How to Win Hackathons
We won at Bankathon #7 in our category — ‘Open Banking for SMEs’ (small-medium enterprises). And I’ll share our winning strategy with you. It’s quite easy, trust me. I’m sure it’s replicable for other hackathons, not only in the banking field.
#1 TEAM
Which Members of the Team Do you Need?
First of all, put together a team. A good team is essential. You’ll need a product designer (or someone good at it), at least one senior developer (who sets up all the stuff with servers, etc.), a junior developer (who solves the easier tasks that take a lot of precious time). The juniors can also have some good ideas as they possibly don’t have any obstacles in their minds as seniors could have.
Frontend or Backend Developers, Is That the Question?
Well, actually it is not. In the world where Slack and Slackbots exist, it doesn’t matter if your whole team is made of only backend developers. You can just use Siri, Alexa, or any other voice assistant. Even if your team members are only frontend devs, you can hack it all. Now you have a dream team, and it’s time to start thinking about the product!
#2 PRODUCT
How to Come up with a Good Idea Outside Your Shower? 🚿
Hackathons always have a theme. Think about the repetitive tasks that you hate. Can you automate them? Can you make them less painful? If you know about some process which suits the theme, use it! Maybe you have some interesting ideas from the shower which you can shape for the theme. Just keep in mind that you don’t have months to create the product (you don’t need months, see the next tip). And you have just a few minutes to present your product. Remember, you have just a few minutes for the pitch so it’s not very tactical to choose something difficult to explain.
Where to Start with the Programming?
The best advice I can give you is not to start programming when the horn signals to start hacking. Plan the whole flow to the smallest details. Also, divide the work among the team members so you don’t lose time arguing about work during the coding.
Can You Mock It?
Sure. Mock everything you can until you start to code it for real. You have limited time and you don’t want to waste it with API which doesn’t work. It doesn’t mean you will use InVision or any other prototyping tool. But most of the hackathons are about the show. Probably nobody will see your code (be prepared that if you’re a code nazi in real life, you can’t be at the hackathon — there’s no time for that).
After you mock it, try to program for real as much as you can. You want to have a product which could be really made. Dazzle the jury and your audience with something you couldn’t mock.
#3 PRESENTATION
Tell a Story
It’s more than likely that you will have just a few minutes for your pitch (we only had four). As there are many other teams, you don’t have any second in addition. The jury will switch your microphone off after the deadline.
Be clear. The easiest way to do this is to tell the audience a story. If you’re telling your story, people can empathize with you and understand your intention easier. Put yourself in the role of the person for whom you designed the product.
1. Start with an overview
Tell the people why you made the product, for whom it is, which pain it solves. Play with the details, for example, set the price of your invented product.
2. Demonstrate the product
Show the people how your product works. It works really well if you have some storyteller who guides the audience through the whole flow of using the product.
3. Make the people want the product
Make someone believe that you’ve solved their problem.
If you want to mention how the code works, which APIs you used, do it during the story. But be careful not to slip into detailed descriptions of the product. Remember, you want to leave some feelings in people. Descriptions can leave the people just bored, and they won’t remember what your pitch was about during the jury consultation.
#4 SMILE! 😃
They’ve just announced a winner — your name was mentioned! Go to the stage and smile! 🎉
Now it’s time to split your winnings and enjoy the feeling of the winner. 🥇