Make-a-thon 1.0 [Mind == Blown] #inkmakers
I was extremely privileged to mentor dreamers from MIT Manipal this past week for #Inkmakers . The occasion was Make-a-thon 1.0. Usually you expect college students to be laid back, some coming up with ideas, usually the “me too” types, others trying to build something just because they thought it was cool, proper understanding of the problem is usually missing. People would have read about a project or product which is successful in some markets around the world , usually from sources like Tech Crunch, Wired and many more. Wannabe entrepreneurs‚ who get inspired by wolf of wall street and start running behind funding instead of generating revenue, start focusing on building technology but not on actually solving a problem that matters. Instead of creating a value, they go for valuation. The past hackathons I have been to, was more often than not this case. But I had not prepared for what I was going to see next.
The venue was incredible, I could see the fusion of art, design and technology everywhere at the design studios. Here is how some of them look:
After the introductory session, students went straight into the making mode. And I started visiting the teams.
Most of the teams wanted to build a solution, a product at times without actually knowing if there was a need for it in the first place. The theme of the event was “Build to sell”. You can’t sell a solution to a problem that you think exists, but in reality doesn’t really.
I was asking them some really tough questions. My agenda was clear, rip apart the solutions-to-problem approach. Ask the Whys, the Whats and the Hows. And I did. So how do you know if there is a need? Answer is simple.
Market research. Find out what people, processes or companies really need. The easiest way? Surveys. Talk to people. That is all you need to do. WHY is always more important than the solution. Infact without a WHY, there is no where you can really reach.
Day 1 was intense. I was tough on the teams, but by the end of the day, the WHYs were becoming clearer. Now the teams started focusing more on HOW to solve the WHYs. It was going pretty well. The one team however that inspired me the most was this team of 4 who I was the hardest on. They discarded brilliant ideas because they thought they were stupid and took the one idea that solves no problem what so ever. After probably after an hour of cracking them down, we started discussing the ideas they had discarded earlier. They were finally able to get the Why right.
Day 1 ended on a high note. The team of mentors, got a chance to visit the Robocon teams and see their prototypes. The one image I still can’t take out of my head is this one:
The F-1 racing car, the solar powered vehicle, the aero modeling workspace, I don’t think I have seen anything like that before. It was an incredible first day.
Day two, some teams were still refining their ideas. I could see how teams were now sending out questionnaires to everyone taking feedback on the ideas‚ surveying‚ making meaningful conclusions . Trying to use the User Centric Design approach without even knowing they were. To my surprise, no matter how many times I shot them down, they kept coming back. Better every time, with more powerful answers to my questions, more clarity on processes, more clarity on need and finally, there they were, from juggling around between multiple ideas at 3pm a day before, to filtering all of them to just one.
I could see them transform.
Ideas ranged from Home automation systems, to accident prevention systems in the kitchen which looks something like this
to generic medicine aggregators, to revolutionary pen designs by Architects, to the one that affects us all, pooping. Yes, I was involved in the ideation process of a team that has designed a commode which is a cross between the healthy style of pooping and the western style of pooping. I kid you not‚ their design approach and process was impeccable. Here is how a clay model of it looks:
The level of ideas and implementations kept going higher.
The team working on the revolutionary pen idea got the concept right. The thing I liked about them the most was them being fearless. They broke their expensive pens‚ willing to experiment and understand the mechanics of it.
They were ready to be hit hard. They hit multiple dead ends, but in the end, they cracked it. They had a design that took care of all aspects of the problem. They were architects after all, they solved the problem.
Another team made a revolutionary stretcher. Getting the inspiration from personal stories and observations‚ they realised that the best stretchers in the world could be comfy but still need a lot of people to navigate. They cracked down this problem. They could not get the right component in time and ended up coming with a most frugal hack i had seen. Using an Ultrasonic sensor to measure the pressure being applied. Which was impressive. They got my respect right there. Imagine being able to navigate a 4 wheeled, heavy stretcher with a gentle push or pull motion that comes naturally to you anyways. They made that a reality.
Another team built a sun tracker for solar panels‚ another built a system to identify what was missing in the kitchen groceries. So many other good ideas, one actually could teach you everything about investment, learn, test with virtual money and finally start investing.
By the time judging started I was just happy see the hacks that mattered. Hardware hardware everywhere!
Judging was extremely difficult too! Finally 7 teams have been selected to be a part of Ink Live 2015, in Mumbai on 16th,17th and 18th October, they won cash prizes, a trip and accomodation in Mumbai too! They also won a direct entry in the Ink Makers Finale which happens in March 2016.
All together, I know this was the best ever hackathon(read make-a-thon) I have been too. I did not meet wanna be entrepreneurs and developers, I met real problem solvers, I met product designers, I met people with a developing vision.
I guess , you learn more in a 24 hour hackathon, about yourself, about life, about education , about implementation, about faith, density, accidents and serendipity , than you will learn in the 4 years of Engineering.
All thanks to the Ink team for giving me an opportunity like this. I still bump into students at various conferences. It is just inspiring to meet them. Hope to see more of this soon! Find more details about the next events here.
Build things that matter!
