4 Types of Hackathons: Which Format is Best for Your Company?

Hackathons have become a popular way for companies to solve tough challenges, encourage innovation, and build a stronger team. If you’re wondering how to run a company hackathon, it helps to understand the different formats before you get started. Each type—external, internal, startup-focused, and MVP (Minimum Viable Product)—serves unique goals and brings specific benefits to the table. Let's break down what each one means, how they work, and how you can choose the best type for your business.

Understanding Hackathons: What They Are and Why They Matter

A hackathon is an event where people come together to solve a challenge through teamwork and creativity. Companies use hackathons to address specific problems, crowdsource fresh ideas, and quickly push projects forward. Some hackathons bring in technical people like software developers, designers, and engineers, while others invite staff from any department, whether or not they can code.

What's special about a hackathon is how it inspires people to collaborate, think outside the box, and try new solutions in a short amount of time. Hackathons aren’t just for techies—they’re for anyone eager to make a difference and turn ideas into action. The format you pick can shape who participates and what outcomes you get.

If you’re thinking about how to run a company hackathon, knowing the different types will help you plan an event that fits your company’s needs and goals.

External Hackathons: Engaging the Outside World

An external hackathon invites people from outside your company to tackle a challenge you set. Participants could include:

  • Developers
  • Startups
  • Students
  • Independent professionals from other organizations

These events usually happen at a set location where everyone gathers to work and present their ideas. The goal is to tap into outside talent, encourage unique perspectives, and maybe even recruit new partners or employees. Since the participants come from all walks of life, you get a wide range of solutions—often ones your in-house team might never consider.

Benefits of External Hackathons

  • Discover creative solutions from new voices
  • Access new pools of talent for hiring or partnerships
  • Boost your company image in the tech and innovation space
  • Build relationships with universities, startups, and the broader community

If you want a step-by-step breakdown of how to pull off a successful hackathon, the article How to Organize a Hackathon offers practical tips to get started.

Internal Hackathons: Tapping into Your Own Team

An internal hackathon is designed for staff members, not outsiders. The main difference is the participants: internal stakeholders. Rather than focusing just on technical staff like developers or engineers, these events encourage folks from every corner of your company to join in. That includes HR, finance, marketing, business development, support, and more.

This type of hackathon doesn’t require everyone to have programming skills. Sometimes, the best ideas for business growth or efficiency come from non-technical participants. Internal hackathons create a safe space for all employees to share their knowledge and creativity.

Departments often involved include:

  • Business Development
  • HR
  • Finance
  • Marketing
  • Customer Support
  • Product Management

Advantages of Internal Hackathons

  • Grow collaboration across teams with different skill sets
  • Break down silos and encourage transparency
  • Discover hidden talents among staff
  • Spark a culture of innovation from the inside out

Internal hackathons can serve as a team-building exercise, energize employees, and drive lasting improvements that make your company more competitive. Many organizations also find that these events lead to a better understanding of customer needs and internal processes.

For more on putting together a smooth event, see the Access Guide for Organizing Hackathons.

Startup Hackathons: Finding the Right Vendors to Solve Corporate Challenges

A startup hackathon is all about finding innovative vendors to solve your company’s specific challenge. Here, you open the door for early-stage companies (startups) to present solutions to your business problem. Not only do you get outside insight—you also set aside a budget to fund the best idea.

The process typically looks like this:

  1. State Your Challenge: The company defines the issue needing a solution and declares a set budget.
  2. Scout Startups: Organizers invite relevant startups from different geographies to participate.
  3. Event Day: All selected startups gather in one location to demo their products or services.
  4. Demos and Presentations: Each startup pitches their solution and shows how it can address your company’s needs.
  5. Winner Selection: The best solution receives the allocated budget, and the startup becomes a vendor to work with the company.

How Startups and Corporations Benefit

  • Startups get the chance to showcase their work, gain exposure, and possibly win funding or long-term contracts.
  • Corporations benefit by finding high-potential vendors, accessing new markets, and proving their commitment to innovation.

Want more detail on running startup hackathons? Read the Startup Hackathon Guide for a comprehensive walkthrough.

To see more examples of hackathons connecting startups and companies, visit the Hackathon Guide.

MVP Hackathons: From Idea to Market in 90 Days

An MVP hackathon is a structured process that takes ideas from spark to market test in just 90 days. This format is ideal if you want to see results quickly and minimize risk. It moves through four main phases—each one geared toward deciding whether to invest further in a concept or let it go.

The Four Phases of an MVP Hackathon

1. Hackathon Phase:
 Teams gather to generate and share new ideas. This event encourages creative thinking and rapid brainstorming.

2. Development Phase:
 Winning or chosen ideas now get technical support and resources. The goal is to build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—a simple, testable version that lets you try out the idea without heavy investment.

3. Monetization Phase:
 Time to bring the MVP to users and carry out market testing. The aim is to learn whether people will actually use and pay for the solution. This phase is where the dream meets real-world feedback.

4. Decision Phase:
 Based on monetization results and user input, the company decides whether to continue investing, pivot, or kill the project. All of this—ideation to decision—happens fast, usually in under three months.

MVP Hackathon Flow in 4 Steps

  1. Run a hackathon to surface the best ideas.
  2. Build an MVP version of selected ideas.
  3. Test the MVP in the market for real feedback.
  4. Choose whether to scale up or discontinue based on results.

This approach fits companies who want to stay agile. Rather than waiting for long business cycles, you get rapid proof of concept and clear answers before investing more. For practical tips and experience-driven advice, check out the resource on hackathon best practices.

Summary Table: Comparing the 4 Types of Hackathons

Here’s a look at each hackathon format to help pinpoint the one that fits your needs best.

‍External

Outside developers, startups, students

Find new ideas, attract talent, build partnerships

Open event, diverse participants, broad challenges

Fresh solutions, new hires, PR

Internal

Employees from all departments

Boost teamwork, tap internal knowledge

Entrepreneurial, cross-department, low entry barrier

Improved culture, process innovation

Startup

Startups, vendor companies

Solve specific corporate problems, select vendors

Targeted, budgeted, pitch-focused

Vendor partnerships, funded solutions

MVP

Selected employees or mixed teams

Rapid market validation of new ideas

Time-boxed (90 days), includes market testing

Scalable projects, decisive outcomes

Each model serves a unique group and solves different challenges. Your choice depends on the outcomes you want and who you want involved.

For a deeper breakdown of planning and organizing an event like these, take a look at How to Organize a Hackathon.

Additional Resources and Next Steps for Hosting a Hackathon

Organizing a company hackathon means more than just picking a date and sending an invite. Picking the right format and learning from those who've done it before will help you get the most value. If you want to know how to run a company hackathon effectively—for internal teams, external participants, or startups—take advantage of these key resources:

If you’re ready to move forward, planning and running your own company hackathon can be straightforward with the right guide and the right partner by your side. The real secret? Getting your team excited to collaborate and tackle new challenges, no matter which format you pick.

Want to ensure your hackathon is a hit? Take the first step and explore agency support, in-depth guides, and masterclasses so you can feel confident about running an event that delivers results.

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