Before you even see the hackathon listing, Spark has already done the following:

1. A project was proposed and selected. The Spark community evaluated the idea and chose to fund it.
2. A treasury was built. The community pooled capital behind the project. That treasury is live and on-chain. It funds the milestone-based payments during the build.
3. A community formed around it. The people who funded the project are watching it. They want it to succeed. They are your jury, your first users, and your earliest supporters.
4. A dedicated hackathon page was created. It contains everything you need: the project brief, the rules, the timeline, the prize pool breakdown, and the jury.

You are arriving at a project that has already proven demand. Your job is to execute it.

You can start building before the hackathon officially opens. As soon as a project is funded, you know a hackathon is coming. If you have an existing project, a POC, or early work that fits the brief, you can bring it. There is no restriction on prior work.

Want to understand the mechanics behind how projects are funded on Spark? See the IdeaCoin section below.

What is an IdeaCoin?

Each project on Spark is backed by an IdeaCoin, a community token tied to the project's treasury. When the community funds an idea, they receive IdeaCoins in return. Those coins represent a claim on the treasury, and give holders the right to trade on the decision market to express how the project should evolve, including who builds it.

The IdeaCoin's liquidity pool on Meteora is what powers the decision market. When a hackathon starts, Combinator.trade uses a portion of this LP to open a market where token holders can trade on each builder's proposal.

As a builder, you do not need to hold IdeaCoins to participate. But understanding who the jury is matters: the people voting on your work are the same people who funded the project. They are financially invested in seeing the right builder win.