How I won 10 Hackathons in 8 months
For beginners and pros alike.
TL;DR
- Follow the spirit of hackathons
- Ideas matter as much as execution
- Present like a pro
The bigger picture
You must have seen LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram stories flooded with stickers, tees, and cool swags around the year. A lot of that credit goes to hackathons.
What is a hackathon?
About 48 hours, teamwork, build and code what you want. That's a hackathon in a few words. No, you don't hack other people's PCs in hackathons unless mentioned.
The question you want to ask me: How do I win?
Realistically, you win a hackathon depending on:
- How well your project stood out
- Number of contestants or projects participating
- How much you enjoyed the hackathon
- Most important: how well you present it
Let's go over each in detail.
1. Make your idea stand out
This depends on how creative your project was. Working as a team is an advantage here as more people can pitch in their ideas.
I generally lay out all of my thoughts and ideas with my team, even if they sound dumb. The team might pick it up and add their own ideas on top of it.
Anyone can make a ToDo List and Tic Tac Toe game with some googling, but not everyone will get an idea to make a Tic-Tac-Toe-ToDo which makes you play T.T.T if you fail ToDo tasks. I just made that up and it sounds cool now.
2. Demographics of a hackathon
As much as I hate to break it, your chances will definitely depend on how many teams submitted to the hackathon. But if you nailed number one, you shouldn't worry. I would strongly recommend against picking hackathons based on participant numbers.
The diversity of participants enhances the experience of the hackathon, for both the organizers and the participants.
- They keep the hackathon experience inclusive
- They bring people of different cultures and backgrounds to a common platform
- They help you learn and network with people outside your community
- They teach you
3. Enjoying the Hackathon
I judge my hackathon wins on how much I enjoy it and not how good the swag is. Totally agree, swags are the best, but only until you get them. Then it joins your older swags on the shelf.
Making sure you get the most out of the hackathon should be your motive. Attend workshops, play mini-games, hang out and network with other hackers, mentors, and organizers. It doesn't have to be all code-code-code-404-code.
Fact: Most of the hackathons I have won were when I was having a lot of fun building the projects with my team.
4. Presentation is king
Put on your marketing shoes and sell your project like it's the best, even when it isn't.
You're the hackathon judge and you have to pick the best projects out of 50+ projects in a couple of hours, or even days. Each project has a nice README, 2-5 minute video, and project sample. You cannot go through all of that in such a short time and decide the best ones, where each project may look great.
That's when the presentation matters.
- Make your README tell most about your project. I love to embed images in it, add emojis, and keep it in points instead of long paragraphs.
- Check out how I style my READMEs on Devpost.
- Frame good GitHub commit messages, add releases, and add a license to the repo.
- Invest good time in the demo video. Add voiceover, BGM, animations, etc.
- Invest good time in the homepage of your project too.
- Jacklyn Biggin has a very handy video on YouTube about keeping your Devpost in top shape.
Don't go solo on this mission. Delegate work among your teammates to get stuff done faster and better.
Now go get that cup and share how you won. If not, share what you learned. Either way, share what you enjoyed.
Remember, this is my own way of making projects. But you're not me. Everyone has a unique way to win it. Did I miss any tips, or do you have your own creative methods? Let me know in the comments.
If you liked this blog and it helped you, share it and tag me.