---
id: hackathon-winners
title: "MCP Hackathon Winners — Pattern Analysis"
type: research
status: active
owner: ivan
created: 2026-02-19
updated: 2026-02-19
tags: [hackathon, research, yc, winners]
---
# MCP Hackathon Winners — Pattern Analysis
## Known MCP Hackathon Winners
### World's Biggest MCP Hackathon (May 2025, YC HQ)
Hosted by Greptile/Gumloop/Mintlify, 235 participants, invite-only, build-from-scratch in 1 day.
- **1st Place** (MacBook Airs): **Observee** — MCP observability/monitoring stack (real-time tracing for agents/tools)
- **Most Revenue** (during hackathon): **Rizz MCP** — Monetized via Tinder-like swipes ($70 quick revenue)
- Other prizes: YC interview ("Most Likely to be a YC Startup"), delightful UX (Vercel)
- Judges: YC/Gustaf, Vercel, Anthropic
### Pendo MCP Hackathon (early 2026)
- **1st**: **Finn, the product usage agent** (Michelle Green @ Cohley) — Morning report agent pulling Pendo usage + Snowflake/Guru/Planhat/Google Drive via MCP/Claude
- **2nd**: **Persona Pulse, design critique agent** — Integrates Pendo behavioral data + Figma MCP for data-grounded design feedback
- **3rd**: **Customer health dashboard** — Real-time health scores (0-100), risk categories from Pendo events
- **Most Creative**: **Yuki's Magic Lamp** — Astrology-themed personalized usage reports (24% guide usage, 3x feature toggles)
### CoinGecko MCP Hackathon (2025, 10 winners)
- **Most Innovative**: **Ask Siri About Crypto** — Voice-activated live market queries
- **Most Useful**: **Crypto Trading Simulator** — Virtual $1K portfolio with real-time MCP prices
- **Community Love**: **GeckoPilot** — Conversational AI analyst
### Other Events
- **Gradio Agents & MCP** (Jun 2025, 630+ submissions): Winners include Geo Calculator MCP, Modern Multiplayer RPG with MCP
- **Astrolescent MCP**: Winner **Claudio** (Radix crypto assistant); Runner-up ASTRL Portfolio Optimizer
- **MariaDB AI RAG**: Integration track winner — MariaDB MCP Server
## Common Patterns in Winning Projects
### Complexity
- Scoped, focused MVPs (1-3 core MCP integrations/tools)
- Agentic (LLM orchestrates data/RAG/actions) but not over-scoped
- Heavy on real external data/APIs vs pure mocks
- Technical depth in secure/reliable MCP servers
- Always demoable in <24-48h
### Polish
- High — clean web dashboards (Next.js/Vercel), conversational UIs
- Visualizations (weather metaphors, animated flows, health scores, astrology reports)
- Chrome extensions, Gradio apps
- Deployed live, professional aesthetics
- "Delightful UX" is an explicit prize category in multiple events
### Narrative
- Strong "pain → solution → impact" story
- Real-world problems solved autonomously/actionably
- Often with metrics (adoption %, time saved, health scores) or "aha" moments
- Make it relatable to judges' worlds
**Winners ship functional agents/tools with real MCP data flows wrapped in polished, story-driven interfaces. Rough but deep tech rarely wins over scoped + impressive demo.**
## What Judges Typically Value
| Factor | Weight | Notes |
| ---------------------------- | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Novelty/Creative MCP use** | High | New domains (voice, viz, games, critiques) + usefulness |
| **Technical execution** | High | Working, robust integrations. Live data > mock for credibility |
| **Business viability** | High | Scalable ideas, revenue signals, "YC-fit" |
| **Demo/UX/polish** | **Highest** | Clear, smooth, engaging. "Delightful" trumps raw complexity |
General consensus: **Working prototype > half-baked ambitious idea. Polish + narrative often edges out pure tech depth. Live/real data shines for authenticity.**
## Jon Xu (Confirmed Judge)
- **Background**: YC General Partner. Co-founder/CTO of FutureAdvisor (YC S10 robo-advisor; acquired by BlackRock 2015). Led product/eng for consumer fintech + enterprise B2B in regulated industries. MIT EECS.
- **What he values**: Practical execution, founder momentum, clear value in demos, scalable "world-defining" ideas with traction signals. Demo Days emphasis: rapid progress, operational excellence.
- **For MCP/hackathon**: Likely favors YC-viable builds (business potential + polish) + engineering quality (reliable agents/servers). Fintech bg → appreciates data trust, actionable insights, B2B/regulated use cases.
## Demo Techniques That Land
1. **Live data wins big** — Real-time integrations build credibility and "wow." Hybrid (live core + graceful mock fallback) is common in top entries.
2. **Tight narrative arc** — "Here's the pain" → quick core demo → impact with metrics. Make it relatable.
3. **1-3 min focused** — Nail 1-2 killer features. Rehearse for error-free flow. Video backup if live is risky.
4. **Interactive where possible** — Let judges test the dashboard/agent.
5. **Deployed URL** — End-to-end flow; "aha" moments; quantifiable outcomes.
## Calibration for DealPulse
Optimize for **polished interactive dashboard/agent** with strong MCP-powered real data flows. Prioritize reliable, delightful UX + compelling narrative. Since Jon Xu judges + YC prize, lean YC-polish + viability.
**Ship what you'd proudly show in a YC interview.**
Sources: Devpost, official announcements, LinkedIn/TikTok recaps from MCP hackathons 2025-2026.
