My Experience in MarkHack 1.0
It was in February. I can't remember the exact date. I saw a link in a marketing community that I was in, "Digiclan." I clicked open the link, and it was about a hackathon where participants were expected to pitch ideas on how to use technology to advance marketing in Nigeria. It seemed interesting, especially when I saw that they expected ideas in Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality. Fields I loved so much.
I don't have a VR headset yet, so Virtual Reality wasn't an option, and I didn't know an AR designer to work with, so Augmented Reality was out of it. Artificial Intelligence seemed like the best option because I knew some professionals in the data space. But before I approached these people, I asked Nnamdi to join me in the contest, and he agreed.
Before I go on, let me gist you on how I met Nnamdi.
Meeting Nnamdi
Funny enough, I met Nnamdi in February too. It was in an i4G UNN meetup. They told us to network with ourselves for two minutes, and as a shy person, I didn't turn to talk to Nnamdi. Nnamdi started the conversation, and damn, we couldn't stop talking even past the two minutes. I poured all I did to Nnamdi. He was shocked that a small girl like me already knew about writing, marketing, UI/UX design, AR/VR, and Metaverse and currently exploring the field of Artificial Intelligence.
We connected more when I mentioned Artificial Intelligence because he was learning python programming and planning to go into the data science field. We exchanged numbers, and even though I failed to start a conversation with him, I didn't fail to send him a WhatsApp message first, and our discussion continued there.
My intention of bringing him into the contest was to be a data scientist in the team, but he told me that he wasn't that skilled then, so he said I should bring someone good at AI to join us, and I agreed with him.
Samuel was the data scientist et. AI engineer that joined us.
Meeting Samuel
I knew a data scientist, Mr. Elleil, but I knew he was a busy man, so I asked him to connect me to an AI engineer, and he connected me to Mr. Samuel. I messaged Samuel ASAP, and he agreed to join the team. We started deliberating on AI ideas, and we also talked about what other skills we needed. We needed a developer, and Samuel offered to bring in his brother, Solomon.
Bringing in Solomon
Solomon, Samuel's brother, joined us, and the team was complete. We had several meetings to brainstorm ideas, and we planned to get a disruptive idea. Still, it seemed somehow challenging to settle on one. A breakthrough happened when we attended the virtual launch event of MarkHack.
The MarkHack organizers brought speakers that gave insightful speeches. The CEO of Customer Data Platform, David Raab, emphasized having disruptive ideas. It was crucial to make one's business stand out amongst others. The event host had a chitchat with Mr. Kayode Oladapo, the Assistant Regional Manager of Nestle. He emphasized that companies know their customers' journeys before offering them their products. He used a story to buttress his point where he said he was on his way to the bar to relax with a drink when a lady offered him something else to buy on his way. He said he found it offensive because the lady didn't understand that what he wanted at that time was not her product but a cold drink.
And boom, the idea my team would work on started forming in my head. I got many insights from this chitchat. When I went back to my team to further discuss our idea, we finalized to come up with a product that would solve the pain points that Mr. Oladapo stated.
Then work started.
Working with the Team
In the guide of the MarkHack contest, it was stated that we could either pitch an idea, concept, or prototype. My team and I decided to pitch an idea because having a prototype would mean we would need to collect data by ourselves which would definitely take time. Hence, we started making a pitch deck for the first stage of the competition.
To make us succeed in the contest, I knew I had a lot of work to do as a team leader. One of them was to understand my team members to comfortably work together. I noticed that Mr. Solomon was a quiet man and only talked when I tagged him to a message. Lol. So I made a bold step to enter his DM to know him more.
We talked for a while, and I asked him questions like a detective. I noticed it made him uncomfortable with his responses, so I had to stop the conversation. I started replying to some of his Whatsapp status updates, and fortunately, sometimes, it would spark conversations. Through one of these conversations, I learned that Samuel and Solomon were twins. I couldn't contain my joy when I found out. This is the second time I am meeting a set of twins since I was born. Lol.
Gradually, Solomon started chatting in our WhatsApp group chat, and it might seem like a mere achievement, but to me, it's actually my most significant achievement in the team. Now, it seemed like everything was working out, and we were figuring things out while we were preparing for the first stage.
Preparing to Pitch in the First Stage
The pitch deck was ready and the team wanted me to be the one to pitch in the first stage. It was a virtual event and since we were not in one location, we decided to practice virtually too. These men drilllllled (the multiple “l” was intentional) me. At every presentation I made to them, there were paragraphs of corrections that they made. We practiced on three different days until they confirmed that the presentation was near perfect.
Presenting to the Selection Jurors
It was the first stage presentation day and I was so tense throughout the whole day. I rehearsed several times just to be sure that I got it right while I was waiting till 5pm, our fixed time to present.
It was 5pm and my team was called up to pitch.
I turned on my video on the zoom call, shared my screen to show them the presentation, and began my presentation. After I was done presenting, the judges were surprised and asked me if I played a recording for them or if I pitched it myself. When I stated that I pitched it myself, they commended me and I was really grateful to my team members for drilling me. They asked some questions and when we were done answering the questions, they told us to leave the call for the last team to go in.
Normally, my team members hailed me and commended me in our group chat. That’s one of the sweetest things you get when you have a team of all-boys(or men rather). There’s always this atmosphere of fun even in the midst of tension.
Seeing the Results
It took about five days for the results of the first stage to be out. Out of 100 teams, the top 10 were selected and yeeees(again the multiple “e” was intentional), my team was in this top 10. When the score sheet was released, my team got the highest score.
