# Hack Kickoff

> Turn a hackathon idea and event brief into a scoped MVP, rubric evidence, time budget and demo plan before building.

- Skill: `shreyp087/hack-kickoff` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add shreyp087/hack-kickoff`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/shreyp087/hack-kickoff/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Finance & Business
- Author: Shreyp087 (https://skillmd.com/u/shreyp087)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/shreyp087/hack-kickoff

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# Hack Kickoff

## Goal

Establish one coherent project the team can build, demonstrate and submit within the available time. Preserve the user's chosen problem or idea; explore alternatives only where a decision remains open.

## Working brief

Use the event's current official rules and challenge pages when available. Record the source and date for eligibility, build window, timezone, prior-work policy, AI disclosures, required technology, submission assets and judging criteria. Keep eligibility gates separate from scores; label missing information unknown and distinguish recommendations from official requirements.

Define the intended user or audience, the specific moment being improved, the observable result and why the chosen mechanism helps. Separate observed evidence from assumptions. Capture team capacity, remaining time, available assets and the dependency most likely to invalidate the idea.

Make the MVP one real end-to-end flow. Identify the earliest small experiment that could reject its risky assumption, a viable smaller fallback, and explicit cuts that preserve the core result. Scope a memorable demonstration rather than accumulating loosely related features.

Allocate time for the risk experiment, working flow, integration, rehearsal and submission. Reserve a realistic submission buffer based on the actual artifacts required. Tie checkpoints to observable outcomes and make the cut decision clear if a checkpoint slips.

Sketch the demo's input, action and visible output, with one evidence item per relevant rubric criterion. Use the actual presentation limit; if unknown, mark the duration provisional. Describe what the team will learn or prove, not an unsupported chance of winning.

## Constraints

- Stack and hosting are project-specific. Respect existing choices; compare options only when needed, using the team's skills, event requirements and operational constraints. Do not impose a framework or cloud default.
- A high score cannot compensate for failed eligibility. Do not invent weights, sponsor preferences, interviews or performance claims.
- Reuse existing brief and planning files where possible. Keep the result compact enough to guide the build.
- Continue independent work when information is missing; surface only uncertainties that materially change scope, eligibility or the next action.
- Planning does not authorize registration, purchases, outreach or submission.

## Definition of done

The project has a concise written brief with sourced requirements, unresolved gates, one MVP flow, an early feasibility check, scope cuts, a time budget, owners where known and a demo outline. The team can state what it will build, how it will prove that it works and what it will drop first.