I recently completed my journey with Buildspace Nights & Weekends Season 5. It was an incredible experience. But before diving into my personal journey, let me explain what Nights & Weekends is for those who might not be familiar.
TLDR Lessons Learned
- Commitment and Focus Matter: The six-week structure of Nights & Weekends helped instill a sense of urgency and commitment. Having clear goals and regular updates kept the project on track and made the experience more rewarding.
- Engage Early and Often: Announcing a project before it’s fully ready can build excitement and generate valuable feedback. This was a new approach for me, and it paid off in unexpected ways.
- Embrace Uncertainty: Attending an event with little information might be daunting, but it can lead to incredible experiences. The IRL event in San Francisco proved that stepping out of your comfort zone can result in significant personal and professional growth.
- Community is Key: The connections made with like-minded individuals who are passionate about their projects were invaluable. This sense of community provided support, inspiration, and a network of peers that I will cherish.
- Seize Opportunities: The unique experience of participating in Buildspace Nights & Weekends, especially with its final cohort, underscored the importance of taking advantage of opportunities when they arise. You never know when it might be the last chance.
Buildspace Nights & Weekends Overview
I’ve been aware of Buildspace for a few years now and have taken every class they offered on Web3. I still have all the NFTs they handed out as certifications for completing their courses. So, imagine my surprise when I realized that the first four seasons of Nights & Weekends had completely passed me by. Then came Season 5.
When I received an email inviting applicants for Season 5, I decided to give it a shot. Buildspace had never disappointed me before. However, this experience felt different right from the start.
Buildspace describes Nights & Weekends as:
This is where you will take any idea you’re excited about, figure out how to bring it to life, and turn it into something that people care about—alongside thousands of others.
As a software developer with countless ideas floating around in my head, this pitch resonated with me. Around the same time I was considering joining Season 5, this video hit my inbox, and I was sold.
Picking a Project As I mentioned earlier, I have too many ideas floating around in my head. Initially, I wanted to join Nights & Weekends to explore a newfound passion for noise music. I thought these six weeks would be the perfect opportunity to learn and produce some music. I recently became obsessed with talents like the one in the video below and wanted to try my hand at creating a similar experience.
But in the end, I chickened out and decided to dive into my trove of software ideas instead. That’s when I started working on HireTrax.app, and I’m grateful I did. The process of building HireTrax could easily fill another post, but I have to say, developing a SaaS application during Nights & Weekends really fit the program’s mold.
The Process
Nights & Weekends is a six-week program where you’re tasked with bringing your idea to life and focusing on a goal. This structure was crucial for me. The weekly updates instilled a sense of urgency about my project. Sharing my progress with others not only built excitement in them but also in me—a rare feeling for many of my projects! This enthusiasm helped me stay committed to completing Nights & Weekends.
Each week, we had to submit our progress towards one of three goals we aimed to achieve. For HireTrax, I set up a landing page and a mailing list for people to sign up. I made posts on Threads and LinkedIn sharing my progress, and received some valuable feedback along the way. The idea of announcing a project before it’s ready was new to me, but it actually worked—people engaged and got excited. I’m glad I learned this lesson.
After six weeks, if you submitted progress reports for at least four of those weeks, you passed and officially graduated. It was nice that you didn’t have to complete 100% of the weeks; life does get in the way sometimes. I completed five out of six reports, officially graduating, which felt more rewarding than I expected. I’m proud of my work on HireTrax and definitely want to see it through to completion.
In the final week, we had to give a 90-second pitch, which was then shared with everyone on Buildspace’s mailing list. This was stressful—it was the hardest part of the program. But with the positive feedback from my peers leading up to the demo, I felt confident enough to pitch HireTrax. And just like that, the six weeks were over. Nights & Weekends was over.
At least, it was for everyone except the lucky 1,000 who were selected to attend an in-person meetup in San Francisco. I was one of those 1,000. Only 7.6% of the original applicants graduated, and an even smaller percentage made it to SF. What a wild ride.
The IRL Event
The IRL event was a three-day gathering at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. There was no agenda and little information about what we were supposed to do, which, as we learned on day one, was intentional. Farza (the founder of Buildspace) gave us an amazing introduction, explaining that everyone participating in the IRL event was a bit “weird.” We had all accepted an invitation to San Francisco without knowing much of what we were in for. Some people traveled for 24 hours straight to get there—I just flew across the country. But everything about it was magical.
After Day 1, I took full advantage of being surrounded by people who were as determined to succeed with their projects as I was. Whether their projects were related to painting or music, they were fully invested. That kind of passion is truly inspiring.
I’m really glad I got to attend the IRL event. It was a perfect capstone to this unique and amazing six-week program. I learned a lot, met some incredible people, and received even more feedback on HireTrax than I could have hoped for. I’ll always look back fondly on my time there. I’m saddened that not everyone could experience this event—the three days in SF fundamentally changed how I approach my work. It freed me from my hesitations.
Conclusion
I am so happy I participated in Season 5 of Nights & Weekends and would recommend it to anyone if I could. Get out of your comfort zones every once and a while. Take that opportunity to grow as a human being. Dare.
If you are reading this and were part of Nights & Weekends Season 5 but we haven’t met yet. Please reach out. The cohort of people I met in San Francisco and online during this program were nothing short of great. I only wish I could experience this program again.
😭😭 Buildspace Closing 😭😭
About three weeks after we all returned from the Buildspace IRL event, we received the heartbreaking news that Buildspace was closing its doors. Season 5 was their swan song, and it makes sense in hindsight—it was their largest cohort, their highest number of graduates, and their biggest IRL event. But the farewell letter from Farza hit me hard. I will miss Buildspace deeply. From learning how to build Web3 applications to having this incredible experience with Nights & Weekends, they were truly a unique company.
You can read Farza’s letter here. I’m still processing it all. I will miss Buildspace.