Scored 80/100 at Next Level Challenge
Build & Win: An AI-Powered Hackathon Playbook
The exact scoping, building, and pitching method that scored 80/100 at a real hackathon — six chapters, no generic advice. A 4-person team, one weekend, Claude writing most of the app while we owned the scoping, testing, and the pitch.
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Most hackathon advice was written before AI could write code.
It tells you to "divide the work" and "practice your pitch" — generic, and it doesn't say what to do differently now that an AI teammate can build most of your app for you. This playbook is built around that shift.
"Just pick any idea"
Teams burn the first six hours on an idea that can't be proven in a weekend, then scramble.
"Divide and conquer"
Nobody tells you what to hand to AI and what to keep for yourself — so either nothing ships, or nothing is yours.
"Practice your pitch"
With no read on the room, teams pitch features to business judges and metrics to technical ones — and lose points either way.
Inside the playbook
Six chapters. Every one earned in a real event.
No filler, no theory for theory's sake — each chapter is the breakdown of a decision that mattered on the day.
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01
Scoping a Winnable Idea
Cutting a big idea down to the one mechanic that proves it in 24 hours.
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02
AI as Your Team's Force Multiplier
What to hand off to AI, and what to keep for yourself.
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03
The Skeleton-First Method
A build order that keeps you demo-ready at every hour, not just the last one.
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04
Know Your Room
Reading technical vs. business judges, and adjusting your pitch accordingly.
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05
The Pitch
Structure, and the mistakes that cost the most points.
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Bonus: Hackathon Toolkit
Pre-event checklist, team roles, and post-event follow-up.
80/100
Judge score
4
Person team
24hr
Build window
The result
"At the Next Level Challenge hackathon, this exact approach scored 80/100 and got singled out by judges for design and product thinking."
A 4-person team used Claude to write most of the app, while the team focused entirely on scoping, testing, and the pitch. This guide breaks that method into the six chapters above — every one built from real case studies, including what actually went wrong along the way.
What you get
One file. Everything you need.
- 13-page PDF — dense, no filler, read it before your next kickoff meeting.
- Instant download — delivered the moment checkout completes, no waiting.
- Hackathon toolkit — pre-event checklist and team-role templates included.
- Yours forever — one-time payment, re-download any time from your Gumroad library.
Built for
Anyone walking into a build weekend.
You don't need to be the strongest engineer on your team. The method is about direction — what to build first, what to delegate to AI, and how to walk into the pitch room already knowing what the judges want to hear.
Questions
Before you buy
No. This isn't a coding tutorial — it's a scoping, delegation, and pitching method. The whole point of Chapter 2 is what to hand off to AI so your own skill level stops being the bottleneck.
The framework is built from real case studies, not a single one-off win, and Chapter 4 is specifically about reading your room and adapting the pitch to whoever is judging. It generalizes across 24–48 hour formats.
It's an instant download — the PDF unlocks immediately after checkout, and stays in your Gumroad library for re-download any time.
Every purchase is covered by the standard refund policy shown at checkout — reach out if it's not a fit.
Your next hackathon deserves better than "just wing it."
Six chapters. One weekend-tested method. Everything scoped, built, and pitched with AI as a teammate — not a shortcut you're afraid to admit to.
One-time payment · Instant PDF download
