How do you come up with good hackathon ideas?

Start from a real problem: something customers complain about, a slow internal process, or data nobody uses. Write each idea as who it's for and what it does, then let everyone dot-vote.

The end of a hackathon or accelerator, when each team shows what they built in a short, timed demo to judges and an audience.

How do you judge a hackathon?

Agree criteria in advance, such as impact, creativity, execution and presentation, and have judges score each from 1 to 10. A people's choice vote lets the audience take part too.

Meeting kitSoftware & productBrainstorming

Hackathon kit

90 minutes 11 slides, 3 livepro Runs with Pro

Kick off a hackathon: theme, rules and judging criteria, an idea board with dot voting, team formation, then a timed demo day with a people's choice vote.

Use this template See inside

Free to open and edit. Running it live needs Pro, free for 14 days on every new account.

[Event name] hackathon

[Dates] · Build something real in [hours] hours

Title

In short

A hackathon is a short event where teams build a working prototype around a theme, then demo it to judges. This kit gives you a 90-minute kickoff with an idea board and dot voting, team formation, an 11-slide deck with rules and judging criteria, and a demo day run sheet with audience scores and a people's choice vote.

Time: 90-minute kickoff, plus demo day
Slides: 11, 3 interactive
Board: Idea board, 3 dots each
Plan: Pro

Updated October 4, 2026

What's in the kit

1[Event name] hackathon
2Theme: [one sentence that gives direction without killing ideas].
3Rules
4Schedule (replace)
5Judging criteria
6Which track are you leaning towards?Customer experience · Internal tools · Data and insights · Sustainability · Wildcard live
7Demo day
8Your demo
9Audience score for this team's demo live
10People's choice: which project gets your vote?Team 1 · Team 2 · Team 3 · Team 4 · Team 5 · Team 6 live
11Go build

The agenda

By the end of this meeting, everyone knows the theme, rules and judging criteria, the best ideas are voted up, and every participant is on a team.

90 min · 7 blocks, drawn to scale Fits exactly

What do you want to build?, 5 minutes
Theme, rules, schedule and judging criteria, 15 minutes
Idea board: pitch your idea in one note, 20 minutes
Top ideas: 30-second pitches from the authors, 15 minutes
Form teams: two to five people, mixed skills, 20 minutes
Logistics: workspace, food, support, submission, 10 minutes
Start the clock, 5 minutes

+0′What do you want to build?In one word: what do you want to build or learn this hackathon?5 minCheck-in
+5′Theme, rules, schedule and judging criteriaTip: Present the deck. Be clear on what counts: what must be built during the event, and what can be reused.15 minInfo
+20′Idea board: pitch your idea in one noteYour idea in one sentence: who it's for and what it doesTip: One idea per note. Then three dots each. People can vote for their own.20 minBrainstorm
+40′Top ideas: 30-second pitches from the authorsTip: The authors of the most-voted ideas pitch them and say what skills they need.15 minDiscuss
+55′Form teams: two to five people, mixed skillsTip: Nobody leaves without a team. Help solo people find one.20 minDecide
+75′Logistics: workspace, food, support, submission10 minInfo
+85′Start the clockTip: Announce the exact demo day time and the submission deadline.5 minWrap-up

The board

For customers

For our team

Wildcard

The follow-up email

Subject

Hackathon: teams, rules and demo day run sheet

We're off. Here's everything you need.

Teams and projects
______: ______
______: ______

Submission deadline: ______ (link: ______)

DEMO DAY RUN SHEET
Start: ______  Place / link: ______
Each team: 3 minutes demo, 2 minutes questions, 1 minute changeover.
Order | Team | Project | Start time
1 | ______ | ______ | ____
2 | ______ | ______ | ____
3 | ______ | ______ | ____

Judging: impact, creativity, execution, presentation (judges score each 1 to 10)
People's choice: audience vote on phones after the last demo
Awards: ______

Mentors and help: ______
Have fun, and sleep at least a little.

How to run it

1Set the theme, rules and judging criteria before kickoff, and put them in the deck.
2Let people post ideas on the board and dot-vote, then have the top authors pitch for teammates.
3Make sure every participant is on a team before hacking starts. Help solo people find one.
4On demo day, run each demo on its own timer, show the audience score after each one, and finish with the people's choice poll.
5Send the run sheet from the follow-up so teams know their demo slot in advance.

Questions people ask

How do you come up with good hackathon ideas?: Start from a real problem: something customers complain about, a slow internal process, or data nobody uses. Write each idea as who it's for and what it does, then let everyone dot-vote.
What is demo day?: The end of a hackathon or accelerator, when each team shows what they built in a short, timed demo to judges and an audience.
How do you judge a hackathon?: Agree criteria in advance, such as impact, creativity, execution and presentation, and have judges score each from 1 to 10. A people's choice vote lets the audience take part too.

All meeting kits

Open it, make it yours, run it live.

Change anything in the editor. When you're ready, press Present: everyone joins with a scan and answers on their phone.

