Competition Wisdom

1. Decide on idea beforehand.

2. Finish beforehand. Most who wins do that, as long as there is internet access. Chances are, you are average in skill and so cannot expect to hold a significant advantage over your competition. On the other hand, the best presenter, development team can only do so much in the short time frame. In fact, the best techniques often have to be ditched to save time.

3. Nothing beats pen and paper. iPad Pro comes close but costly.

4. Have a small but dedicated team. Most people are not actually going to be able to manage more than 6 people who don't want to be managed.

5. Persistence pays off. If you have a great, well thought-out idea others cannot rationally beat, you should press it.

6. Hackathons are mostly pitch-athons. The reality is that people judge books by their covers, because they do not have the time to go through it all.

7. Competition is a sin. The best chance remains to try something new.

8. People need to talk to each other. (Duh)

9. People need to communicate directly, or it doesn't help.