Hackathon Walkthrough

We joined forces with more than 30 participants in a great challenge of 24hours Hackathon at DevHacks.

Our focus was on Digital Transformation in Retail. It was a comprehensive challenge because we wanted to enhance disruptive ideas from the participants and hopefully if they want to develop their idea, we can help them get into our brand TechN’Trade Hub accelerator .

We have learned a lot about each other and moreover we have learned to push our limits by collaborating with new people and taking fast decisions.

From our perspective, to mentorship a team at a Hackathon is not an easy straightforward job, because you should carefully use your coaching skills and give a honest and authentic feedback but at the same time you should not ‘kill’ the idea and the creative and productive process.

What did we appreciate the most at the participant teams?

1. Understanding our challenge

We had some teams who got involved in a personal way with the challenge; they did their research upfront and also discovered real issues that can be solved or improved.

2. Tech preparation

Some of them had the framework and tech needed to accomplish the challenge. Even when they tried new tech&tools and got stuck they reached out and kept striving worked on the right track.

3. Teamwork and positive attitude

Even when something has ‘cracked’ or some of their ideas were debated, the team work spirit and a positive attitude saved the day. Many participants confessed that they registered at the hackathon for the learning adventure and meeting new people in the IT area, not for the prizes.

We met some of the last year participants that came with the same purpose, to have fun while learning.

4. Building a demo prototype/MVP

When your design is clear and nice and your demo works from your first try, you know you did a tremendous work. Also, talking about your technology stack while you are presenting the demo has a great impact for the audience, even more if you have used the brand-new technologies.

5. Having a great pitch

The pitch itself is not the main criteria in deciding the winners. But after 24 hours of coding and developing a business model that could validate a problem for some users, or are presented some functionality that you have never thought about, there’s no doubt it’s cool idea.

A piece of advice for our next participants:

- Be authentic and believe in your ideas

- Keep things simple and straightforward

- Be in time but clear your mind with some breaks

- Be open to others ideas and collaborate effectively

- Be organized and receptive to learn

- Enjoy the networking and have lots of fun!

And remember… Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough. –Elon Musk.