hackathons

HOW TO FAIL AT A HACKATHON

This @ethglobal Brussels Hackathon was different.

I was a mentor for the first time and I absolutely love the experience.

Here's a thread of the 7 biggest problems teams face and how to overcome them.

Spoiler alert: The problems weren't technical.

We help builders bring the vision of Ethereum to life.

regenerative gambler @lottopgf by /ottodao | playing /lotto and uniting /degensxregens | Member @safary 🦁

1. No clear goal will lead you nowhere

Most teams want do everything: be a finalist, win many bounties, make a fully fleshed product, etc...

But there's only so much you can do in a weekend, and many of them are not compatible. 

For example, if you focus on integrating too many bounties, you probably won't have the creative freedom to build a finalist project).

2. Too many ideas, too little focus

It's good to be ambitious at a hacakthon, but the problem comes from underestimating the amount of work you can do in just 36 hours.

Stop adding more features, focus on an MVP and create a list of priorities (especially if you're bounty-hunting). You'll likely only manage the #1 prio ones.

3. Too caught up in details without an MVP

Many times I was approached with questions around finding loopholes in tokenomics, how to make it all completely decentralised, etc... all this without having an idea of the MVP.

Solution: Don't be a perfectionist until you have an MVP idea you can ship in 36 hours. Focus on the most basic features, understand the potential flaws and explore them only if you have time at the end. Be transparent about them in your presentation.

4. Bad team communication
Many teams ended up fighting or with a broken product because they failed to coordinate.

Understand the roles of each member of the team, and make sure everyone manages expectations. Try to base them on past work so you know where you'll need support.

5. Not seeking support early on
My initial shifts were empty af. The night before submission, we had a line of hackers asking for help.

Don't be afraid to ask questions early on. Some things will save you hours of work by simply asking a partner or a mentor to point you in the right direction.

That will also give you extra points when presenting because the judges will know you already!

6. Getting stuck with a problem

Despite not being technical I was able to solve tech issues by simply being a "tech therapist" lol. Hackers would tell me about their problems and find the solutions themselves.

Sometimes you simply need to go talk to someone, take a walk, a nap or even shift focus for a bit and the problems will be "magically" solved.

7. Narrative is as important (or more) as the tech
I got to understand my value as a non-technical hacker when I found out it's impossible to focus on the tech while distilling it into a compelling narrative.

Don't overcomplicate the narrative. Even if the tech is super complex and cool try to find a way to tell it with an example and in a way that can be grasped in the first sentences.

This pitch outline seems to have especially helped hackers.

Each slide should be composed of 1 or maximum 2 VERY succinct lines.

- Team
- Problem
- Solution
- Example use-case
- Tech (hardest to make succinct)
- Demo
- Future/Vision (what you'd do if you had more time)

Congrats to all the hackers (especial shout-out to the Latam finalists), and a massive thank you to @ethglobal for stepping up their (already excellent) game every single edition.

See you all in Singapore! 🇸🇬

Congrats to all the hackers (especial shout-out to the Latam finalists), and a massive thank you to @ethglobal for stepping up their (already excellent) game every single edition.

See you all in Singapore! 🇸🇬

https://x.com/nicnode/status/1812815998723973300

To solve this, simply pick 1 goal, and put the others as secondary priorities. Here are some ideas and => their focus.
- Build a (creative) finalist project => working MVP + narrative
- Hunt for bounties => prioritise technologies that fit your idea and keep adding them
- Work on (a feature for) a long-term project => get feedback from partners and mentors, seek potential grants
- Hiring => try to replicate the roles of the real project you're hiring for