8 ms·

Why We Made a European Alternative to Hacker School

85 points by limist 12y ago

terhechte 12y ago
Looks cool, do you only have the May/June/July batch option? I'd be interested in applying, however this June I'm in the US for WWDC and other business trips, so I'd need to wait until next year, or do you also offer a Winter batch?
- limist 12y ago
  Thanks! Short answer is, it depends. If we get really strong interest and commitment (like 20 people who will definitely be there), we'll do another batch in the Fall/Winter. Someway or somehow, space will be conjured up again and we'll make it happen. :) One idea your question brought to mind is a form/list of people who really want to come and do it, just at a later date. Will set that up...
  - terhechte 12y ago
    Thanks for the quick reply! I signed up for your newsletter, so I'll hopefully see it when there's another batch. Coming from Hamburg, Berlin is a much better fit than NY :)
  - epsylon 12y ago
    Same here, I'm busy this summer, but would have been interested in a fall / winter batch.
lquist 12y ago
I hope you're doing this because you're passionate about it, because my understanding is that Hacker School doesn't make much profit.
- thumbtackthief 12y ago
  They profit in changing lives.
  - limist 12y ago
    Thanks! We think at least a few people from our last Fall batch would agree to that. We're intending more people to say that when this next session/batch is done.
- limist 12y ago
  Yup, we know...boy do we know. :) Rationally, and per our FAQ, we considered ditching it because the economics are marginal or worse. But neither Jose nor I could let the idea die. We hope the latest version hits the right combination of OK economics, and strong benefits for everyone involved.
- urlwolf 12y ago
  We do it because we want it to exist. Getting past troubles in programming is much easier if you have people around, go for lunch, etc... who are pretty advanced. You are right that it's challenging to make it sustainable as a business. We are putting in serious hours (I'm fulltime on it since Nov 2013, and Kai is ramping up since he joined; he has his own clean energy startup to take care of too!). We do want Hacker Retreat to make meaningful money so it compensates the time invested, if anything. But this is no aim-for-the-moon startup.
nazgob 12y ago
I'm thinking about applying but 2 months is a bit long for me. One month would be ideal. Is it possible?
- urlwolf 12y ago
  I'd not stop you, but once your are here, I'm pretty sure you'll be sorry that you can stay only one month... apply though.
pantalaimon 12y ago
> Where: At Microsoft Ventures, Unter den Linden 17 It's at the Microsoft product showrooms? I mean this is pretty much Microsoft's take on the Apple Store, I wonder how corporate/marketingy this 'retreat' will be.
- limist 12y ago
  No. There's no product showroom there, just a cafe on the ground floor. Hacker Retreat is happening in the space above, where MSV's incubated startups usually are. They agreed to let us use the space in between their startup rounds.
  - pantalaimon 12y ago
    Thank you, I had a bit of a feeling this might be some kind of marketing ploy. I guess I'm more used to the classical Hackerspace (of which there are quite a few in Berlin [1]), but I appreciate that you are doing mentoring and imparting best practices. I think 'hacker retreat' gives a bit of the wrong vibe as it sounds more like a place for social gathering (aka a hackerspace) when in fact it's more in the spirit of e.g Games Academy (especially considering the price). [1] http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Berlin http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Berlin
    - limist 12y ago
      Thanks for the compliment. We certainly enjoy socializing, but effective learning and working take precedence, and we expect an atmosphere of "enthusiastic intensity" at HRet. The people at MSV have been cool with us. And while they certainly want to have visibility for their program, they've given us all the freedom we need in using their space.
- Major_Grooves 12y ago
  It's a great working space. I spent some time working there as a Seedcamp startup. There's no OTT Microsoft influence, and the ground floor is really just a cafe (tad pricey) with lots of MS products on display.
venti 12y ago
Another (non-profit) initiative from Berlin: http://www.opentechschool.org/berlin/ http://www.opentechschool.org/berlin/
illumen 12y ago
There's this hackership thing in Berlin as well... http://www.hackership.org/ http://www.hackership.org/
- limist 12y ago
  Yep, they target a different audience. They're more for beginners who want an apprenticeship in coding. Whereas Hacker Retreat is for intermediate and advanced coders who have their own projects, and want to learn and apply advanced techniques.
waltherg 12y ago
I understand you are not looking to make huge profits and I greatly appreciate the idea behind this and your sister program over at Data Science Retreat. Unfortunately, I am a PhD researcher just finishing their thesis this summer so I would not believe that my financial situation will allow me to pay for both the retreat and living expenses. Are the folks you attract mostly financially settled i.e. holding down real jobs?
- mbrundle 12y ago
  I'm dead interested in this (just applied) and I'm definitely not financially settled - actually the opposite, finished a postdoc and am currently bootstrapping a startup. But the value of this looks amazing, so if I can put the funds together, I'm sure it'll be well worth it.
- limist 12y ago
  Short answer: There's a mix of people, and a few are students (college or graduate school). Some are remote coders. Some are doing startups. And some quit their jobs to come to Berlin. :)
idiotb 12y ago
never graduate!
wallzz 12y ago
great initiative, I hope something similar will be organized in Paris
ErsatzVerkehr 12y ago
Important details are really hidden on the webpage. For example, who are the mentors? Second: unlike the Hacker School, it's not free. Both of these items should be addressed under "The Essentials".
- limist 12y ago
  Depends which page you're referring to. The article/link above makes the price clear, and also why we charge - we keep things simple and don't do the recruiting model. The homepage doesn't mention price nor mentors; we wanted to keep it short. We'll likely add the price there. Both the price and prior mentors (some are very likely to return) are clear on the offer landing page: http://hackerretreat.com/batch-next/ http://hackerretreat.com/batch-next/ The exact lineup of mentors is TBD because we want to be sure to bring in people that participants want/need. You can judge from our past mentors, and our posts, what the caliber of mentors generally is.
prosh 12y ago
another great initiative in collaborative workspace culture, keep it up

