How to Win ANY Hackathon - Everything You Need to Know

In this week's video I wanted to answer all of your burning questions you sent me on linkedin and instagram about hackathons!

I have personally been to 9+ hackathons (in person and online ones) and won prizes in 3 of them!

I love and also hate going to hackathons because the idea is great but actually doing them makes me want to slap my hand from ever signing up for one again.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - intro
1:04 - what I'm gonna cover
1:37 - what is a hackathon?
2:58 - who should go to a hackathon?
4:04 - why should you go to a hackathon?
6:47 - how do hackathons work + FAQs
14:11 - how do you win at a hackathon?

~FAQs I answer~
- how much coding experience do you need to join a hackathon?
- what are the best languages to know for a hackathon?
- how do you form a team?
- how do you come up with a project idea? do you go for sponsored challenges only?
- how do you come up with a unique/winning idea?
- where can you find project inspiration?
- how do you get your team to focus?
- how do you create a good demo/pitch?

Finding Hackathons:

let me know what video topics you'd like for me to cover next!

and thanks for clicking on this video! please like, comment, and subscribe :)

SAY HI (I'm friendly) 🙂

#hackathons #coding

[AdityaSingh-dgpr]

I realised it the hard way that great pitch is important to win hackathons. When I look at the projects which only won because of great pitch. Literally feel outrageous to stay up whole night, make a working project and lose to someone who made a great ppt of a simple thing 😭

[deaax]

How to win ANY Hackathon:

Me: "Hey Maria wanna be in our hackathon team"

[costagiannakakis]

I’m going to my first hackathon in 2 weeks and tho I’m not the best programmer and thought I’d be demoralizing for me. But I’m happy to know that their aren’t only devs on the team and it’s a mix of managing and design.

[baileybtluu]

Wow! This video is amazing! Super helpful advices. I am a hacker myself and have participated in several hackathons. Definitely agree that networking/connecting with other hackers/sponsors are the best. I found new friends at both in-person and virtual hackathons, and we are still keep in contact. We are not only participate in one hackathon, but several and won two of them. 

I love how you mentioned that to have a person with best speaking skill. No wonder why I saw some teams participated in several hackathons together and they always have the same speaker. Their pitch are also really good too, and they did win several hackathons.


Love your video! 😍

[vitisworld]

I can't thank you enough as ur video on tips and tricks motivated me to participate in an online hackathon and trust me I learned so much. It would be really nice if you post regularly bcoz your vibe and experience motivates me to do more everyday.

[TheVerbalAxiom]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try to remember all this before I head to my first hackathon! Also I love the fact your smiling most of the video and have a great attitude towards these events.

[vitisworld]

Participated in an online hackathon and had a great experience but we didn't make up to finals, but were in the top 20 from 100 teams. Feeling kinda bad tho as we tried our best🥺
But thanks for your tips and tricks.

[gorantlakarthik]

Really helped a lot and the way u explained stuff was really cool and cheerful . Since the situation is kinda bad out in the recent times so most hackathons are online now so all the fun u said was now gone ...
Hope it returns back to normal

[aayushkarki]

I have my 1st hackathon in like 2 days and tbh i know nothing about a hackathon. Thanks a lot, it helped. :)

[hizokadarkwolf]

Super good advice. I've participated in many hackatons, I don't remember how many, and won some of them. The best is the connections. And, if it is in person, the food. Haha

[thenightcorecrafter]

I'm going to a hackathon of my bank I love the networking opportunities 😊

[FunctionalIndustries]

Wow, you're gaining subs very quickly. Good work.

[rfldno]

Thank you Ill be attending my first hackathon in 9 days. And I just know basic excel and python, I thought Ill be rusted in the hackathon, yet it is not. Hence, thanks again for the info.

[VK-viiu]

Thanks for that, my first video on watching about what a hackathon is and been wanting to learn how to code. Thanks for the clear presentation about what they all are about. I didn't know some you get to travel, that sounds fun. Now I just need to lode some programming skills. I'm mostly in networking, service support and operations management. Sounds fun, like going back to college and hanging with nerds all day with same interest. Thanks for clearing up to, that you don't even need to code and there are people that might seem excited to help you learn. COOL VIDEO!

[smuvk]

I am watching this as I have my first hackathon tomorrow at CodeLaunch. Thanks for the tips and feeling more confident now!

[murk]

I also have a hate and love relationship with them
I've done quite a few but only virtually
And I'm tired of doing them now that I have the chance to do it in person
Esp since I dont meet the requirement for the sponsors that are looking to hire students (I'm not a student at the moment)

[johnskeff]

Awesome video with so much info. Thank you!!!

[cindaellas]

Thanks a lot for these useful informations! My goal for 2024 is to participate in a hackaton.

[muhammad_dev]

i want to be a part of hackathon!!! its boring to work or learn alone

[GodfreyMukondo-zbje]

Thanks a lot for this wonderful information