How to Win (or Lose) a Hackathon
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This document provides tips and examples for winning hackathons and startup competitions. It advises having an original, flexible idea and building the minimum viable product. It also stresses the importance of naming the business, assembling the right team, gathering feedback, preparing an effective demonstration, and understanding the audience and goals. Examples are given of past projects started by the author that illustrate both best practices and mistakes to avoid at hackathons. The overall message is that entering these events provides opportunities to create successful new companies.
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How to Win (or Lose) a Hackathon
- 1. Digital Rochester âRising Starâ Winner âBest Mobile Appâ Rochester Startup Weekend 2012 HTR LaunchPad 2013 âBest Investmentâ âWinnerâ Rochester Startup Weekend 2014 How to WIN (or LOSE) a Hackathon! By @ToddBernhard, Founder, NoTie.NET Cofounder, AllAccess.US Cofounder, FlixAcademy.com Cofounder, AppRochester.com
- 2. Have an Idea ⢠Must be original ⢠Be firm ⢠This is your one shot! ⢠Itâs now or never! ⢠Make it count! ⢠Build a better mousetrap ⢠Be flexible ⢠Leverage this opportunity ⢠There will be others
- 8. Name Your Business ⢠Spend the first two hours deciding on the perfect name ⢠Build resentment among team members ⢠Find out the domain name isnât available ⢠Pick something, you can change it later ⢠Get a working domain/website/blog ⢠Start making your product!
- 9. Examples: Names ⢠HINY: Help In New York! Cute, had the dot-com already ⢠iCurio.us: Cute, double-entendre ⢠eThank: Had the dot-com ⢠MenuBot: Changed to All Access Menus and then All Access LLC & AllAccess.US many months later ⢠FlixAcademy: Pitched as Netflix Academy, knowing it would be infringing⌠reserved FlixAcademy.com, Flix.Academy, @FlixAcademy etc.
- 10. Team ⢠I donât need any help ⢠The more the merrier ⢠Identify Strengths & Weaknesses ⢠Seek Help early ⢠Be flexible
- 11. Examples: Hackathon Teams ⢠HINY: solo ⢠iCurio.us: solo ⢠eThank.com: solo ⢠MenuBot: Web, iOS, Business, Mentors ⢠FlixAcademy: 11 People + Mentors!
- 12. Product Features ⢠Plan every feature the product should have: ⢠iOS, Android, Web, Free vs. Pro, In-App Purchases ⢠Code until time is up ⢠What are your goals: ⢠Impressing investors or Impressing Judges? ⢠Generating revenue? ⢠Minimum Viable Product
- 13. Examples: Features ⢠HINY: Simple, could have better UI ⢠iCurio.us: Simple, could still add TTS ⢠eThank: Simple, needs graphics, social ⢠MenuBot: Simple BUT expandable. Now has 60+ features & is updated weekly! ⢠FlixAcademy: Simple BUT expandable. More patentable features on the way!
- 14. Feedback ⢠Donât bother... ⢠No Time ⢠Focus Groups are lame ⢠Steve Jobs never did âem ⢠Youâre not Steve Jobs ⢠Feedback helps you iterate and cut losses ⢠Take Minimum Viable Product in the direction users/investors want
- 15. Examples: Feedback ⢠HINY: developed in a vacuum, in Rochester ⢠iCurio.us: Feedback from daughter ⢠eThank.com: Feedback from prior apps ⢠MenuBot: Feedback from restaurant managers, blind focus groups, email, twitter, surveys ⢠FlixAcademy: Feedback from educators, mentors, email, twitter, surveys
- 16. Demonstration ⢠Show everything ⢠Dazzle with complexity ⢠Show essentials ⢠Prepare to dive deeper based on questions
- 17. Examples: Demonstration ⢠HINY: YouTube demo video ⢠iCurio.us: Live, funny demo ⢠eThank.com: Live, funny demo ⢠MenuBot: Working app with graphics, text-to-speech with depth & growth opportunity ⢠FlixAcademy: Working website, app, funny video, with opportunities for a variety of revenue sources
- 18. Know Your Audience... and Your Goals ⢠Play to the crowd! ⢠Play to the judges & investors! ⢠Refreshments, T-shirts, Swag, Camaraderie, Deadline!