85 points by limist 12y ago

Looks cool, do you only have the May/June/July batch option? I'd be interested in applying, however this June I'm in the US for WWDC and other business trips, so I'd need to wait until next year, or do you also offer a Winter batch?

limist 12y ago
Thanks! Short answer is, it depends. If we get really strong interest and commitment (like 20 people who will definitely be there), we'll do another batch in the Fall/Winter. Someway or somehow, space will be conjured up again and we'll make it happen. :) One idea your question brought to mind is a form/list of people who really want to come and do it, just at a later date. Will set that up...
- terhechte 12y ago
  Thanks for the quick reply! I signed up for your newsletter, so I'll hopefully see it when there's another batch. Coming from Hamburg, Berlin is a much better fit than NY :)
- epsylon 12y ago
  Same here, I'm busy this summer, but would have been interested in a fall / winter batch.

lquist 12y ago

I hope you're doing this because you're passionate about it, because my understanding is that Hacker School doesn't make much profit.

thumbtackthief 12y ago
They profit in changing lives.
- limist 12y ago
  Thanks! We think at least a few people from our last Fall batch would agree to that. We're intending more people to say that when this next session/batch is done.
limist 12y ago
Yup, we know...boy do we know. :) Rationally, and per our FAQ, we considered ditching it because the economics are marginal or worse. But neither Jose nor I could let the idea die. We hope the latest version hits the right combination of OK economics, and strong benefits for everyone involved.
urlwolf 12y ago
We do it because we want it to exist. Getting past troubles in programming is much easier if you have people around, go for lunch, etc... who are pretty advanced. You are right that it's challenging to make it sustainable as a business. We are putting in serious hours (I'm fulltime on it since Nov 2013, and Kai is ramping up since he joined; he has his own clean energy startup to take care of too!). We do want Hacker Retreat to make meaningful money so it compensates the time invested, if anything. But this is no aim-for-the-moon startup.

