The first 36 hours
Econverse gives student teams problems from finance and technology partners, then 36 hours to propose a business and pitch it. Our challenge became Finance Flow, an app for learning about personal finance and investing.
We had to agree on the user, choose what the first version would teach and turn that into a prototype. We focused on practical choices and visible progress because both were easy to understand in a short demo.
Getting to the final
Finance Flow qualified for the national final at the European Financial Congress. Before the event, we tightened the product concept and simplified the pitch. In a few minutes, we needed to explain the problem, show how the app worked and make a case for building it further.
We finished third and received PLN 2,000. Just as importantly, we learned that a team moves much faster once everyone agrees on the problem, the scope and who owns each part.
What I took from it
A prototype does not need every planned feature. It needs one convincing path that people can see and understand. Finance Flow taught me to treat the prototype and the pitch as two parts of the same job.
I liked having to make product decisions, build under time pressure and present the result. That mix is one of the main reasons I keep returning to hackathons and early-stage projects.
Read about the Finance Flow product