The Hackathon — Make your experience enjoyable.
Everyone wants to be a winner. Since I was young, I have always wanted to win everything in which I participated. In life, victory comes to those who want to win the most and this applies in the case of hackathons as well. But that’s not always the case.
With a limited timeline given by your organisers for solving a problem, building the understanding between the team members, hacking, coding, and preparing for the final presentation is the ultimate test for your skills and endurance. Winning a hackathon is a real challenge.
Based on my experience, here is what it takes to make your hackathon experience enjoyable.
1. Your goal is to have a great experience and not to win.
Winning is a consequence of a great experience and journey. For the first couple of years, I never won hackathons or competitions. I was obsessed with winning, which led to all my previous failures. I advise going to your next hackathon with the aim of building something remarkable and solving real-life scenarios. Once you have identified your goals and objectives, enjoy the process of achieving them and learning at every step. Even if you don’t win, you will have something fulfilling at the end with a sense of high accomplishment. The aim is to have fun!
2. Team balance and coordination.
Your team is the key. The first step is for everyone on the team to introduce themselves, share their previous experience and jot down their strengths and weaknesses. For example, in my last hackathon, one of my team members was an API wizard, but we lacked a data scientist. Understanding each other’s skills and product strength from the start is essential for success, but it also allows us to identify the gaps.
3. Designate a project manager.
Treat your hackathon as a mini-project. Each project consists of team members, milestones, compelling events, a presentation, and delivery. You will need one of your team members to coordinate the delivery and ensure that every team member is completing tasks on time. This will help you to achieve your goals and avoid late nights.
4. Review your scenario and use case.
Review your use case and identify the products that you will be using to build your MVP. Since at this point you already know your team’s strengths and weaknesses, you should have a good idea and forecast your deliverables for the next two to three days.
5. Keep it simple — Be focused: don’t try to do too much.
In my earlier years at Adobe, I would throw up numerous challenging ideas and try to build them. However, after a few years of experience, I can believe that this will not work. Try to keep your MVP simple and practically feasible by adhering to hackathon guidelines.
6. Bring only one or two innovative ideas.
Keep it simple but with a twist. Presenting what people have seen numerous times will not give you any additional brownie points. You must come up with one or two innovative ideas that hit the core of your requirements. Try to address this by showing your audience something new, but also one that delivers value to your client.
7. Review your plan with your mentor and get a sign-off.
Try to take a break in between each milestone and involve your mentor before you proceed to the next stage. My team was constantly checking with me, and we were assessing risks and defining tasks for the next stage.
8. Outline your presentation early and update it along the way.
Do not leave your presentation until the last minute. This is one of the pitfalls every team falls into. My suggestion is to start outlining your presentation deck from day one and build it up along the way.
9. Build a mitigation plan.
Not every plan will work most of the time. You should have a backup strategy when it comes to your plan. If you think you have a task that is an integral part of your MVP and not achievable because of time or resource constraints, then you should discuss it with your team and go with plan B.
10. Keep it simple but make it functional: make it real.
In the end, you want to try to achieve most of your MVP and make it technically possible. Do not feel shy about presenting your technical work during the presentation. If you don’t have much time (most of the time you won’t), use the judges’ Q/A time to show your work. This will help to build credibility.
11. Rehearse — Adhere to your timings and present as a team.
Your timing is critical and getting it right is extremely important. Perfect timing can only be achieved through rehearsing. The project manager should factor in some time for rehearsing your presentation and demo. You may have an amazing demo, but if you fail to deliver your presentation on time or overrun it, then you will not win.
Everyone on the team should participate in the final presentation. Be honest with each other and find your strength. Even if you have not presented in the past, I would advise you to present, even if it is for one minute.
You should include each of your team members and provide feedback during the rehearsal period.
Finally, remember that the best way to win a hackathon is to NOT try to win, but to have fun and learn new things. Finally, if you follow these steps, you may also win the hackathon! Good luck.
I had the privilege of mentoring an incredible team with an abundance of talents who did not give up and worked tirelessly until 2:00 AM last night. You deserve your winning trophy and congratulations on winning the hackathon. The pleasure is all mine and I will connect with you to enhance what we have built and take it to the next level. Bogdan Achimescu, Madhan Gopal, Gabriel Domínguez Gómez José Miguel Meilán Maldonado, César Ramos Jiménez, and Iulia Anghelescu. Great work Team — House Greyjoy! We rock!!. And finally, I would like to say thank you for teaching me few things :). You guys are incredible.