nazgob 12y ago

I'm thinking about applying but 2 months is a bit long for me. One month would be ideal. Is it possible?

urlwolf 12y ago
I'd not stop you, but once your are here, I'm pretty sure you'll be sorry that you can stay only one month... apply though.

pantalaimon 12y ago

> Where: At Microsoft Ventures, Unter den Linden 17 It's at the Microsoft product showrooms? I mean this is pretty much Microsoft's take on the Apple Store, I wonder how corporate/marketingy this 'retreat' will be.

limist 12y ago
No. There's no product showroom there, just a cafe on the ground floor. Hacker Retreat is happening in the space above, where MSV's incubated startups usually are. They agreed to let us use the space in between their startup rounds.
- pantalaimon 12y ago
  Thank you, I had a bit of a feeling this might be some kind of marketing ploy. I guess I'm more used to the classical Hackerspace (of which there are quite a few in Berlin [1]), but I appreciate that you are doing mentoring and imparting best practices. I think 'hacker retreat' gives a bit of the wrong vibe as it sounds more like a place for social gathering (aka a hackerspace) when in fact it's more in the spirit of e.g Games Academy (especially considering the price). [1] http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Berlin http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Berlin
  - limist 12y ago
    Thanks for the compliment. We certainly enjoy socializing, but effective learning and working take precedence, and we expect an atmosphere of "enthusiastic intensity" at HRet. The people at MSV have been cool with us. And while they certainly want to have visibility for their program, they've given us all the freedom we need in using their space.
Major_Grooves 12y ago
It's a great working space. I spent some time working there as a Seedcamp startup. There's no OTT Microsoft influence, and the ground floor is really just a cafe (tad pricey) with lots of MS products on display.

venti 12y ago

Another (non-profit) initiative from Berlin: http://www.opentechschool.org/berlin/ http://www.opentechschool.org/berlin/

illumen 12y ago

There's this hackership thing in Berlin as well... http://www.hackership.org/ http://www.hackership.org/

limist 12y ago
Yep, they target a different audience. They're more for beginners who want an apprenticeship in coding. Whereas Hacker Retreat is for intermediate and advanced coders who have their own projects, and want to learn and apply advanced techniques.

waltherg 12y ago

I understand you are not looking to make huge profits and I greatly appreciate the idea behind this and your sister program over at Data Science Retreat. Unfortunately, I am a PhD researcher just finishing their thesis this summer so I would not believe that my financial situation will allow me to pay for both the retreat and living expenses. Are the folks you attract mostly financially settled i.e. holding down real jobs?

mbrundle 12y ago
I'm dead interested in this (just applied) and I'm definitely not financially settled - actually the opposite, finished a postdoc and am currently bootstrapping a startup. But the value of this looks amazing, so if I can put the funds together, I'm sure it'll be well worth it.
limist 12y ago
Short answer: There's a mix of people, and a few are students (college or graduate school). Some are remote coders. Some are doing startups. And some quit their jobs to come to Berlin. :)

idiotb 12y ago

never graduate!

wallzz 12y ago

great initiative, I hope something similar will be organized in Paris

ErsatzVerkehr 12y ago

Important details are really hidden on the webpage. For example, who are the mentors? Second: unlike the Hacker School, it's not free. Both of these items should be addressed under "The Essentials".

limist 12y ago
Depends which page you're referring to. The article/link above makes the price clear, and also why we charge - we keep things simple and don't do the recruiting model. The homepage doesn't mention price nor mentors; we wanted to keep it short. We'll likely add the price there. Both the price and prior mentors (some are very likely to return) are clear on the offer landing page: http://hackerretreat.com/batch-next/ http://hackerretreat.com/batch-next/ The exact lineup of mentors is TBD because we want to be sure to bring in people that participants want/need. You can judge from our past mentors, and our posts, what the caliber of mentors generally is.

prosh 12y ago

another great initiative in collaborative workspace culture, keep it up