Dev Tools · 1h ago
Hackathon Judges Score Demos, Not Ambition
A judge of three hackathons reveals that live demos and clear pitches beat ambitious but incomplete projects. Teams that cut scope to deliver one working feature scored highest. The key differentiators were whether the demo ran, the first sentence stated the product, and scope matched the event's time constraint.
Meridian48 take
The piece offers a rare, practical look at how hackathon judging actually works, but its lessons are mostly common sense for experienced builders.
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What Judges Actually Score: Notes From a Year of Hackathon Judging →
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