How to Find a Hackathon Team: Where to Look

The people you want are already registered for the same event, so look there before anywhere else. Most platforms give each hackathon a place for it:

• Devpost. Every hackathon has a Participants tab at its own address, such as name.devpost.com/participants. You log in to browse it. Devpost's own advice for online events pairs that tab with the event's Slack or Discord.
• DoraHacks. Each hackathon has a find-your-teammates page with open roles. Switch on Need Teammates on your build or your registration to list one.
• ETHGlobal. Event schedules include a team formation and idea brainstorming session.
• lablab.ai. The event page lists the teams so far, and its guidelines send people without a team to the lablab Discord.
• Kaggle. Competitions have a discussion forum, where entrants post when they want to merge into a team.

Every open hackathon on Tensor Hack has a find teammates block that links the right one of these for that event, plus any group invite the organisers put in their listing.

Many hackathons run a Discord, Slack, Telegram or WhatsApp group, and the link is often on the event page or in the confirmation email. Look for a channel named team formation or looking for team and read the pinned message first. Some events ask for a set format.

Post once, then answer replies. Reposting the same message every hour reads as spam, and moderators remove it.

People you already know are the safest bet: a classmate from a course project, a colleague, someone from your last hackathon. A short message to three of them often beats a public post.

• Campus and local groups. University coding clubs and city tech meetups often pair people up before big events.
• In-person events. On Luma, the event page shows who is going when the host turns the guest list on. Arriving early for the opening is the easiest time to meet people without a team.

"Looking for a team" gets no replies, because nobody can tell if you fit. Give strangers enough to decide in one read:

1. What you build, in one line: "frontend, React and Tailwind, shipped two hackathon demos".
2. What you need: "a backend or ML person who can wire up an API".
3. Your timezone and the hours you can give.
4. One link: GitHub, LinkedIn or a portfolio. Skip your phone number and email in public channels.

If you already have an idea, give it one sentence. A concrete idea attracts people who want to build it.

Have a short call or chat with anyone who replies before you commit. Agree on the size of the idea, the hours each person can give, and who submits the project. MLH recommends teams of one to four, so two to four strangers is plenty; check the team size rules on the event page first.

Split by skill, not by enthusiasm. One person owning the submission page avoids the classic last-hour scramble. The team formation guide covers roles in more detail.

Ask to join an existing team that lists an open role; that is often faster than starting one. Opportunity Hack's data shows why it is worth the effort: hackers who registered with a team submitted 39.7 percent of the time, hackers looking for a team 17.8 percent, and solo hackers 9.8 percent.

If kickoff arrives and you are still alone, going solo is fine when the rules allow it. Shrink the idea to one feature you can build, demo and submit yourself. The solo vs team guide helps you decide.