Live Updates from the Trenches: Building at the World's Largest Hackathon

Hi, and welcome to The Atomic Builder!

I'm writing this at 2:47 AM having downed my third mango lassi of the night, with only a debugging problem for company, making me question my life choices.

Am I finally out of my depth? Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

Let me explain where I am and why you should care.

I'm competing in Bolt.new's "World's Largest Hackathon" - 100,000+ hackers from 75+ countries are building software throughout the entire month of June, competing for $1M+ in prizes.

This isn't your weekend pizza-and-energy-drinks hackathon. This is "FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, ANYONE CAN BUILD SOFTWARE" - thanks to AI coding tools that enable non-programmers to ship real products.

My mission: Build an AI voice powered learning tool that helps people remember what they study (and makes learning fun!).

I have no idea if this will work.

Today I’ll share my progress as well as a few tips you may benefit from.

The Idea That Struck at 1 AM

I’m fascinated by the intersection of AI & voice technology. So, a few days ago, I was researching ideas of things I could build to solve real world problems for the hackathon (using audio) and had a thought…

Enter memory palaces. Memory palaces are ancient techniques where you place information in familiar spatial locations, then mentally walk through them to recall everything. Memory athletes use them to memorize decks of cards in under 30 seconds…

But here's the problem: building effective memory palaces for normal people is hard. You need to:

• Choose the right location for your content type

• Create logical room-to-information associations

• Visualize memorable scenes that actually stick

The AI breakthrough: What if AI analyzed your study content, such as "Olfactory Nerve - Sense of smell" and immediately suggested "ENT Department in a Medical Center" instead of forcing medical students to memorize anatomy in their random bedroom?

Content-first, not location-first. Intelligent audio spatial learning. Introducing the app I’m building, SpatiaLearn…

Hackathon Survival Tactics

Before I share some of the experience building the app, running a month-long hackathon while managing life and actual work isn’t easy. A few tips:

Tactic #1: The Life is too Short Rule

Life too short to work 24 hours a day. I’m dedicated to building something amazing, but balance in a month long sprint is key!!

Tactic #2: The "Demo or Die" Mindset

Every feature I start must have a valid benefit and be demo-ready within 2 days max. If it doesn't work or the current state of AI can’t handle building it, it’s out.

Tactic #3: The Crisis Protocol

When your API calls break (and they will), you have exactly 1 hour to fix them before switching to Plan B. I learned this at 3 AM when my OpenAI integration died and I nearly threw my laptop across the street.

Tactic #4: The "Working Prototype" goal

A ugly-but-functional demo beats a beautiful broken interface 100% of the time. Polish is for products, not hackathons.

The Technical Rollercoaster (So Far)

While I’ve been building this and other things, the more you vibe code, the more you’ll realise how inherently technical the process can be.

Yes…you can get an AI to write code using natural language. I’m progressively unearthing how much more there is to it. Don’t shoot the messenger, please (and also don’t let that put you off).

This is a slightly dramatised version of how the early days in this hackathon have unfolded…

Monday: "This will be easy! Just connect OpenAI to a landing page!"

Tuesday: Authentication errors from hell. Spent 6 hours fighting browser security.

Wednesday: Breakthrough! AI successfully analyzed medical content and suggested "Anatomy Hospital."

Thursday: Spatial audio integration. My daughter thinks I'm talking to myself.

The most frustrating part? Every win comes with three new problems.

Fixed the authentication issues with Supabase Edge Functions? Great! Now the AI creates random room assignments that make no sense.

Enhanced the AI prompts to create logical associations? Excellent! Now the spatial audio positioning sounds broken.

What I'm Learning About AI Product Development, building this app

Three days in, some patterns are emerging:

1. AI Needs Constraints to Be Creative

Generic prompts produce generic results. The magic happens when you give AI specific rules: "Create visual mnemonics with sensory details that link room characteristics to information content."

2. The Demo Moment is Everything

In traditional products, you can explain complex value. In hackathons, you have 30 seconds to make someone go "Holy s**t, how did it know that?"

3. Ancient Wisdom + Modern Tech = Unfair Advantage

While everyone else builds "ChatGPT for X (i know that’s harsh…)," I'm combining 2,500-year-old memory techniques with cutting-edge AI. Differentiation through historical depth? Don’t know. Maybe?

Look for your unfair advantage as you build stuff…

Where I am with the app - The Moment Everything Clicked

Yesterday at 4:17 PM, I entered cranial nerve anatomy (sexy…) that a med student might need to memorise, into my prototype and watched the magic happen:

I stared at my screen for thirty seconds…(mostly afraid to break what I had built).

The AI understood context. It wasn't just assigning content randomly - it was thinking about logical medical specializations. Smell-related nerves belong in ENT departments, not random kitchens.

For the first time in three days, I felt like I might actually have something revolutionary.

Next Week's Battles

The clock is ticking ⏱️…

The hackathon deadline and the end of June is rapidly approaching.

Here's what I'm fighting for in the next 7 days:

Technical:

• Add vivid visual descriptions to room assignments, to help make them more memorable

• Get spatial audio positioning smooth enough for mobile demos, i want it to feel like you’re in different rooms…

Product:

• Create the "holy grail" demo moment that makes judges' jaws drop

• Build a practice and test mode with AI coach narration, using ElevenLabs for realistic actual sounding audio and multiple voices

Strategic:

• Document every breakthrough for judges (and you)

• Figure out how to scale this beyond a hackathon prototype

Oh, and, one other thing…prepare for the moment when everything breaks during demo day… 🫠 

Why You Should Care (Even If You're Not Building Apps)

This experiment is teaching me something bigger about AI product development:

The best AI products don't just automate existing processes - they reveal intelligent connections we may never have thought to make.

My app isn't just "memory palace builder (powered by AI)." It's "AI that analyzes your content and suggests the perfect learning environment you didn't know you needed."

That pattern applies everywhere:

• Fitness apps: AI analyzes your goals and suggests optimal workout environments

• Recipe platforms: AI recommends cooking techniques based on available ingredients and skill level

• Learning tools: AI creates study environments matched to subject matter and learning style

If you want to think about what I’m doing with SpatiaLearn, in terms of a learning framework, this is how I think about it:

Final Thoughts

I plan to share the app with you, after I submit it - IF I can get it to a ‘good enough’ state. Watch this space and wish me luck…

Forward this if you know someone crazy enough to build products under extreme time pressure. They'll need the tactical insights.

Reply with your most brutal hackathon debugging story. I need to know I'm not alone in this digital rabbit hole.

Until next time, keep experimenting, keep building, and as always - stay atomic. 👊

From the trenches,

Faisal

P.S. - If you don't hear from me next week, assume one of the below:

• A) I've been consumed by a multitude of errors

• B) I’ve succumbed the urge to launch my laptop across the street

• C) I’m brushing up on maths to configure spatial audio positioning calculations

This Week’s Build Beats 🎵

Each issue, we pair the newsletter with a track to keep you inspired while you build.

This week, just like Pink Floyd questioned traditional education, my SpatiaLearn app asks: Why memorize facts when you can live them…?

🎧 “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” – Pink Floyd

Grab the playlist on Spotify - I add to it each week!