Vibe Hack 101
Learn How to Win Hackathons. Strategy, speed, AI-assisted builds, and demo skills — everything you need to show up prepared and ship something real.
About This Course
Most developers lose hackathons not because they can't code — but because they didn't have a strategy. Vibe Hack 101 fixes that. It's a workshop series designed to make you a better hackathon competitor by teaching the parts that don't show up in tutorials: scope management, team dynamics, demo preparation, and AI-assisted development workflows.
The course is practical by design. We walk through real hackathon scenarios, review example projects, and run live build sessions where you practice shipping fast under constraints. The goal isn't to teach you more code — it's to teach you how to use the code you already have to build something that wins.
Two GitHub repositories are included: the course materials and a reference project you can fork and adapt.
Quick Facts
- •Workshop series format
- •2 GitHub repos included
- •Live build sessions
- •AI-assisted dev workflows
Who This Course Is For
First-time hackathon participants
You want to enter your first hackathon but don't know where to start — strategy, scope, and team dynamics covered from scratch.
Developers who've competed but not placed
You have solid coding skills but keep finishing without placing. This course targets the non-technical reasons projects don't win.
Builders who want to go faster
You want to use AI-assisted development to build more in less time — without sacrificing quality or shipping something broken.
What You'll Learn
Hackathon Strategy
How to read briefs, pick the right problem, scope a project, and form a team that executes.
AI-Assisted Development
Practical workflows for using AI tooling to build faster without losing control of your codebase.
Shipping Under Constraints
The mindset and decision-making skills to cut scope intelligently and still deliver something impressive.
Demo & Pitch Skills
How to present your project clearly, handle live demo failures, and pitch in 3 minutes to a technical audience.
Project Structure for Hackathons
How to set up your codebase, divide work across a team, and maintain velocity from idea to submission.
What Judges Actually Look For
A clear-eyed breakdown of how hackathon projects get scored — and how to optimise for what matters most.
Course Curriculum
Module 1Hackathon Strategy
- •What makes a winning hackathon project — and what judges actually look for
- •Reading the brief: identifying the right problem to solve
- •Scope control: how to ship something real in 24–48 hours
- •Team formation, role allocation, and communication during a hack
- •Setting a definition of done before you start coding
Module 2The Vibe Build Mindset
- •AI-assisted development workflows designed for a hackathon context
- •Getting from idea to working demo in a single session
- •When to cut features, when to double down, and when to pivot
- •Working with APIs and external data you don't fully control
- •Avoiding scope creep and keeping momentum through blockers
Module 3Demo & Presentation
- •The anatomy of a strong hackathon demo
- •Live demo vs. recorded walkthrough — when to use each
- •How judges evaluate: problem clarity, feasibility, and execution
- •Pitching your project in 3 minutes
- •What to prepare when things go wrong mid-demo
Module 4Vibe Hack Projects
- •Working through the Vibe Hack 101 codebase
- •Reviewing previous hackathon project structures from SM Web Systems events
- •Live build session: ship a working project in under an hour
- •Lessons from real hackathon entries — what worked, what didn't
- •Q&A and next steps: applying what you learned in your next hack
Watch the Course
The full Vibe Hack 101 workshop playlist is embedded below. Watch here or open on YouTube.
Vibe Hack 101 — Learn How to Win Hackathons
Resources & Links
Events & Registration
Ready to win your next hackathon?
Watch the workshop series, clone the reference project, and register for the next live session on Luma.
Register on Luma