate developers to continue their work but also helps rent large venues to accommodate hundreds or even thousands of participants.

"It is these large-scale hackathons that attract the attention of many industry headhunters and mentors," Zhang Jiannan explained. "They see these events as their talent pool. Through hackathons, participants can directly communicate with people from big companies, accelerating their career development while also enhancing their programming skills in practice."

In the 2010s, Zhang Jiannan often participated in hackathons on weekends, which became the foundation of his entrepreneurial journey. "I used to sit in the common lounge of the computer science department, immersed in my hacking projects. Most of my friends were met there," Zhang Jiannan recalled. "But later I realized that if I wanted to create something truly great, I had to effectively organize manpower and funding. So I started 'skipping classes,' not attending computer science courses, but sneaking into business school classrooms." Zhang Jiannan often sat in the back of business school classrooms, listening to lectures while planning his entrepreneurial projects. He communicated with peers daily, evaluating various business models. "In the entrepreneurial process, it is important to think about combining engineering knowledge with business theory," he added. "This is quite interesting and makes the whole process a bit easier."

However, transitioning from scientific research to entrepreneurship is not easy. "In the early stages of entrepreneurship, you have to do everything yourself, learning and completing various tasks," Zhang Jiannan admitted. "The benefit is that you get to learn many new skills and meet new friends, but you also have to force yourself to do things you are not originally good at."

This experience reflects a common dilemma faced by many entrepreneurs: whether to choose to learn new skills from scratch or to find suitable partners and delegate tasks. However, finding trustworthy partners is not an easy task, and wrong decisions can even hinder the company's development. Therefore, it is particularly important to clarify the company's vision and mission from the very beginning.

"The solution is actually quite simple," Zhang Jiannan stated. "The key is to invest enough time to personally complete critical milestones to ensure the product is truly viable. As long as there is a clear business plan and vision, support can be obtained from all sides."

Decentralized Community Governance

Many hackathon participants abandon their projects after the event, but Zhang Jiannan's intention in founding DoraHacks was not to do so. He hopes to provide a platform for hacker teams worldwide to turn their ideas into mature products. "I want hackathons to be more than just a recruitment tool," he explained. "They should also promote open-source development and decentralized community governance. For example, now hackers from Tanzania can collaborate remotely with hacker teams in the United States and receive ongoing support to develop truly impactful products. This model diversifies the tech field and allows more people to access different areas."

DoraHacks helps organizers reduce logistical costs and provides participants with a more reliable funding support mechanism, allowing hackathons to transcend the limitations of academic institutions and attract more individual researchers passionate about innovation. It continuously develops the entire community, enabling the younger generation of developers and researchers to encounter more opportunities and chances in their early careers than ever before.

"The business model is undergoing fundamental changes," Zhang Jiannan pointed out, noting that hackathons are evolving into the cornerstone of emerging technologies, especially in fields like quantum computing, blockchain, and artificial intelligence that started in an open-source manner. "The process of product creation will undergo significant transformation. Future technological development will no longer rely on isolated and closed product development but will be based on platforms and infrastructures that hackers can contribute to collectively."

Today, the significance of hackathons extends beyond programming or networking—they are more about breaking through technological boundaries, creating meaningful solutions, and opening new career paths. Hackathons serve as incubators for ideas and can have a lasting impact on these ideas. Zhang Jiannan hopes to help turn these ideas into reality. "The way of future innovation will definitely be collaborative and open-source," he emphasized again. "In traditional social environments, the development of enterprises relies on building moats around closed-source technologies, which is inefficient and hard to achieve. The truly innovative future will center on open platform technologies, allowing global developers to continuously iterate and update based on existing projects. This spirit of open collaboration is precisely why the Hacker Movement is so important."

Interviewer: Alex Epshtein (Editorial Assistant).

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。