Overview
Gia, a college student who achieved remarkable success by winning 21 hackathons with a 70% win rate, shares her journey from finance major to hackathon champion and startup founder. She demonstrates how to balance academics, hackathons, and content creation while maintaining a 3.5+ GPA and growing to 50K social media followers.
Main Topics Covered
- Hackathon strategy and winning techniques
- Time management and balancing multiple priorities
- Building agency and taking initiative
- Personal branding and content creation
- Starting a company while in college
- Networking and relationship building
- College vs. alternative paths
- Team building and collaboration
Key Takeaways & Insights
- Hackathons aren't just about technical complexity - judges are often non-technical and care more about solving real problems than impressive tech stacks
- Network matters more than most students realize - connections can dramatically change career trajectories
- Agency is a learnable skill - taking initiative without permission becomes easier with practice
- Content creation provides leverage - short-form content can amplify opportunities with minimal time investment
- Environment placement is crucial - being physically present in the right spaces (office hours, Silicon Valley) accelerates success
- Balance is achievable through efficiency - time blocking and focusing on high-impact activities enables managing multiple priorities
Actionable Strategies
- For hackathons: Come with pre-researched ideas, connect front-end and back-end early, focus on working demos over technical explanations
- Team building: Evaluate teammates based on GitHub activity and passion rather than credentials
- Time management: Use time blocking, complete homework before hackathons, create short-form content efficiently
- Personal branding: Make projects public, get off localhost, post on GitHub and social media
- Networking: Attend events in person, leverage office hours, build supportive relationships before needing them
- Agency development: Say yes to opportunities that bring connection or learning, especially early in college
Specific Details & Examples
- Maintained 3.5+ engineering GPA while attending 15 hackathons and growing to 50K followers in one semester
- Won first hackathon prize of $3,000 after secretly driving to Ohio
- Built VR transcription glasses using Arduino, OLED screens, and Whisper AI in 9 hours
- Raised angel investment at a hot pot event, leading to additional funding through viral content
- Reached five figures MRR with startup sprint.dev after landing 7 YC companies and 50 other clients
Warnings & Common Mistakes
- Don't divide hackathon teams into separate front-end/back-end groups - integrate early
- Avoid explaining technical stack details to judges - focus on demos and real-world impact
- Don't aim for infinite hackathons - 3-5 provides diminishing returns
- Avoid burning out when starting companies - take breaks despite pressure to keep pushing
- Don't drop out of college without clear win conditions (technical skills, network, funding ability)
Resources & Next Steps
- sprint.dev - Gia's startup for easier hackathon entry with free tools and API credits
- Focus on building projects that people actually want to use
- Attend hackathons in person for networking and learning opportunities
- Consider transferring to schools in better environments (like California for tech)
- Develop personal brand through consistent, short-form content creation
- Build supportive network before needing it for major decisions