Australian software giant Atlassian have taken the hackathon concept one step further, sending 10 software gradates to its Hack House for a week of training, coding and team-building activities.
During their stay at Hack House, the graduates – dubbed “Gradlassians” – will be tasked with developing a new product feature, which should be ready for shipment by the end of the week.
The Hack House is located in the beachside suburb of Narrabeen in northern Sydney. Several of Atlassian’s top developers will also reside there to act as mentors and lead the week of training.
According to Atlassian spokesperson Annelise Reynolds, the Gradlassians were chosen from a candidate pool of more than 430 graduates, and represent “some of Australia’s finest talent”.
“Each will bring a different development specialty to the table, from online gaming to fitness apps to political research,” Reynolds wrote in a company blog.
“What better way to blend fun and hard work together than by holding our Gradlassian hacker boot camp at a beach house?”
“We’ve already told our grads to pack their sunnies and tanning oil to help them withstand the hot Australian summer sun while they dream up their next innovation.”
“We can only imagine what coding madness will arise when we put all 10 of these highly skilled graduates, with unique backgrounds and personalities, in a beach house together for five days.”
Atlassian has also invited recent graduates in the United States, who are interested in the Hack House experience, to apply for the company’s graduate program.
Meanwhile, US candidates who are still studying are being encouraged to consider Atlassian’s internship program in its San Francisco office.
Atlassian follows in the footsteps of Australian tech entrepreneur Elias Bizannes, who recently unveiled his plans for Startup House, allowing start-ups to cohabitate as they develop their ideas.
In addition to founding Silicon Beach, an online network for tech start-ups, Bizannes is also the brains behind the Startup Bus competition, whereby teams devise start-ups while on the road.
Bizannes has now turned his attention to Startup House, tipped to become one of the largest co-working spaces in Silicon Valley.
According to Bizannes, the Startup House will be “like Y Combinator and American Idol in a blender”.
“It’s a 36,000-square-foot space in the heart of the start-up district of San Francisco’s SoMa [district] that is to be transformed into a hub for technology entrepreneurs,” Bizannes has said.
“[It will encompass] a co-working space, cafe and start-up house – a hostel for entrepreneurs where they will live, breath and eat start-ups for the duration of their stay.”
