How I Lost My First Hackathon

Too Many Ideas

Going into the hackathon, I had an idea and had a very specific plan to create the idea. However, I thought of several other ideas and became too focused on other ideas. The lesson I learned was to stick with the original plan and idea.

Awful Coordination

With this hackathon I took the lead and I did not do a good job at coordinating different aspects of the project. Next time I will have several Zoom meetings with the team to better understand everyones strengths, availability, and ideas.

Did Not Prioritize The Video

Most importantly, I focused all the time on coding the app while spending little time on the actual presentation aspect. In future hackathons, I will prioritize the presentation more than the product.

Critical thinking

A major thing I learned was to think critically of why the user would use my product, especially with incentivizing the user. I falsely ignored the end user and their needs.