Think. Discuss. Pitch

Every process is made up of different tasks. In Computer Science, these processes hold immense importance. Today, we will be looking at the process cycle of a project in a hackathon. It is loosely based on ideation and pitching, but discussion on a project is the main job between those two imperatives.

We will discuss 3 things today, and why they are an integral part of hackathons. To support my article, I will give three separate and different examples of how these things are necessary, and how these three factors helped me improve my overall idea of the project. I have also added my TL;DR lesson with each of the topics as well.

Think:

DSU Spectrum — Ammar, Mohammad, and Murtaza were discussing their idea with me

Thinking about an idea for a project on which you will be working is a cornerstone of any hackathon. Without thinking of the concrete idea, making a project with blurred vision and a vague idea is similar to making an Eiffel Tower having an image of the Taj Mahal in your mind. You won’t achieve what you are thinking about.

The picture I uploaded above is from a hackathon, where I was helping my friends to think in a way that a project they are making is economically, practically, and technically viable. They were quite confused and wanted to keep all the eggs in one basket, which was quite difficult, due to the nature of their project. However, I pointed out some ambiguities in their ideas and asked them to have a look at the market & perform research, and then think again about their project.

They showed up again, and at this time, their idea was much more filtered and were focused on only one objective. Ultimately, they won the hackathon, and the judges were impressed by how refined their idea was.

Lesson: Always think about your ideas. Take time to refine them. Do not think in haste!

Discuss:

Hackfest 2022 — Bilal (2nd from Left) was hesitant to discuss with us, thinking his thoughts might not liked by us (Notice how we filled the entire board with our ideation)

When participating in a hackathon as a team, make sure you are also working as a team. Every teammate is important to the team, and including them in the discussion and amalgamating their ideas with your project is also necessary.

However, sometimes, a person might get himself into Imposter Syndrome when working with great minds in the team. Such happened with one of our teammates back in March 2022. We were making an IoT-based project for solar panel control. Our UI Designer, Bilal, didn’t utter a word regarding the project, let alone give suggestions about how to improve the business model of the project. I asked him personally, and he said he did not have any opinion, which I find quite impossible, because a human have their opinion on every matter, and he was not prepared to share it with us. Upon my insistence, he told me about how to improve the design and pointed out some major shortcomings, which could cause our project to fail. His constructive criticism and dedication led us to a remarkable 6th-place finish in the hackathon.

This experience teaches us the importance of embracing diverse perspectives and fostering a collaborative environment where every voice counts.

Lesson: Whenever in a group, discuss your project amongst your teammates. Everyone’s perspective and opinion matter!

Pitch:

Here comes the part that always makes me excited. When you have a clock running against you, and the adrenaline rush you get when pitching an inch-perfect project in front of the seasoned judges, this is a real showcase platform, and everything depends on that 7-minute pitch deck.

I always try to keep it short, and enticing for the evaluators and judges, so that they show their interest in our project. This is important because they will be evaluating/judging a lot of projects, and the only way to make them remember your pitch is by adding such slides that ignite their interest in your project.

Last year, in November, I did my first-ever Web3-based hackathon, a domain I am not familiar with. However, I made a pitch deck that was very eye-catching and added some excerpts from Harvard Business Reviews, Forbes, and other respected global magazines. As a result, the pitch elevated our project and we were among the semi-finalists, although we did not make any proper and complete project for it, and we only went with our POC (Proof of Concept), leaving behind many projects that actually code their projects and had many all-nighters.

Lesson: Make an exciting pitch deck. There is no pre-defined template for the pitch deck. Just stick to the rules outlined by the judges. If there aren’t any, you’re free to use any style of deck.

Thank you so much for giving this a read. Make sure to follow me here, so you can read similar posts about hackathons and other stuff!