Free forever
Pro free for 14 days
No card needed
Guests never need an account

Use this template More meeting kits

Meeting kitSoftware & productBrainstorming

Hackathon kit

90 minutes 11 slides, 3 livepro Runs with Pro

Kick off a hackathon: theme, rules and judging criteria, an idea board with dot voting, team formation, then a timed demo day with a people's choice vote.

Use this template See inside

Free to open and edit. Running it live needs Pro, free for 14 days on every new account.

[Event name] hackathon

[Dates] · Build something real in [hours] hours

Title

In short

Time: 90-minute kickoff, plus demo day
Slides: 11, 3 interactive
Board: Idea board, 3 dots each
Plan: Pro

Updated October 4, 2026

What's in the kit

1[Event name] hackathon
2Theme: [one sentence that gives direction without killing ideas].
3Rules
4Schedule (replace)
5Judging criteria
6Which track are you leaning towards?Customer experience · Internal tools · Data and insights · Sustainability · Wildcard live
7Demo day
8Your demo
9Audience score for this team's demo live
10People's choice: which project gets your vote?Team 1 · Team 2 · Team 3 · Team 4 · Team 5 · Team 6 live
11Go build

The agenda

By the end of this meeting, everyone knows the theme, rules and judging criteria, the best ideas are voted up, and every participant is on a team.

90 min · 7 blocks, drawn to scale Fits exactly

What do you want to build?, 5 minutes
Theme, rules, schedule and judging criteria, 15 minutes
Idea board: pitch your idea in one note, 20 minutes
Top ideas: 30-second pitches from the authors, 15 minutes
Form teams: two to five people, mixed skills, 20 minutes
Logistics: workspace, food, support, submission, 10 minutes
Start the clock, 5 minutes

+0′What do you want to build?In one word: what do you want to build or learn this hackathon?5 minCheck-in
+5′Theme, rules, schedule and judging criteriaTip: Present the deck. Be clear on what counts: what must be built during the event, and what can be reused.15 minInfo
+20′Idea board: pitch your idea in one noteYour idea in one sentence: who it's for and what it doesTip: One idea per note. Then three dots each. People can vote for their own.20 minBrainstorm
+40′Top ideas: 30-second pitches from the authorsTip: The authors of the most-voted ideas pitch them and say what skills they need.15 minDiscuss
+55′Form teams: two to five people, mixed skillsTip: Nobody leaves without a team. Help solo people find one.20 minDecide
+75′Logistics: workspace, food, support, submission10 minInfo
+85′Start the clockTip: Announce the exact demo day time and the submission deadline.5 minWrap-up

The board

For customers

For our team

Wildcard

The follow-up email

Subject

Hackathon: teams, rules and demo day run sheet

We're off. Here's everything you need.

Teams and projects
______: ______
______: ______

Submission deadline: ______ (link: ______)

DEMO DAY RUN SHEET
Start: ______  Place / link: ______
Each team: 3 minutes demo, 2 minutes questions, 1 minute changeover.
Order | Team | Project | Start time
1 | ______ | ______ | ____
2 | ______ | ______ | ____
3 | ______ | ______ | ____

Judging: impact, creativity, execution, presentation (judges score each 1 to 10)
People's choice: audience vote on phones after the last demo
Awards: ______

Mentors and help: ______
Have fun, and sleep at least a little.

How to run it

1Set the theme, rules and judging criteria before kickoff, and put them in the deck.
2Let people post ideas on the board and dot-vote, then have the top authors pitch for teammates.
3Make sure every participant is on a team before hacking starts. Help solo people find one.
4On demo day, run each demo on its own timer, show the audience score after each one, and finish with the people's choice poll.
5Send the run sheet from the follow-up so teams know their demo slot in advance.

Questions people ask

How do you come up with good hackathon ideas?: Start from a real problem: something customers complain about, a slow internal process, or data nobody uses. Write each idea as who it's for and what it does, then let everyone dot-vote.
What is demo day?: The end of a hackathon or accelerator, when each team shows what they built in a short, timed demo to judges and an audience.
How do you judge a hackathon?: Agree criteria in advance, such as impact, creativity, execution and presentation, and have judges score each from 1 to 10. A people's choice vote lets the audience take part too.

All meeting kits

Open it, make it yours, run it live.

Change anything in the editor. When you're ready, press Present: everyone joins with a scan and answers on their phone.

Free forever
Pro free for 14 days
No card needed
Guests never need an account

Use this template More meeting kits

Hackathon kit

[Event name] hackathon

[Event name] hackathon

Rules

Schedule (replace)

Judging criteria

Which track are you leaning towards?

Demo day

Your demo

Audience score for this team's demo

People's choice: which project gets your vote?

Go build

What's in the kit

The agenda

The board

The follow-up email

How to run it

Questions people ask

Goes well with

Design sprint

PI Planning

Design charrette

Open it, make it yours, run it live.

Hackathon kit

[Event name] hackathon

[Event name] hackathon

Rules

Schedule (replace)

Judging criteria

Which track are you leaning towards?

Demo day

Your demo

Audience score for this team's demo

People's choice: which project gets your vote?

Go build

What's in the kit

The agenda

The board

The follow-up email

How to run it

Questions people ask

Goes well with

Design sprint

PI Planning

Design charrette

Open it, make it yours, run it live.