From organizing Tsinghua's first LLM Hackathon to participating in numerous events across China, hackathons have been a defining part of my journey. Here's what I've learned.
As an Organizer
1. Community is Everything
The best hackathons aren't about the prizes or the venue - they're about bringing together people who are genuinely excited to build. When you get the community right, magic happens.
2. Constraints Drive Creativity
Some of our most innovative projects came from tightly-scoped challenges. Give people too much freedom and they get stuck; give them clear constraints and watch them get creative.
3. Support, Don't Control
Our job as organizers was to create the environment for success, then get out of the way. The best mentorship is available but not intrusive.
As a Participant
1. Scope Ruthlessly
The graveyard of hackathon projects is full of ambitious ideas that couldn't be executed in time. Winning teams ship; ambitious teams often don't.
2. Demo > Code
It doesn't matter how elegant your architecture is if you can't demo it. Focus on what you can show, not what you can explain.
3. Team Dynamics Matter Most
I've won with teams that had less technical skill but better communication, and lost with brilliant developers who couldn't align on a direction.
The Bigger Picture
Hackathons taught me that shipping imperfect things fast beats perfecting things slowly. That bias toward action has shaped how I approach building products ever since.
*Special thanks to everyone who participated in and helped organize the events I've been part of. You've all taught me something.*