Benefits of attending hackathons and how I won over 15 hackathons

I attended my first hackathon in 2016, I didn't know how to code at that time so I used a web-based block code tool to develop a basic app for health tips. I learned a lot, fast. And along the way, I changed from being an ideas guy to a real programmer, someone who was capable of building my dreams. I ended up participating in a lot of hackathons, over 40 of them and won at over 15 of them.

Here I will share how hackathons benefit an individual and share my story of a few of them which inspired me to become a true entrepreneur, what unique here is most of my solution was based on AR/VR, hence I tried to solve every possible problem through AR/VR. I think sharing this will help beginner developers who have just started coding in pursuing their dreams.

First thing first what is Hackathon? As the name suggests a hackathon is a tech competition where programmers solve a real-world problem in a given time frame of 24-72 hours. So how does it benefits me? Well, there are lots of benefits including good prize money, here are the few major benefits.

1. Problem-solving skills: During the hackathon, your real-world problem-solving skills are evolved since you solve a given real-world problem, many hackathons are centered around a specific technology, which helps in learning new technology this adds impressive projects in your portfolio. And Hackathon is a great way to build a fully-functioning product in less than 48 hours. 
2. Project management: Since a hackathon involves creating a product in less than 48 hours, it evolves the project management skills since you need to arrange resources, make a timeline, estimate risks, build a team, assign roles (front end, back end, etc.), build out the tech, and present your project to a panel of judges.
3. Team building: This is the part which is done before a hackathon starts, building a team is a major task which can define your success in the event, hence finding developers with relevant skills is the key, this enhances your skills finding best developers for future projects and enhances your networking.
4. Meaningful connections: If you're not a natural "networker" (who is?!) then a hackathon could be the perfect place to flex your new tech skills and mingle, without diving headfirst into the networking scene. Between judges, attendees, and other competitors, you'll be meeting other like-minded techies in these 48 hours...you might even come across your next job! Hackathons are home to a great community of technopreneurs to make new friends and gain connections for jobs down the road
5. Prize money: In addition to gaining great experience, delicious food, and unlimited drinks, you’ll also get the chance to win some serious cash. Your team’s project is presented in front of a panel and if selected you can win a prize between the range from $1000 - $100k, you can use this money for buying new gadgets or even a short international trip!

How I won over 15 hackathons

Starting from no programming experience to winning over 15 hackathons is dream come true, and the icing on the cake was all this happened in around 2 years. I'm passionate about Augmented Reality (AR) and most of my hacks are around it, I see AR as a way to represent information which is never done before.,AR is the new UI.

Started in November 2016, it took me 6 months of time to win my first-ever hackathon and then it was an easy road and I never looked back, here is the list of the hackathons which I won:

1- N/Core GO JEK Hackathon

Based on a social theme for education in rural India, we created an app that can engage children in learning languages in a more immersive way through AR.

Winning this was like a dream come true especially after programming 24 hours straight.

2- Cargill digital hackathon: The 72 hours long hackathon was one of the kind, multiple rounds of judging, and a Grand presentation event. We finished eventually on winning note and my team was offered with their first internship offered by CTO of Cargill.

3- HackGSF Hackathon

A quick hack with a variety of themes eventually turned in a winning note of the Best team.

We focused on building the demo presentation unique and was always focused on how the product UI looks.

4- Big Data challenge Hackathon

One kind of hackathon organized by the Government and we were awarded as the winner by the Governor and chief minister of state.

The hack mainly focused on creating AR-based books in NCERT books of state.

5- BMSCE hackathon: The hack was developed on the theme of maintenance, so we developed an AR-based maintenance app that can be used in the MRO system, eventually won after a tough round of judging.

6- InGenius 2k17 Hackathon

This hackathon was organized in my college, so it was like a hack in the backyard.

We developed a hand gesture-based app using Leap motion which can be combined with VR for immersive education

7- Honeywell Power of connected Hackathon (2 times in consecutive years)

Honeywell is one of the Best companies for organizing hackathons and developers love that, In consecutive years we have developed two different solutions in AR which were based on self-maintenance of cars and AR indoor navigation.

Eventually, we won the prize in consecutive years.

8 - SYF hackathon

Synchrony financials conducted a Fintech based hackathon, we proposed to build an AR-based account information visualization tool for customers.

The overnight hackathon was tough in competition from other teams, we secured 2nd position.

9 - PES Game development Hackathon: Since most of my apps developed was in Unity 3D so we entered the lane of gaming apps challenges and what I learned is developing a game is way more challenging than a general app. Logic, story, and graphics is the key. but in the end, we were on the winning side.

10- World skills representing India

This was a one of kind of hackathon where you were not allowed to look into the internet during developing your project.

Hence after winning the state round for Karnataka, it was a feeling of pride to represent India on an international level.

11 - Agastya International Foundation

This was one of the kinds of an event in which engineering student needs to collaborate with the primary government school students to mutually develop social cause projects.

This gives schools students an opportunity to have a deep look into computer science concepts and motivate them to develop for a social cause, we were able to win a consolation prize in the month-long event

12- FaceBook Community Hackathon

Facebook is all about sharing so we proposed a project which involves sharing persistence AR-based stickers in the real world.

With multiple rounds in a span of a month, we were declared as the ultimate winner.

13 -Hackathon for Literacy IIIT Bangalore: Social hackathons are where you use technology to make an impact for a wide variety of audience. This hackathon was mainly focused on the problem faced in the education of Rural India, so we developed an offline book-based multilingual AR app for education in the primary classes. We were awarded the best app prize.

14- FINNOVATICA Appathon round winner

One of the best experiences and amazing hosts, which offered a round trip and pleasant stay. Eventually helped every team in presenting their ideas to a wide audience with confidence in the pitch

We passed the round and was promoted to the Finale.

15- TokBox Video AR international hackathon: This was one of my first hackathon where participating teams were from different part of the world, the San Fransico based company had a unique theme to combine video + AR, we proposed a maintenance app with capabilities of video streaming for remote connect with experts. Guess the winners? Yes, our team.

16- Grand Finale Fullerton India winners

Eventually, we reached the finale of the Finnovatica event which is a year-long event with multiple rounds in it.

We propose use of an AR-based campaign for making their marketing offers more immersive and multilingual since India has 28 official languages, the year-long product development ended on a winning note.

17- Hackerearth AR/VR Hackathon 1.0: My first major VR app on Oculus Quest, created a tutorial app for learning piano virtually helping beginners, used hand tracking on Quest for enhancing button touch haptics. Won the 3rd prize in the hackathon

So what's next?

Hackathons help in a step by step increase of entrepreneurial skills because it teaches you project management, team building, networking, Leadership, and funds management. And I'm applying these skills in the startup's which I have joined last year, I feel this experience is helping me a lot in facing challenges in a startup culture.

I advise every programmer to participate in a few hackathons, winning or not doesn't matter but what matters is the overall skills development and experience of rapid development.