What a Weekend Hackathon Taught Me About Building Tech That Matters

It All Started with a Pitch

Founder of CircleUp and M4BW, Colin Cochran shared an idea for a simple ordering system for food banks as a way for users to request what they actually need, rather than relying on generic food hampers.

The idea struck me immediately: it was practical, compassionate, purpose-driven, and full of potential to make real-world impact. So I joined his team as did many others. We were all-in on the idea. But then things got interesting…

As we dove deeper and interviewed mentors, volunteers, and service workers at the food bank, the truth hit us like a freight train: our actual customers weren’t people in need but the food bank itself.

As it turned out, the real problem wasn’t alleviating access to the food bank, but the entire system itself. They struggled with waste management and logistical inefficiencies. It was a constant grind to match supply with unpredictable and uneven demand. What they needed wasn’t just a digital UX/UI overhaul but an operational (digital) transformation.

So we pivoted.

By the end of the weekend, we had evolved from a consumer-facing ordering app into a platform for food banks themselves designed to optimize food distribution, minimize waste, and deliver a dignified experience for all.

3 Radical Lessons Learned

01
Fall in Love with the Problem, not the Product

We initially zeroed in on features designed to enhance the overall digital experience including a better user interface and enhanced user flow. However, Craig Elias, our Startup Mentor and Pitch Coach, reminded us to “fall in love with the problem, not the idea.”

Those words resonated deeply with our group. From that moment on, we tried reframing the problem and began asking different questions entirely. Instead of ‘what should we build?’, we asked ‘why does this problem even exist in the first place?’

The next time you find yourself in a similar situation when facing a project dilemma, try the ‘five whys’ exercise.

It’s a problem-solving technique used to identify the root cause of an issue by repeatedly asking ‘why?’ five times. It starts with a problem statement and each answer becomes the basis for the next ‘why?’ until the underlying cause is uncovered. This iterative process helps to peel away symptoms to find the fundamental reason a problem occurred and discover for more effective solutions. I now do this before I ever write a single line of code.

02
Ship Fast, Learn Faster

When you only have 54 hours to develop a working solution, you do not have the luxury of overbuilding. Perfection is not an option. When faced with time constraints, you’re forced to prioritize ruthlessly to decide what truly matters and ship it, fast.

We cut features that didn’t move the needle and doubled down on a single, high-impact workflow that could validate, test, and iterate on based on continuous feedback loops.

This ship fast, learn faster mindset is something we live and breath every day at Punchcard. It’s actually one of our core values we live by to show up, take risks, and ship it. Remember that constraints don’t limit creativity, they sharpen it.

03
Diversity is a Superpower (If You Let It Be)

Similar to our team at Punchcard Systems, our project team was made up of software developers, UX/UI designers, product managers, business development representatives, operations managers, and even a social worker.

Our diversity in background, perspective, and expertise became our competitive edge. And the end result? A digital product that was not just technically sound, but an emotionally intelligent combination of diverse viewpoints and unique ideas.

Diverse teams don’t slow you down. They make your ideas anti-fragile. And together we built a product that calculated that even the smallest improvement in logistical efficiency could mean the food bank could deliver hundreds of additional meals to people in need. That’s real impact.

From Hackathon to Habit

In a lot of ways, my experience at Techstars Startup Weekend felt just like another week working at Punchcard Systems. It reflected a culture where innovation isn’t accidental but intentional.

Our approach to building meaningful technology mirrors the lessons learned at this year’s hackathon: 

• User-First Design: Start with empathy to understand the humanity of tech before writing code. 
• Lean Product Development: Build small, launch ugly, learn fast, and iterate continuously. 
• Meaningful Impact: Measure success not just by outputs, but by outcomes. 

A minimum viable product (MVP) isn’t a tiny version of a big idea, it’s the fastest way to learn what truly matters. The hackathon reminded me why I love building software: to help solve problems that matter to people who care.