From Competitors to Partners – Our 7-Year Journey with DragonHack

Miha Majetič — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:51:15 +0000

DragonHack is the longest-running and largest student hackathon, and it challenges over 150 students each year to compete in a 24-hour problem-solving marathon. Last year, the event celebrated its 10th anniversary, and we are proud to have been part of this incredible journey for the past seven years. Looking ahead, we hope our involvement continues for at least twice as long.

24 Hours to Build a Team

Our journey with DragonHack didn’t begin as company partners - we started on the other side, as competitors. For several years, our founding team participated in the hackathon, experiencing firsthand the adrenaline, creativity, and teamwork that define the event.

Each year, we participated in the 24-hour challenge, fueled by energy drinks, coffee and sugar, learning how to tackle projects, solve key problems, and create something presentable for the judging panel. What made it truly unique was how different it was from working on regular college assignments. In a classroom setting, you collaborate within structured guidelines, but at DragonHack, you're thrown into a real challenge with no predefined solutions. It’s an intense, fast-paced environment where you have to test yourself as a team, experience both highs and lows together, and adapt quickly. The atmosphere was electric - a non-stop cycle of brainstorming, problem-solving, and pushing through moments of stress and fatigue. It wasn’t just about completing tasks; it was about taking an idea, developing it under real-world constraints, and presenting it with confidence.

Through these intense hours, we connected as a team, strengthened our problem-solving skills, and built resilience - experiences that proved invaluable when we launched our own company. But above all, it was an absolute blast.

Continuing the Journey as Partners and Mentors

When we founded zerodays, it was a no-brainer to continue our involvement with DragonHack - this time as partners. However, partnership for us wasn’t just about brand visibility or the potential for finding new developers; it was, first and foremost, about mentorship. Having benefitted greatly from the guidance of industry professionals during our time as competitors, we wanted to pass that on to the next generation of hackers.

Every year, at least two members of our team stay with the participants throughout the night, offering advice, technical insights, and support. We see this as an investment not only in young, promising talent but in the broader tech community as well.

Beyond mentorship, DragonHack also brings value to our team and business. It offers long-term brand-building opportunities, the chance to meet potential business partners, and a platform to exchange ideas with other industry experts. In fact, one of the ideas we originally pitched as competitors even evolved into a business venture.

More Than Just an Event

At its core, our continued involvement with DragonHack isn’t just about giving back — it’s about staying connected, sharing knowledge, and, most importantly, having fun.

We are incredibly grateful for the opportunities, experiences, and lessons this event has given us. It has shaped us as individuals and as a company, and we firmly believe it’s an invaluable experience for any young team looking to test their skills, discover how they collaborate under pressure, and explore new possibilities.

Here’s to many more years of DragonHack and to the next generation of innovators, creators, and problem-solvers who will take on the challenge.

Should Startups Outsource Software Development?

Miha Majetič — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 11:36:15 +0000

"Why would we hire an agency instead of simply employing developers that will work full-time for us?" … is a question we often hear when we pitch ourselves to startups. And it’s a completely valid question! Why would somebody want to pay an outsourced team, when it could be cheaper or easier to have somebody on the inside? But is this really the case?

Who are we?
Firstly, let’s introduce ourselves - we are zerodays, a custom software development team based in Slovenia, with extensive experience in working with startups. They have been a part of our story right from the beginning of our company.

Some of the more notable startups we worked on since the early startup days were for example Astra AI (AI powered math tutor), Proky.io (online platform that connected clients and horeca suppliers) and LlamaJET (pharmaceutical marker for laboratory labware).

Should you outsource?
So do we believe that outsourcing is the right choice for all startups? Well, the answer differs a bit based on the founders - are they themselves a technical founder and do they already have a team or not, and of course based on the industry they operate in, but shortly - yes. Outsourcing the development team is beneficial in each case. We can only speak from experience, but in our work with startups, we've gained valuable insights that make us believe outsourcing to a partner is the best move for startups for multiple reasons:

1. Worked Across Different Niches: An outsourced agency has probably worked in various industries, which means they’ve seen a lot and can quickly adapt to different challenges.

2. Learning from Mistakes and Gaining Knowledge: Outsourced development partners witness the ups and downs of startup life while working with startups, so they know what works and what doesn’t. Additionally, by partnering with an established team, you gain access to extensive knowledge, including valuable resources like code templates that we have crafted for the best performance, which you would otherwise have to develop on your own.

3. Efficient Resource Use: Instead of hiring full-time staff for everything, an agency can cover all your needs with fewer people. For example, providing a third of the time for frontend, backend, and DevOps each month rather than having to hire three separate in-house full-time developers.

4. Flexible Work Model: The startup world is unpredictable, and when work slows down, you don’t have to worry about layoffs with an outsourced development partner. You can just scale back the work, pause it, or ramp it up as needed—whatever works best for you.

5. Agencies Stick Around: Unlike in-house developers who might leave and take their knowledge with them, agencies should ensure that all the expertise stays with your project. Even if someone from the team moves on, the knowledge stays, so you don’t lose any momentum.

6. Faster Turnaround: Agencies usually already have an established team that can get to work quickly, saving you time and costs associated with building your own team from scratch. The shorter learning curve also allows to start projects swiftly, without the delays of assembling and onboarding a new team.

7. Comprehensive Service and Quality: Outsourced partners should focus on finding and training top developers, taking care of all employment aspects, so you can concentrate solely on your product. Finding and onboarding new developers is challenging, but with the right partner, you won’t have to build your dream team - they handle it all for you.

So should startups without tech founders or already established team outsource their software development?
That’s obviously a pretty clear-cut case—it’s easy to see why someone with limited tech knowledge would choose to trust their software development to an outsourced team. These teams bring in experts from different areas of software development, make smart tech decisions, and can even lead the project on their own. So, for all the reasons we’ve talked about, outsourcing is definitely the way to go.

How about startups which have a tech founder/team?
If the startup already has a technical team or founders who take on the main development roles, an agency might not always be the perfect fit. However, there are still some advantages to outsourcing, mainly when it comes to the increase in the amount of work—instead of temporarily employing someone, an outsourced agency can easily cover the spikes for them.

All in all, we can say that outsourcing is the right path for many startups. From extensive experience, to faster turnaround the benefits of having a great development partner who is committed to delivering outstanding results is the key advantage in the volatile startup world. And let’s not forget the most important thing - the passion for work and creating amazing digital products.

If you are looking for a top notch development partner with experience and passion, reach out to us, and let’s make something great together!

This blog was made by the awesome team at zerodays.dev.

DEV Community: Miha Majetič

From Competitors to Partners – Our 7-Year Journey with DragonHack

24 Hours to Build a Team

Continuing the Journey as Partners and Mentors

More Than Just an Event

Should Startups Outsource Software Development?