- 19. Examples: Audience & Goals ⢠HINY.com: NYC, Motivational deadline ⢠iCurio.us: Motivational deadline ⢠eThank.com: Motivational deadline ⢠MenuBot: Working app with graphics, text-to-speech with depth ⢠FlixAcademy: Working MVP, build-a-business
- 20. Hackathon Opportunities ⢠Rochester Startup Weekend ⢠rochester.startupweekend.org ⢠Buffalo & Syracuse, too! ⢠challenge.gov ⢠ChallengePost.com ⢠NYCBigApps.com
- 21. Digital Rochester âRising Starâ Winner âBest Mobile Appâ Rochester Startup Weekend 2012 HTR LaunchPad 2013 âBest Investmentâ âWinnerâ Rochester Startup Weekend 2014 Remember, you canât WIN if you donât try! By @ToddBernhard, Founder, NoTie.NET Cofounder, AllAccess.US Cofounder, FlixAcademy.com Cofounder, AppRochester.com
Notas do Editor
- Iâve participated in several Hackathons and even won some, but lost more than I won. Here are some lessons Iâve learned.
- I pitched an idea, which didnât get enough votes. Rather than leave, or work independently, I joined a team and kept my idea for another day. The team I chose had an idea, a single app for menus, which wasnât entirely original back then, but we found a way to make it better, by making it accessible to the Blind and Deaf through Text-To-Speech. There are other Hackathons and opportunities for my original idea, and maybe it wasnât a winning idea after all.
- This was a virtual, remote Hackathon so the app had to speak for itself. A YouTube video helped, but with uninspiring graphics, this wasnât going to be a winner. Still,it prompted me to finish a long-delayed concept and has been for sale every since.
- This was fun and my daughter liked it, so I was a hero for a day or two at her school. I have ideas about turning it into an app, and adding text-to-speech. It was educational too.
- I thought this had a lot of promise but the graphics were uninspiring. Still, this has become an app or two (eThank and Knockers) and are generating revenue. The deadline inspired me and I can still make more apps based on this platform.
- I joined a team, and helped redirect the app to offer accessibility features. I was able to create a working app, quickly, and offer a much more complete solution than competitors.
- I joined a team, and helped redirect the app to offer accessibility features. I was able to create a working app, quickly, and offer a much more complete solution than competitors.
- We spent a lot of time to come up with the âperfectâ name, that also had an available domain name. Fast forward and we changed the name before we incorporated, so let the product determine your name, which means build the product first. Be flexible with the domain... viable dot coms are rare. Some extensions can even work better, like .US or .ME
- If you have the idea, and name before the event, you can spend all the time on the product. If not, choose a name quickly and move on. You can change it later.
- Youâre not marrying these folks, but you do need to know what everyone brings to the team, and quickly. What areas are you strong in, and where are you weak. Youâll need a graphics person, a web person, probably a mobile person (or two) and maybe a sales/business/presenter-type. Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak, and vice-versa, but even they needed help to make the early Apples. And you only have a weekend.
- Graphics were my weakness and a team couldâve made the difference. However, I own the products that I worked on alone.
- You have limited time, so an unfinished product with too many features is worse than a polished simple one that can be enhanced over time. This is true beyond the Hackathon. If youâre not embarrassed by your first version, you waited to long.
- We could deliver a solid demo but also explain potential directions the solution could go versus a dead end
- Use twitter, surveymonkey, phone calls to see what features people want and build those first. See how people use the product and fix what they point out.
- Many pivots throughout process. Restaurants -> many kinds of businesses, Accessibility -> Green Directory -> Logo Scanning + Deals, printed direct mail
- Judges are seeing many products from many teams in a short time. Be memorable by focusing on a few essential features. âWrite the headlineâ for them.
- As long as you know your audience, itâs fine. Iâve met some Shark Tank participants. If you want publicity, maybe the viewing audience is your target. But if you want investors or judgesâ votes, know what they want to see and hear.
- The AT&T Hackathon is an ongoing one but ends soon. Iâm a judge. Rochester Startup Weekend is next week, and thatâs the contest I won when they were last here in 2012. I have an app idea for that. Contact me if you might want to be on my team or have questions. Virtual hackathons are always going on at ChallengePost.com and their government-specific site, Challenge.gov and New York City specific NYCBigApps Challenge. Iâve participated in that twice and got to meet Mayor Bloomberg and get a backstage tour of Grand Central Terminal!
- Feel free to contact me!