3-Minute Hackathon Pitch Deck Template From a Repeat Hackathon Winner

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GenAI engineer and three-time hackathon winner Pranjul Rathour has shared a structured pitch deck template designed to fit within a three-minute hackathon presentation slot. The template draws on his own contrasting experiences, including a winning pitch at CSJMU's Product Genesis and a losing one at STROT, concluding that opening impact matters more than the idea itself. His framework prioritizes slides covering the human problem, a live demo, a simple technical diagram, and an honesty slide about trade-offs made during development. Rathour advises teams to rehearse until they finish at two minutes and forty seconds to account for real-venue delays, and recommends splitting speaking roles so one person narrates while another handles the demo. He also lists common pitch pitfalls to avoid, such as market-size slides citing unread reports, overly complex architecture diagrams, and generic opening phrases.

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