Hackathon Submission
Track choice → scannable description → <3-min demo script → checklist. Optimize for a judge who has 90 seconds, not a reader who has 10 minutes.
Context handoff
At start, read .claude/context/idea.md and .claude/context/build.md if present — pull the pitch, wedge, and what actually works from them instead of asking again.
Workflow
1. Pick the least-crowded track
Winning a thin track beats placing in a fat one. Per candidate track: estimate entry volume, fit with what's actually built, and judge appetite (sponsor tracks often have the fewest serious entries).
- Winner patterns + track history: hackathon-winners.md — every Colosseum grand champion and track winner, with what they built
- Live crowdedness check: ext/colosseum — query 5,400+ past submissions for cluster density and gaps (requires
COLOSSEUM_COPILOT_PAT)
2. Write a scannable description
Judges read 100+ submissions. Yours gets one skim deciding whether it gets a real read:
- Tagline: what it does, one sentence, no jargon
- First paragraph: problem + who has it
- Bold the one thing that's novel
- "What works today" list — demo-able claims only, never roadmap dressed as product
- Why Solana (one concrete reason: speed, fees, composability with X)
Full structure (200–500 words, paragraph-by-paragraph): hackathon-submission-guide.md. Score the draft against judging-criteria.md before submitting.
3. Demo script (<3 minutes)
| Time |
Beat |
| 0:00–0:20 |
Problem — one user, one pain, no market-size slides |
| 0:20–0:40 |
What you built, one sentence + UI first appears |
| 0:40–2:10 |
The demo — one happy path, real data, on-chain proof (explorer tx) |
| 2:10–2:40 |
The novel part — the thing competitors don't have |
| 2:40–3:00 |
Traction/team one-liner + the ask |
Shot-by-shot template and recording tips: demo-video-script.md. Rule: if the demo can fail live, record it.
4. Submission checklist
After the hackathon: grants
Losing the track doesn't mean losing the funding. Same artifacts (description, demo, deck) feed grant applications:
- Superteam Earn (earn.superteam.fun) — bounties + grants up to ~$10k USDC equivalent, fast cycles, regional Superteams
- Solana Foundation grants — milestone-based, public-good angle; reuse the scannable description with an ecosystem-benefit paragraph
- Grant-shaped ideas dataset: superteam-ideas.json
Note: upstream apply-grant ships no inert reference files (SKILL.md only — excluded from routing), so grant guidance lives here.
1---2name: hackathon3description: Prepare a winning hackathon submission. Use when the user says "hackathon submission", "submit to hackathon", "demo script", "demo video", "which track should I enter", "Colosseum", "help me win the hackathon", or asks about hackathon grants and Superteam Earn.4---56<!-- Adapted from sendaifun/solana-new (submit-to-hackathon, apply-grant), MIT © 2026 SendAI and Superteam. Telemetry removed. -->78# Hackathon Submission910Track choice → scannable description → <3-min demo script → checklist. Optimize for a judge who has 90 seconds, not a reader who has 10 minutes.1112## Context handoff1314At start, read `.claude/context/idea.md` and `.claude/context/build.md` if present — pull the pitch, wedge, and what actually works from them instead of asking again.1516## Workflow1718### 1. Pick the least-crowded track1920Winning a thin track beats placing in a fat one. Per candidate track: estimate entry volume, fit with what's actually built, and judge appetite (sponsor tracks often have the fewest serious entries).2122- Winner patterns + track history: [hackathon-winners.md](../ext/solana-new/skills/data/colosseum/hackathon-winners.md) — every Colosseum grand champion and track winner, with what they built23- Live crowdedness check: [ext/colosseum](../ext/colosseum/skills/colosseum-copilot/SKILL.md) — query 5,400+ past submissions for cluster density and gaps (requires `COLOSSEUM_COPILOT_PAT`)2425### 2. Write a scannable description2627**Judges read 100+ submissions.** Yours gets one skim deciding whether it gets a real read:2829- Tagline: what it does, one sentence, no jargon30- First paragraph: problem + who has it31- Bold the one thing that's novel32- "What works today" list — demo-able claims only, never roadmap dressed as product33- Why Solana (one concrete reason: speed, fees, composability with X)3435Full structure (200–500 words, paragraph-by-paragraph): [hackathon-submission-guide.md](../ext/solana-new/skills/launch/submit-to-hackathon/references/hackathon-submission-guide.md). Score the draft against [judging-criteria.md](../ext/solana-new/skills/launch/submit-to-hackathon/references/judging-criteria.md) before submitting.3637### 3. Demo script (<3 minutes)3839| Time | Beat |40|------|------|41| 0:00–0:20 | Problem — one user, one pain, no market-size slides |42| 0:20–0:40 | What you built, one sentence + UI first appears |43| 0:40–2:10 | The demo — one happy path, real data, on-chain proof (explorer tx) |44| 2:10–2:40 | The novel part — the thing competitors don't have |45| 2:40–3:00 | Traction/team one-liner + the ask |4647Shot-by-shot template and recording tips: [demo-video-script.md](../ext/solana-new/skills/launch/submit-to-hackathon/references/demo-video-script.md). Rule: if the demo can fail live, record it.4849### 4. Submission checklist5051- [ ] Track chosen by crowdedness, not vanity52- [ ] Tagline passes the "non-crypto friend" test53- [ ] Description scannable in 90 seconds (bold claims, short paragraphs)54- [ ] Demo video <3 min, real transaction shown55- [ ] Repo public, README quickstart actually works from clone56- [ ] Deployed link (devnet OK) + program ID listed57- [ ] Team and contact info complete58- [ ] Pitch deck attached if track requires one — use [pitch-deck](../pitch-deck/SKILL.md)5960## After the hackathon: grants6162Losing the track doesn't mean losing the funding. Same artifacts (description, demo, deck) feed grant applications:6364- **Superteam Earn** (earn.superteam.fun) — bounties + grants up to ~$10k USDC equivalent, fast cycles, regional Superteams65- **Solana Foundation grants** — milestone-based, public-good angle; reuse the scannable description with an ecosystem-benefit paragraph66- Grant-shaped ideas dataset: [superteam-ideas.json](../ext/solana-new/skills/data/ideas/superteam-ideas.json)6768Note: upstream `apply-grant` ships no inert reference files (SKILL.md only — excluded from routing), so grant guidance lives here.
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