[jalpino]

I'm not sure that I understand all of the negativity around this. If Campbells had called this a contest instead of a hackathon, would it change your opinion on the details of the event? They seem to be pretty open about their intent and what happens if you win and/or make it to the finals.

Some positive things to keep in mind:

* submitting an idea costs you nothing except for your time to write up an idea

* the winner will receive $25,000 for a 3-week build prototype, NOT a market ready application

* there are no posted rules on the level of completeness required for your prototype. Can you win with a slide deck that shows how you use their API to execute your idea? maybe.)

* presenting your idea in the finals does not require you to travel to NY, they clearly state that you can video conference in for the event.

* if you do win you are then offered, not obligated to take, an additional $25k contract to complete it (likely not worth it)

For all of the folks that don't win, it's not an entire loss either:

* a well written idea is all that is needed to enter the contest, not much lost if you aren't selected as a finalist.

* if you make it to the finals, your only cost is 3 weeks of your time for a 1:30 chance of winning $25k or less for winning the $10k as a runner up.

* if you make it to the finals you walk away with something tangible to tack onto your resume. "Made it as a finalist in a nationally recognized brand's competition for my idea" sounds pretty good.

[olivier1664]

The "1:30 chance of winning $25k" means you work at around $1k per month as self managed develloper (in the US). It's just cheap.

It can be a goood deals for CS students that have some 3 weeks mandatory project to do for school.

[jalpino]

Where do you get the $1k/month from?

Finalists are granted access to the API on Feb 11, 2013 and are required to submit their entries by March 1, 2013. Assuming that they also notify you as a finalist on Feb 11 and not before, that gives you 3 weeks to build and submit your prototype.

$25k / 3 weeks == $8,333.34 USD per week. That's a pretty good payout for anyone in my opinion.

[unreal37]

Also, assuming that you're not spending 40 hours a week at this for all 3 weeks (120 hours). A working prototype can be made in 10-15 hours. Also the amount of time you spend on it is up to you.

So 1:30 shot at $50K, for a 15 hour investment? Up to you to decide.