This is the story of the Hackday and[in]cubator programs at LinkedIn; this is the story of scalable, best-of-breed methods for driving innovation; this is the story of transformation: of your career, company, and the world. Video of the live presentation: http://tcbaltics.com/video/jim-brikman

1. Hackday and [in]cubator

2. This is the story of the Hackday and
[in]cubator programs at LinkedIn

3. This is the story of scalable, best-of-
breed methods for driving innovation

4. This is the story of transformation:
of your career, company, and the world

5. About me
Presentation Infrastructure, hackdays, [in]
cubator, engineering blog, open source

6. Terminology (just in case)
hack, verb:
1. To write computer programs for enjoyment
2. To jury-rig or improvise something inelegant but effective,
often as a rapid prototype or proof of concept

7. Outline
1. Internal hackdays
2. Public hackdays
3. [in]cubator history
4. [in]cubator process
5. Transform: career, company, world
6. Final thoughts

8. Outline
1. Internal hackdays
2. Public hackdays
3. [in]cubator history
4. [in]cubator process
5. Transform: career, company, world
6. Final thoughts

9. We dedicate one Friday per month to hackday

10. Open to all LinkedIn employees

11. Take the day to work on anything you want

12. Submit it on an internal hackday site
(Hackday Master = won 3 or more hackdays)

13. Present the hack to the whole company

14. Executive staff act as judges and award prizes

15. www.linkedinlabs.com
Internal hackday winners and experimental projects

16. InMaps
Visualize your LinkedIn network

17. Year in Review
See who changed jobs in the last year. "The best networking email you'll get all year" (CNN).

18. Resume Builder
Turn your LinkedIn profile into a beautiful resume in one click

19. Outline
1. Internal hackdays
2. Public hackdays
3. [in]cubator history
4. [in]cubator process
5. Transform: career, company, world
6. Final thoughts

20. Year round; a variety of locations and themes
http://hackday.linkedin.com

21. Open to hackers from all over the world

22. 24 hours straight

23. eat. hack. sleep.

24. Tons of food

25. Drinks

26. Yoga

27. Intern Hackday DevelopHer Hackday Toronto Hackday
T-shirts

28. Industry leaders, investors, and execs as judges

29. Prizes

30. The hacker toolkit
Disclaimer: data is from public LinkedIn hackdays, self-reported, free
form, ~100 responses per chart. Don't take this too seriously.

31. Programming languages

32. Web frameworks

33. Data storage

34. Mobile

35. Libraries

36. Other?

37. Outline
1. Internal hackdays
2. Public hackdays
3. [in]cubator history
4. [in]cubator process
5. Transform: career, company, world
6. Final thoughts

38. I built a great hack.
How do I get it to production?

39. A chance to work exclusively on your idea or hack
for 1-3 months

40. Created by a group of LinkedIn Hackday Masters

41. [in]cubator history
● Motivation: an official path from hackday to
production
● Inspired by startup incubators and
accelerators
● Incorporates learnings from a number of
other companies that had similar programs
(Google 20% time, Yahoo! Brickhouse,
VMWare incubator, etc)

42. [in]cubator was the first [in]cubator project

43. Outline
1. Internal hackdays
2. Public hackdays
3. [in]cubator history
4. [in]cubator process
5. Transform: career, company, world
6. Final thoughts

44. Once per quarter

45. Open to all LinkedIn Employees

46. Submit proposals on internal [in]cubator site

47. [in]cubator proposal
● Description
● Team members
● Timeline
● Proof of concept or prototype
● Success metrics
● Risks, competitors
● Tech details

48. No one will be ever be assigned to an [in]cubator project.
It's up to the team to convince anyone they need to join.

49. The top teams present to the execs

50. Judging criteria
● Impact: what value does this project bring to
LinkedIn?
● Feasibility: how hard is this to build? What
are the risks?
● Timeline: can v1 be done in 3 months?
● Team ability: can this team pull it off?

51. Open to almost any type of project
● New products
● New revenue lines
● Internal tools
● Infrastructure/technology improvements
● HR processes
● New training programs
● Philanthropic programs

52. Approved teams get up to 3 months of dedicated time,
resources, and exec mentorship to bring their idea to life

53. We've had 2 rounds of [in]cubator so far
4 approved projects, 1 completed, 1 [in]cubating, 2 starting soon

54. 1st completed [in]cubator project: go/book, which has
changed how we book and view meetings at LinkedIn

55. Outline
1. Internal hackdays
2. Public hackdays
3. [in]cubator history
4. [in]cubator process
5. Transform: career, company, world
6. Final thoughts

56. Why this all matters
1. Learning
2. Motivation
3. Innovation

57. 1. Learning

58. In a 24 hour hackday, you can learn more about
building products - and about yourself - than in a
year of university classes

59. Hackday, [in]cubator = learning
● Rapid prototyping
● New technologies, libraries, techniques
● Team formation, project management
● Trade-offs, scheduling, focus
● Sales pitch, design, marketing
● Stamina

60. Hacking regularly will make you better at your job

61. 2. Motivation

62. Money can't buy happiness.

64. "Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose."
Dan Pink
The surprising science of motivation

65. Hackday, [in]cubator = motivation
● You can't buy motivation
● For creative roles (programmers, designers),
money reduces motivation (mo' money, mo'
problems)
● Hackday and [in]cubator = happier, more
motivated, and more productive employees

66. "It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you
don’t think about in the shower."
Paul Graham

67. 3. Innovation

68. "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine
percent perspiration."
Thomas Edison

69. Product development (assumption)
Mature, stable
Maturity
Proof of concept
Idea
Time

70. Product development (reality)
Mature, stable
Maturity
Proof of concept
Idea
Time

71. Product development (reality)
This is where
innovation happens
Mature, stable
Maturity
Proof of concept
Idea
Time

72. Hackday, [in]cubator = innovation
● All product development is trial and error
● Hackday and [in]cubator are trial and error at
light speed
● Innovation is something you do, not
something you have

73. "Innovation is a series of small wins along a truly
disruptive trajectory."
Deep Nishar

74. Outline
1. Internal hackdays
2. Public hackdays
3. [in]cubator history
4. [in]cubator process
5. Transform: career, company, world
6. Final thoughts

75. Innovation is a process

76. Even if not a single innovative project ever came
out of hackday or [in]cubator, it would still be
worth doing.

77. Give one day per month back to employees.
It will pay for itself many times over.

78. Thank you!