The Delphi Podcast Clay Robbins: Building Colosseum, Solana’s Largest Hackathon & Accelerator with 80,000 Participants
Jan 19, 2026
Clay Robbins, Co-founder of Coliseum, leads the world's largest hackathons, engaging 80,000 builders. He discusses the shift from remote to in-person acceleration in San Francisco and the importance of Solana as a viable infrastructure. Clay shares insights on efficiently triaging over 2,000 global submissions, his unique pressure test for founders, and the prioritization of high-agency innovators. He also highlights key success stories and introduces a new funding vehicle, emphasizing AI's role in democratizing the building process.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Standardize Submissions To Triage Volume
- Build a submission system that standardizes repos, technical walkthroughs, and pitches to triage at scale.
- Use mentor judges and layered review to cut thousands of submissions to a focused cohort for investment.
Remote To Real-World Accelerator Shift
- Coliseum moved from fully remote cohorts to renting a San Francisco office after founders asked for in-person time.
- They now run a 75-desk hub to reduce founder isolation and foster community during and between programs.
Infrastructure Choice Driven By App-Scale Needs
- Coliseum chose to focus on Solana because high throughput and low fees matter for consumer-scale on-chain apps.
- They believe application-era products need infra that supports millions of users without excessive overhead.