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Key Insights from the WCHL 2025 National Round: Judges’ Takeaways

As the nationwide spherical of the World Computer Hacker League (WCHL) 2025, a world hackathon initiative led by the ICP HUBS Network, concluded, a particular session was held the place judges supplied invaluable recommendation and candid suggestions to the taking part groups.

Judges

The judging panel introduced a various vary of experience from varied sectors:

  • Clement Chaikov – Head of Events and Community at DFINITY
  • Alevtina Labyuk – Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer at BeInCrypto
  • Michael Graham – Founder of Web3 Growth Hub
  • Blake Lezenski – VogueTech VC
  • Cris Le – CEO & Co-Founder at Twendee Labs
  • Dan Hibell – Web3/Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, AI and Tech Angel
  • Costanza Bianchi – Central Bank of Argentina
  • João Victor – Head of search engine marketing at Boletim Bitcoin

Project Quality: Beyond Complexity

This 12 months’s competitors noticed a major improve in the variety of purposes, with a notable enchancment in total high quality. Clement Chaikov highlighted the scale and relevance of the occasion, noting: “We’ve obtained 11,000 participation, which is nice as a result of there are over 1,000 submissions. The stickiness of participation is powerful, which mainly results in the conclusion that this was related.”

However, the judges unanimously agreed that complexity will not be the key metric for fulfillment. Alevtina Labyuk emphasised that the most promising initiatives are people who exhibit foresight and problem-solving: “We are on the lookout for those that are attempting to unravel the issues of tomorrow, who perceive the tendencies, and who can construct options that can outline the narrative in 3-5 years.”

The successful groups weren’t essentially the ones with the most intricate technical stacks however those that introduced a usable answer with the potential to scale and evolve past the hackathon.

What Judges Expect: Usability, Clarity, and Commitment

Judges are on the lookout for a mix of originality and dedication. While progressive concepts are essential, they wish to see that groups are genuinely dedicated to persevering with their work lengthy after the occasion. A challenge’s largest asset is its potential to maneuver from a hackathon prototype right into a viable market product. It’s the tangible proof of sustained effort and a long-term imaginative and prescient that actually units a staff aside.

Advice for Teams: Community is King

A recurring piece of recommendation from the judges centered on a typical misstep amongst builders: an overemphasis on product growth at the expense of group constructing. Michael Graham highlighted this completely: “The traditional mistake I see rather a lot is that builders and founders spend all of their cash, all of their sources, and all of their vitality on constructing the product. They really feel that they’ve the greatest product, however then nobody is aware of about it.”

Building a robust group and a vibrant consumer base is simply as essential as the product itself. A unbelievable product received’t succeed if there’s nobody to make use of it or champion it.

Judges identified that many groups dilute their message by making an attempt to cowl an excessive amount of of their shows. The simplest demos are people who get straight to the level: what actual drawback does your challenge remedy? Investors and companions worth readability above all else. A challenge that solves a real, urgent challenge is what finally opens doorways to collaboration and funding.

Hype vs. Reality: Building What People Want

Blake Lezenski challenged groups to look past fleeting tendencies and “echo chambers.” He posed a essential query: “Are we constructing one thing folks need, or are we simply following a distinct segment?” The Most worthy initiatives are people who deal with basic and systemic points, resembling web infrastructure, belief, content material authenticity, or challenges introduced on by AI. He particularly famous the challenge of AI-generated content material flooding the digital house: “…AI generates infinite content material a lot simpler than people, however we will not belief what we see. Discovery turns into polluted, and so does the database of these AI fashions.” This makes Web3 instruments that may validate and defend mental property significantly related and promising.

Beyond the code and the metrics, storytelling proved to be a key differentiator. The judges harassed {that a} compelling narrative can usually outweigh sheer technical complexity. It’s not sufficient to depend on buzzwords and information factors; groups should be capable of clarify why their challenge issues and why they’re the proper folks to ship on that imaginative and prescient.

Balancing Vision and Execution

The greatest initiatives discover a delicate steadiness between daring imaginative and prescient and stable execution. As Cris Le acknowledged, “… a few of the largest improvements come from groups who dare to experiment…” While the judges recognize daring new concepts, they finally favor a robust, useful Minimum Viable Product (MVP). A major crimson flag is when groups get misplaced in the technical weeds and fail to obviously articulate the drawback they’re fixing and the advantages their answer supplies to customers.

The publish Key Insights from the WCHL 2025 National Round: Judges’ Takeaways appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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