Video summary

How To Win Hackathons As A Beginner | Explained By A SIH'25 Winner!

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and concepts

Why beginners struggle with hackathons

Many engineering students want to participate, but often fail due to:

  • Lack of required skills
  • Weak communication skills
  • No reliable group/core team
  • Not attempting or practicing in time

What a hackathon is

A hackathon is a programming competition where multiple teams solve a common problem statement by building a coding/project prototype.

  • Team size: commonly 2–4 members
    • Some events may also require at least one or two girl members, depending on rules.
  • Problem statement: the specific problem teams must solve using coding/engineering knowledge.
  • Judging process:
    • Judges review the built prototype and evaluate in multiple rounds.
    • Scores typically depend on:
      • Project quality/solution
      • Presentation quality
      • Clarity
      • Tech stack/technologies used
    • Outcomes depend on the hackathon format (e.g., top 3, top 2, or only a single winner).

How to approach, build, and win as a beginner

The speaker outlines six points (a step-by-step approach).

Methodology / step-by-step instructions (detailed bullet format)

1) Build the right skill set

  • Decide roles within your team based on your strengths/specialty—not on what others assign you.
  • Common roles include:
    • Front-end developer
    • Back-end developer
    • Database architect
    • Presenter
    • UI/UX designer
    • Research analyst
    • Document manager (mentioned as a possible role)
    • Deployment / back-end & deployment (speaker’s background)
  • Examples of skills to learn by role:
    • Front-end: React state management, Redux, etc.
    • Mobile: mobile app development skills
    • Back-end: APIs, real-time communication/systems, databases, system building
    • Speaker’s focus (back-end/deployment):
      • Cloud
      • sharing work with teammates
      • collective development environment
      • GitHub
  • Emphasized tool: GitHub
    • Learn GitHub to collaborate effectively and submit PRs.
  • Interview/pitch framing
    • Be able to answer: “Why should we hire you?”
      • Connect your skills to what you can deliver for the judges/team.

2) Choose your role confidently

  • Don’t ask others to decide what role you should take.
  • Choose based on what you can contribute well:
    • Front-end strength → build impactful front-end
    • Back-end strength → make systems work quickly and reliably
    • Presentation/design strength → lead pitching and UI/presentation impact

3) Develop communication skills (everyone needs them)

  • No teammate should be “shy and silent,” because hackathons require rapid coordination.
  • Communication benefits highlighted:
    • Faster coordination on tasks/modules/bugs
    • Better alignment of ideas, code, and execution
    • Strong pitching to judges
  • Key hackathon reality:
    • There’s no long planning window (not 7–14 days).
    • It’s rapid prototyping; teams may need to adapt immediately if judges arrive quickly.
  • What to practice:
    • Coordinate compactly and concisely
    • Reduce confusion (who is building which module, fixing which bug, handling which system)
    • Keep the team “on the same page”
  • Presentation importance
    • Even a strong solution can lose if you can’t pitch it clearly (and some rounds advance based on presentation).
  • For introverts
    • Don’t force a personality change, but ensure enough communication to coordinate under pressure.
  • Long-term payoff
    • Communication is also valued in interviews and future jobs.

4) Assemble a core team (synergy matters)

  • Don’t rely on random people you may not work with again.
  • Competition is intense because hackathons involve many teams (often 12–20, sometimes more).
  • Core principle: synergy
    • Choose team members you trust and have some shared history with.
    • You’ll often sit together for 12–48 hours building and presenting.
  • Guidance:
    • Find 1–2 to 3 consistent members across hackathons (or at least a stable set).
    • Ask people in your college to join—presented as normal and worthwhile.
  • Team leadership requirement:
    • Include a team leader who can:
      • present well
      • think critically under high pressure
      • improvise when things go wrong
    • The leader/presenter is often among roles like UI/UX or front-end (team-dependent).

5) Prototyping and practicing (before the hackathon)

  • If you’re not highly skilled yet:
    • Build prototypes together to reduce panic during the event.
  • Practice approaches:
    • Option A: Use a major/minor college project team and bring that team/project into the hackathon (synergy advantage).
    • Option B: If your college project groups don’t match your synergy, create a separate team and build your own project over 7–14 days.
  • Role alignment during prep:
    • Assess strengths/weaknesses, identify gaps, and assign roles accordingly.
  • GitHub practice for speed and demo readiness:
    • Become fast at GitHub workflows so that near presentation time:
      • PRs are merged quickly
      • code lands on the main branch for easy demo (avoid scrambling in terminals)
  • Overall goal:
    • Know your strengths, your team’s strengths, and what to improve—so you’re almost ready.

6) Start participating (the final step: no one is “ready” beforehand)

After you have:

  • a core team
  • the right skills
  • good communication
  • practiced prototypes/projects

…you must register and attend hackathons.

  • Actions listed:
    • Register for hackathons
    • Approach problem statements
    • Brainstorm with your team
    • Build and iterate while sitting together for long sessions
  • Main message:
    • “Nobody ever is ready” until they participate.
    • Don’t wait in comfort—start.

Speakers / sources featured

  • Ninad — winner of Smart India Hackathon 2025 (SIH’25) and the speaker explaining how to win hackathons as a beginner.

Original video