Customer love: Karbon’s first ‘shipathon’ (the what, why and how)
Hackathons continue to grow in popularity since I first started running them back in 2015. It’s not surprising—they’re a phenomenal tool for creating energy, generating prototypes, and boosting company culture.
This year, Karbon’s taking the hackathon concept a step further with our first ‘shipathon’.
Leveling up on the success of Karbon’s hackathon
A hackathon, traditionally, is a collaborative event in which teams compete to often build prototypes or very small features solving specific problems or challenges. In December 2021, we ran our first hackathon at Karbon with great success. I was amazed by how we were able to open up networks across our global team and find opportunities for future cross-team collaboration.
We also came away with some incredible ideas that were eventually developed into actual Karbon features, one of which was a different take on the experience customers get when they first open the Karbon app.
Hackathons are usually brief—ours only lasted for two days. We quickly generated phenomenal, cutting edge ideas. But as is with a hackathon, not every idea was fully-formed or ready to release.
To solve for this, we’re turning Karbon’s hackathon up a notch by hosting our first shipathon. A similar event, conceptually, but one that ends in building and ‘shipping’ (i.e. delivering) fully functional features that our customers can either use—immediately.
What is a shipathon?
This new event extends the concept of a hackathon by bringing the entire company not just into the ideation process, but also into product development. Karbon’s shipathon allows cross-departmental teams to experience a full product development sprint for the first time.
For three weeks, the entire Karbon team works collaboratively to build products and features for our customers. By the end of the sprint, we’ll release these features to production.
Pulkit, Software Engineering Team Lead at Karbon, in deep-concentration mode.
Why are we running a shipathon?
As a company, we’re committed not just to helping our customers run their accounting firms more efficiently, but to
G2.com
:format(avif))
:format(jpeg) "Pulkit, Software Engineering Team Lead at Karbon")
:format(avif) "Zhanna, Front End Engineer at Karbon")
:format(avif))
:format(avif))
:format(avif))
:format(avif))
:format(avif))
:format(avif))