HOW TO WIN HACKATHON

BASED PURELY ON YOUR POWERS OF PERSUASION

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

YOUR HACK ISIRRELEVANT

YOUR HACK IS

IRRELEVANT(MOSTLY)

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PITCH

“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

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

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

2. BUILD

MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

THINK MVP

Photo by Pratul Kalia

AT LEAST 1 HOUR

3. STOP EARLY

DON’T BREAK STUFF

Photo by Lynn Kelley Author

4. PRACTICE LOTS

MAKE IT MEMORABLE

YOUR PITCH

Photo by JJ

4. PRACTICE LOTS

S H A R P

STORIES

HUMOUR

ANALOGIES

REFERENCES

PICTURES

4. PRACTICE LOTS

Photos by umjanedoan, Earls37a, Michael Dunn, Sybren Stüvel, Alexey Kljatov, and Marsh Gardiner.

INFORM WOW

5. PRESENT

Don’t forget to leave time for questions!

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

THANK YOU

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