Love hearing this! I co-founded the first MHacks and after going to 10+ hackathons, I think this will become a trend. Hackathons are held in nearly every major city and every college now. More prize winnings, more hackers to meet potential cofounders and you're ripe to see just a few more startups.

I hope the hackathon winnings become more transparent (not yours)...I hear many complaints from folks who have put a lot of effort to only see the "prize" or not the "prizes".

Brain - What are you thoughts on when to take the investment vs cash?

It's a great opportunity, thanks a ton for putting in the work to create MHacks! Without people like you I wouldn't have these opportunities!

looking forward to applying some of this at my first hackathon. do you usually come in with an idea, or wait until after getting there to think of something?

It's totally up to you. Some hackathons are themed, so a lot of times you'll want to hear presentations from various API sponsors first and then decide how to integrate. Conversely, in the case of http://ramen.is, we had planned out the idea for quite a while before going into the LAUNCH hackathon last November.

I've done both, sometimes when I get there and see an API from a sponsor that I had missed before, it'll give me a great idea on the spot. Other times with VUE I'd been planning the idea in my head for a couple months.