0. More Than Just Winning Prizes
So you're ready to sign up for your first hackathon. Maybe you're a college student looking to build something cool over a weekend, or a solo developer hoping to explore new tech and meet like-minded people. Either way, welcome! You're about to experience one of the best ways to learn, build, and grow as a builder.
But here's something most beginners don't realize: the hackers who get the most out of hackathons aren't always the ones who win. Prizes are nice, but the skills, portfolio projects, and connections you gain last much longer.
This guide will help you avoid common beginner mistakes and set you up to thrive, whether you take home a prize or not.
1. Choose Your First Hackathons and Platforms Wisely
Not all hackathons are created equal. As a beginner, start with hackathons hosted by established companies, tech giants like Google and AWS in AI, or companies like Circle and Binance in crypto. These events tend to have clear rules, responsive organizers, and meaningful feedback from judges.
Trusted platforms help you filter signals from noise. DoraHacks is one of the largest and most trusted hackathon platforms, hosting ongoing events in collaboration with leading companies and communities across AI, blockchain, and frontier tech. With hundreds of thousands of past projects archived on the platform, you can research hackathons before joining and learn from previous winners (something we'll cover more later). The platform's reputation means a baseline level of quality for both organizers and participants.
Be cautious with unfamiliar platforms or events with vague organizer information - your time is valuable, so spend it on hackathons that respect that.
2. Read the Rules Like Your Submission Depends on It (Because It Does)
This sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many submissions get disqualified because the hackers didn't follow the rules. Before you write a single line of code or description, read the hackathon rules carefully and understand what's actually required.
Pay attention to eligibility requirements; Check submission requirements like demo videos, GitHub repos, or any documentation; Note any restrictions; And understand the judging criteria.
Rules aren't red tapes. They're the contract between you and the organizers. Respecting them shows professionalism and ensures your hard work actually gets judged fairly.
Rules of the AWS AI Vibe Coding Hackathon in 2025
3. Don't Be a Prize Farmer
It's tempting to submit the same project to every hackathon you can find, hoping something sticks. Resist this urge. Organizers and judges can spot a recycled, off-topic submission immediately, and it rarely ends well.
Most hackathons have a theme or focus for a reason. Even if there's an "open track," judges still evaluate how well your project aligns with the hackathon's goals. A blockchain hackathon isn't the right place for your unrelated matching app, no matter how polished it is.
Instead of spreading yourself thin across ten irrelevant hackathons, focus on a few that genuinely match your interests and skills. You'll produce better work and make a stronger impression on judges and sponsors who care about the same problems you do.
4. Communicate Early and Often
Many beginners treat hackathons like exams - head down, no talking, figure it out yourself. This is a mistake. Good hackathons have organizers, mentors, and community channels specifically to help you succeed. Use them.
If something in the rules is unclear, ask for clarification before you build the wrong thing. If you're stuck on a technical problem, reach out to mentors or post in the community Discord. If you're unsure whether your idea fits the theme, check with organizers early rather than finding out during judging. Like on DoraHacks, you can always message the organizers directly.
Don't suffer in silence when help is available.
5. Learn From Other Hackers
One of the most underrated benefits of hackathons is the chance to learn from other participants. You're surrounded by people solving similar problems with different approaches, skill levels, and perspectives.
Studying past submissions is one of the fastest ways to improve. On DoraHacks, you can browse numerous projects from previous hackathons (like this one), filter by category, and see exactly what winning teams submitted. Look at their demo videos, read their page, and examine how they presented their ideas. Pay attention to what made top projects stand out: clear problem statements, polished demos, strong alignment with hackathon themes. Equally valuable is noticing what weaker submissions lacked, so you can avoid the same mistakes.
During the hackathon itself, engage with other participants. Share what you're working on, ask what others are building, and don't be afraid to give and receive feedback. The hacker community is generally supportive, and today's fellow participant might be tomorrow's collaborator or co-founder.
6. Nail Your Submission Presentation
A great project with a terrible presentation often loses to a decent project with a great presentation. Judges have limited time and dozens of submissions to review. Make their job easy.
Your written description matters. Use clear language, structure your explanation logically, and don't assume judges have context you haven't provided. Screenshots, diagrams, and links to working demos all strengthen your submission.
Your demo video should be concise and clear. Explain the problem you're solving, show how your solution works, and highlight what makes it unique - all in one to three minutes unless the rules specify otherwise.
Example of a winning project on DoraHacks
Think of your submission as a pitch. You're not just showing what you built - you're convincing judges why it matters.
7. Manage Your Time Wisely
Hackathons have deadlines, and they arrive faster than you expect. Poor time management is one of the most common reasons promising projects end up as incomplete submissions.
Reserve time at the end for your submission materials. Recording a demo video, writing documentation, and packaging everything properly takes longer than you think. Don't leave it for the last hour.
If you're working with a team, coordinate clearly on who's doing what. Parallel work is efficient, but only if everyone knows their responsibilities.
8. Embrace the Outcome and Keep Building
Hackathons are competitions, and competitions have winners and losers. You might pour your heart into a project and walk away with nothing. It stings, but it's completely normal.
What separates successful hackers from frustrated ones is how they respond. If you don't win, ask yourself what you learned. If your idea makes sense and you keep building seriously, opportunities will find you. Many successful projects didn't win their first hackathon but improved through iteration and eventually found their moment.
The hackathon ends, but your work doesn't have to. If you built something promising, keep developing it. Hackathon projects make excellent portfolio pieces, and continued progress shows potential employers or investors that you're serious.
Countless amazing projects sparked in hackathons only to disappear forever. The excitement fades, life gets busy, and that brilliant idea never sees another commit. Don't let yours be one of them.
Celebrate your wins, learn from your losses, and keep showing up. Consistency beats luck in the long run.
Conclusion: Play the Long Game
Your first hackathon is just the beginning. You'll make mistakes, learn lessons, and probably wish you'd done some things differently. That's fine - everyone starts somewhere.
The hackers who get the most out of hackathons treat each one as a step in a longer journey. They build skills, expand their network, and develop a track record of showing up and shipping. Over time, the wins come, not because they got lucky, but because they got better.
So find a hackathon that excites you on DoraHacks, read the rules, chat with organizers, learn from others, and keep building. The rest takes care of itself.
Happy hacking!
About DoraHacks
DoraHacks is the leading global hackathon community and open source developer incentive platform. DoraHacks provides toolkits for anyone to organize hackathons and fund early-stage ecosystem startups.
DoraHacks creates a global hacker movement in Web3, AI, Quantum Computing and Space Tech. So far, more than 30,000 startup teams from the DoraHacks community have received over $300M in funding, and a large number of open source communities, companies and tech ecosystems are actively using DoraHacks together with its BUIDL AI capabilities for organizing hackathons and funding open source initiatives.
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