$hackathon

Base

I’ll be an official judge for Base during BUIDLathon week at ETHDenver. I’ve judged over a dozen Base buildathons and hackathons—here’s a cheat sheet to stand out:

1. Use Cursor or another AI-powered IDE
2. Make it work first; design comes last
3. Execution is 10× more important than the idea
4. Working links always beat Figmas/YouTube demos
5. If you build something and can prove you've already gotten users before the buildathon ends, you’ve already beaten 99% of other teams

The biggest winners aren’t just those who take home prizes—they’re the ones who turn what they built into something real, something that makes money and gives them the freedom to live and work on their own terms.

Founder mode > Hacker mode.