Class C
A hackathon that operates as a recruitment and pipeline event. Sponsors and recruiters are listed prominently; funded and pre-existing teams are not just permitted but expected — they are the point.
Class C is the recruitment and pipeline hackathon. Sponsors and recruiters are listed prominently. Funded and pre-existing teams are not just permitted, they are expected — they are the point. TechCrunch Disrupt, Startup Weekend, AngelHack Global Series, and Y Combinator's AI Startup Schools all advertise themselves as Class C events, and the groupme-techcrunch-disrupt case shows how the hackathon-to-acquisition pipeline operates when an event is honestly labeled as such. See no-ringers-without-disclosure and format-taxonomy.
Class C events serve a distinct audience and produce distinct outcomes from Class A and Class B events. A founder showing up at a Class C event with a pre-existing project and a working pitch is doing what the event was designed for; the same founder showing up at a Class A event would be the failure mode the no-ringers-without-disclosure principle exists to address. The integrity mechanics that matter for Class C are different from those that matter for Class A — disclosure of sponsor relationships, conflict-of-interest rules for judges who may recruit from the pool, and clear distinction between event prizes and post-event acquisition or investment offers. See class-a and class-b.