Ask HN: Are 'weekend projects' just a way to grab attention?

Talking about weekend projects developed at events like http://garage48.org/, two of the teams from these Garage48 events have won Seedcamp investments and become real startups: http://qminder.com/ and http://campalyst.com/

So weekend projects can turn into real companies.

I read it somewhat metaphorically, equivalent to "side project" with a connotation of a smallish off-hand side project, as opposed to a big multi-month investment. May or may not have actually been done in one weekend, though some probably were.

You should really try it for once its very exciting to get all the wonderful feedback from HN. You may even end up talking to the founders of some cool startups.

I am not sure Why Weekend Project is the wrong way to tag these submissions. I saw a similar post about people complaining about these being called "startups". Personally I couldn't care less if the thing was built in 10 months or 2 days, It's more whether I would use the idea/ site or not.

I would suggest making the best product that you can. Whether it is accomplished over a single weekend or not is irrelevant according to me. If you release something unpolished, it won't make you look any better.