This document provides tips for winning a hackathon based on pitching skills rather than the technical merits of the project. It advises planning to understand the judges, building a minimum viable product before stopping early to avoid breaking things. Most importantly, it emphasizes practicing an engaging pitch that tells stories, includes humor, analogies and references to inform and wow the judges. The overall message is that hackathon success depends more on selling your idea than the idea itself.

1. HOW TO WIN
HACKATHON
BASED PURELY ON YOUR POWERS OF PERSUASION

2. MY HACKATHON TEAMS
Team Sarcastic Pig, People’s Choice Winners, August 2013
Which Blockhead Are You?, Most Commercially Viable, March 2014
Couchfit, Design Award, September 2014

3. YOUR HACK IS
IRRELEVANT

4. YOUR HACK IS
IRRELEVANT
(MOSTLY)

5. IT’S ALL ABOUT
THE PITCH

6. “In the modern world of business, it is
useless to be a creative original thinker
unless you can also sell what you
create. Management cannot be
expected to recognize a good idea
unless it is presented to them by a good
salesman.”
- David Ogilvy
THE IMPORTANCE OF SELLING

7. 1
2
34
PLAN
PRACTICE
LOTS
STOP EARLY
DON’T BREAK
STUFF
BUILD
ONLY WHAT’S
NEEDED
5
PRESENT
AND SELL LAY THE
GROUNDWORK
YOUR HACKATHON PLAN

8. 1. PLAN
WHO ARE THE JUDGES?
You’ve got limited time. Use it wisely!
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
ENVISION THE IDEAL DEMO
WORK BACKWARDS FROM THERE

9. 2. BUILD
MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT
THINK MVP
Photo by Pratul Kalia

10. AT LEAST 1 HOUR
3. STOP EARLY
DON’T BREAK STUFF
Photo by Lynn Kelley Author

11. 4. PRACTICE LOTS
MAKE IT MEMORABLE
YOUR PITCH
Photo by JJ

12. 4. PRACTICE LOTS
S
H
A
R
P
STORIES
HUMOUR
ANALOGIES
REFERENCES
PICTURES

13. 4. PRACTICE LOTS
Photos by umjanedoan, Earls37a, Michael Dunn,
Sybren Stüvel, Alexey Kljatov, and Marsh Gardiner.

14. INFORM WOW
5. PRESENT
Don’t forget to leave time for questions!

15. 1
2
34
PLAN
PRACTICE
LOTS
STOP EARLY
DON’T BREAK
STUFF
BUILD
ONLY WHAT’S
NEEDED
5
PRESENT
AND SELL LAY THE
GROUNDWORK
YOUR HACKATHON PLAN

16. THANK YOU
HTTP://WWW.KRISHOWARD.ORG/