Build for Earth Learnings – How to Make a Startup a Success Fast

In this chapter, we will summarize the takeaways from Build for Earth winners. We will distill a handful of key ingredients that are imperative for the success of hackathon winners for solutions that come from hackathons and make the journey into a thriving start-up. We will share the start-up journeys of three winners from our hackathons and solutions that are now on the market: RecyBlock, Coronafree, and BrightAct.

In this chapter, we will cover the following main topics:

• General takeaways of successful hackathon winners
• Recy-Block, winner of Hack for Earth at Expo 2020 – example 1
• BrightAct, the winner of Hack the Crisis Sweden and EUvsVirus in 2020 – example 2
• Coronafree, the winner of Hack the Crisis Sweden in 2020 – example 3
• Key factors for the success of hackathon winners

The general takeaways shared in this chapter from hackathon winners include insights...

General takeaways from successful hackathon winners

Making great ideas come to life is no easy task. That is why not all people do it.

On our way from working with Hack for Sweden, via Hack the Crisis, EuvsVirus, and Hack for Earth, we have learned a lot of hard lessons together with our winning solutions and made these learnings part of our strengths. In this chapter, we will summarize these takeaways with you so that you can cut to the chase, so to speak, and get right to what works instantly without having to make all the hard lessons we did. This will hopefully save you both time and money on your journey to making your hackathon winners a reality.

We will also share three real-world examples of hackathon winners who are now registered companies and have their tools on the market. Finally, we will share the key factors of hackathon winners’ success, summarized and distilled from our work with hackathon winners from 2018 until 2024.

The crux of making a solution...

Key factors for the success of hackathon winners

Throughout our journey of working with hackathon winners, it has become abundantly clear that certain factors significantly amplify their chances of transforming a winning concept into a thriving start-up. The process of evolving from an award-winning idea at a hackathon to establishing a successful enterprise is intricate and fraught with potential pitfalls. It demands a keen comprehension of pivotal elements that can either catalyze success or precipitate failure. In the following detailed exploration, we draw upon our wealth of experiences, including the accounts of the four illustrative examples previously mentioned, to delve into these crucial components that have repeatedly proven to be instrumental in the success of these emerging businesses.

Grit, resilience, and relevant competence

Success post-hackathon is far from guaranteed, even for the most ingenious ideas. It demands a mix of unwavering commitment and a strong ability...

Key takeaways

These insights, borne out of our extensive experience with hackathon winners, are not exhaustive but serve as a guide to those embarking on the journey of transforming a hackathon solution into a thriving startup. Each start-up’s journey will be unique, but these elements are the common denominators in the stories that we have had the opportunity to follow in our work with making great ideas come to life – the three mentioned here and the rest of the solutions that have emerged as winners from our hackathons from 2018-2024.

Embarking on the transformative path from a hackathon victor to a thriving start-up is a journey rife with learning curves and insights. While the experiences shared here, drawn from our extensive history of working alongside hackathon winners, are not all-encompassing, they provide a blueprint for aspirants on a similar quest. The trajectory of each start-up is inherently distinct, marked by its unique challenges and milestones. Yet...

Summary

This chapter offers an in-depth exploration of the complex, often arduous paths that three hackathon-winning teams have traveled to bring their innovative solutions to the marketplace. By delving into these real-world examples, we’ve extracted crucial lessons and chronicled the sometimes-daunting odysseys these trailblazers endured to breathe life into their creations. These narratives are not just stories of success but are also profound learning experiences that encapsulate the essence of entrepreneurial tenacity and resilience.

The collective wisdom drawn from the three case studies and our rich experience in fostering hackathon winners’ growth is now distilled into a comprehensive blueprint. This blueprint provides a set of strategic dos and don’ts, offering a valuable toolkit for others aspiring to replicate such success. It’s a roadmap designed to help bypass common pitfalls and steer directly towards strategies proven to work, enabling...