God knew how happy my team was and we started preparing for the grand finale.
The MarkHack organizers connected us with some mentors that were top achievers in their industries. Our assigned mentor was Mr. Joshua Chibueze, CMO and co-founder, of Piggyvest. When we were informed of this, it was like I was on cloud 9. I was going to meet the co-founder of one of the successful businesses in Nigeria.
Meeting Mr. Joshua of PiggyVest
It was the first day of meeting Mr. Joshua and we were to meet him on a zoom call. We joined the call and he asked us to pitch to him. He asked some questions to understand our idea further and he suggested some changes to make to our pitch. He asked us to make these changes and send the updated pitch deck before our next meeting with him. We did this and waited for the organizers to fix a date when we would meet with him for the second time.
The second meeting was fixed but it was impromptu and I was the only one available to represent my team. I joined the call and this time, I wanted to faint seeing that only Mr. Joshua and I were on the call. Lol. It’s not easy na. At some point, I was relaxed while talking to him and I said something that made him laugh. Proof that I am funny. Hehehe. Unfortunately, the meeting came to an end. I really wanted to stay in that heaven forever. Lol.
Traveling to Lagos
The grand finale was going to hold in Lagos and I really wanted to travel at least to see Mr. Joshua and snap and frame it ni. I made arrangements with my team member, Nnamdi, who also stayed in Enugu. We were going to travel to Lagos together. We sorted out our accommodation and headed to Lagos on Sunday, three days before the grand finale.
It was a very looooong (lol, you know the multiple “o” is intentional right?) journey and I hated it. I wished I had enough money to just travel by plane. My back broke and mended over and over again. After about 10 hours, we were in Lagos and two hours later, we were in Mr. Francis's house.
The next day, we prepared to meet Solomon and Samuel. They already lived in Lagos. We met them in Lagos and God, I wanted to faint again(don’t roll your eyes. It’s not easy to meet an AI god and a full-stack developer that is disguising as just a mobile developer). We rehearsed our pitch speech, snapped lots of pictures, and talked a whole lot.
The Grand-Finale
It was the D-day, May 18th. We all went to the venue together except Samuel though. He had work to do. When we arrived at the venue, Mr. Victor Afolabi was surprised at how early we were. We no dey carry last.
The place was really cold and I was shaking. I don’t know if fear contributed to this though. I was a bit tense. At some point, I started checking the names of our competitors on the internet and it seemed like all of them had already started operating somehow or was about to because I saw all the names of their product on the internet. I got paranoid and tried as much as I could to calm myself down.
The keynote speaker spoke on how it was important to know the foundations before moving up. I marveled at one thing he said though. He said he has sat at a round table of executives across Africa and realized that the growth of African companies is always in single figures(that is, less than 10%). I don’t really know what to make of this for now but if I were to have any company then surely one of my goals will be to break this record.
Mr. Victor Afoloabi also came up to speak and I was elated to listen to the great man who made up his mind to start MarkHack. Such a great thing to see. The way he called and appreciated men and women in high places showed me the relevance of connecting with people. His life was clear evidence.
We were the seventh team to pitch and I’m sure we stood out at how each of us in my team pitched consecutively. We had this bond that immediately after I concluded our pitch, I got lost and came down from the stand to join my team, unlike other teams where the person that pitched would stay on the stand to receive questions. They asked us one question and we answered and went back to our seats.
The Result
It was time for the results to be called out and my heart was beating really fast. They called the team that got the fifth position. And then they called the team that got the fourth position, that was us.
I won’t lie, I wasn’t happy at first because I really wanted to be in the top three but then there’s this thing about having team members that are always cheerful. With excitement, they snapped pictures and also forced me to snap pictures(P.S. I’m not a picture person). When we were in the Uber car that will take us home, they talked to me and made me see reasons why I should be happy. $2000 no be beans. And what about the experience, it was really worthwhile.
I wouldn’t have met my team members if I didn’t participate in this MarkHack contest.
My Achievements
I was pouring my heart into my WhatsApp status updates and I felt this rush of excitement in me. I have never accomplished so much in a short while. Let me take you through some of these achievements.
- I got to make Solomon talk (greatest achievement)
- Traveled to Lagos for the first time since I was 3
- Got to work with an AI god, Samuel
- I’m $500 richer
- Got on a zoom call with Mr. Joshua of Piggyvest
- Bonded with Nnamdi really well
- Met Samuel and Solomon
- Met with the CEO of Insecta Studios. He wanted me to take him through my experience as the team leader of my team
- I got to see the Special advisor to technology in Lagos State. I’m still angry with myself that I didn’t make the move to connect with him
- My mommy allowed me to travel before graduating. It’s not easy na
- Saw myself as a capable product manager. In Samuel’s words, “Junior staff will hate you because you will disturb them but CEOs will love you because you love getting things done.”
- Spoke for the first time before a crowd without fretting(that was in the finals). I guess it’s because my teammates build my morale well. I couldn’t find my normal shaky legs and shaky voice.
- Got to work with a team of boys(or men rather)
- Currently working as an AI product manager in Samuel’s startup.
Wowed at how much I was able to achieve? I’m as wowed as you. I’m so damn happy that I was able to participate in this contest. There’s surely more to come.
So tell me, how do you feel about my experience? Are you planning to participate in a hackathon and need some tips? You can drop them in the comment section.
Know that I’m rooting for you always!
