 Winning smart India hackathon is an accomplishment that requires careful planning, teamwork, innovation and dedication. SIH is one of the largest hackathons in the world, organized by the Government of India, to encourage young minds to work on innovative solutions to real-world problems. What all you can do to increase your chances of winning? Let's hear it out from the past winners. Today we have with us is Gamillil to share his experience. Welcome Gamillil to this show. Hi sir, it's a pleasure to be a part of it. So we are indeed excited to have you here on the show so that you can share your experiences in the past editions and our future aspirants can make use of all that. So Gamillil, to begin with, please let us know about the problem that you worked upon in the edition that you won. Yeah, so we won the smart India hackathon 2022 edition which is the one which is the last year. So we selected a problem statement which was given by the DRDO, the Ministry of Defence, which is basically an alternative system for OTP because they mentioned that there is a problem with OTP in low network zones and they need an alternative system that could replace OTP in the near future and that was the problem statement which we had selected. Okay so that problem actually you know it's pretty genuine and even we have felt sometimes when we are like in areas which are like a bit interior. So how did you plan to you know go about solving this or in fact before that what kind of a team did you put up and how you all got together let's talk about your team first. I can divide it into two phases. The team before the finale, the team after the finale. Because the initial team which we had formed was not the team which won the smart India hackathon. So first we had formed a team to be honest I formed it with my friends considering that with different various skill sets seeing that one is a web developer, one is an app developer because we knew that the team formation is most crucial for selecting a problem statement. So we put our best into it and as per the SH guidelines at least one girl need to be in the team and so we selected two girls from our team that too based on the skill set. So we were able to form a formidable six member team that is in the initial stage and going through it when we talk about the problem statement and how we got it selected and the problem when what we faced was when we got after the results. So after getting the results I think it was around 20 days before the hackathon we got about the nodal center details and all. So three members three boys they stepped back stating some reasons that they won't be able to partake and that was the time which we thought that it was all to quit because we had only three members in our team but I don't know how we got the next day. So we got a mail from smart India hackathon stating that we can replace with three new members that is the time we had for juniors because we had just one day time. So we filtered out a new team again and with that team we had to reconstruct the entire project again and that's how we got into the finale itself. This is all behind the team formation. This is really commendable you know working it out at the very last moment reconstituting a team is not a not a small time job. So congratulations on that you were able to do that. So now coming to the team itself the finally which you were able to form so how did you manage that particular team or the division of work and strategizing you know all that stuff. Can you throw some light on that? So how we planned is I actually split up the entire product because initially we made a lot of plans and strategies of how we are going to deploy the product the technical stack we split up everything into milestones like in the first phase we are going to complete this part of the development in this phase we are going to complete this part one will be working on the market and research and this always split up the team and going forward in the with the new team also we continue the same strategy. So I split up works to each of them and especially when it comes to the 36 hour hackathon I give time frames because time frame is very crucial in this point. So based on that we filtered out all the possibilities for completing the product and the plan worked out well and my team gave the best and that is the reason which we were able to construct the whole product. So I mean good team management yeah. Okay now tell us about the preparation that you did up around the problem itself the OTP issue that you were about you know about to resolve so how did you manage to you know deal with that any research or any any thought or any planning that went behind that. Yeah so first initially when selecting the problem statement we didn't finalize this problem statement initially. So what I did was I told my team to shortlist three problem statements from the portal because there are a lot of problem statements. So I structured it in a way for a proper team interest. So each of the team members selected three different problem statements then we had a group discussion and discussed the top five problem statements from there. From that we researched for each and every of the product and that this OTP project seemed something unique and something that is having a social value and then we started working out on what are all the possibilities that we can do and we first initially devised a system which is basically a QR authentication and we considered that we will be using an SMS based system for the people who are having buttonfalls and we focused more on the security and I believed that when we studied about OTP alternative and stuffs that are existing when an OTP gets delayed from up to five to ten minutes a hacker can easily breach into it and we were able to try it on our own and to overcome all that we started using different types of technologies built our own custom algorithm for phasing it and this was what we had planned before the finale this QR based alternative but after getting into the finale in the first ideation pitch itself the question which our judges asked was that QR based thing is something which already exists we need something that is dominated for an offline mode of authentication and stuff so our initial idea got completely trashed there because then we had to figure out a new idea in the first to twenty hours of the hackathon we started brainstorming everywhere and alternative and stuff we couldn't get anything and hopes were dying out there but all of a sudden we got a spark of an idea in the twentieth hour I guess and we didn't rush up that moment as well so for up to three to four hours after that we started doing the brainstorming and stuff and that time the team management the planning was very crucial because we just had around twelve to thirteen hours for completing the product and the new idea as well so we laid out the plan we set up the idea and we were able to complete it just one hour before the thirty six hour hackathon and that's how our demo went and getting into what was our solution it is basically called us USSD and hopefully you will be aware in the olden button phones we have a system where we can get this balance details and stuff with our code that is star99 hash or something you put you will be getting the output and stuff and we got a spark of an idea of can we do anything with that and when we analyzed and market research we saw that in India only government organizations can get access to USSD so we had no other option rather than building our own service provider so we were able to build our own server as a service provider like an alternative for GEO and we were able to simulate it and however system will work is that when you go to a website normally you fill all your details and put a verify OTP thing here here when you click on verify you will be getting USSD code something like star99 hash or something like that you need to take that code and call from your mobile number and automatically if it is valid based on the authentication which is stored in the database and our structure you will automatically get logged in to your website and this works even in airplane mode this is our final solution to the problem okay something very interesting which you know kind of struck me when you said that your first 20 hours or kind of a wash out so just going back to that phase was there any lack of planning or was there like no strategy with you guys you know when you went into that 36 hour period so did you think of you know how you are going to structure those 36 hours so why did that happen that 20 hours got really with no result what we planned was our system we had a proper planning of how we are going to complete it with respect to the QR project which we said so the first round happened at around 6 hours so we had a proper planning on what we are going to pitch our architecture and stuff the moment when the judges said that this is not what we are expecting that's when things strike back and okay we had a backup plan okay it's not that whatever we do it's going to be 100% perfect and that's what we were unable to hunt for a new idea that was the problem there because the initial idea was trashed back and nearly all the fight teams which are shortlisted for the finals had the same idea that was the problem there even and so that's what the judges told to revamp the entire idea and this idea won't be something that is worth it and hunting for the new idea took the 20 hours that is the thing here so it's not that we didn't have a proper plan there that is the reason we got the idea in the 20th hour even though it was too late we got it and something that was unique and that could stand as an innovation that could last long because we didn't want to give some preconceived idea or something that was not practically possible so we are a kind of team which had to ensure that we are building something it must have a social impact not a short term goal because winning the hackathon was secondary for us bringing it as a valuable product for a large scale was our plan that is the reason it took that much of time that was the thing so as we can understand that those judging rounds are really crucial ones so any piece of advice that you would want to share how to deal with those judges because in your case it made a lot of difference and it kind of changed the entire course of your work totally 360 degrees so how do you want to share this particular thing how to deal with this judging rounds or their expectations so the thing is that to be prepared so in our problem statement we have just mentioned one line stating that we need an alternative for OTP for low network source so we had a preconceived assumption of ok this is what we are going to do it's not that what we plan is something that is going to work 100% so we must always have a plan that is the thing ok you are working on something that is fine if it goes well that is perfectly fine but it's the reality right everything can't be 100% perfect the thing is that whatever the situation is we need to be bold and ready to face it there is no way to quit back because even we could have thought that ok it's over we can't do anything over that but we didn't because we know that we have come this far rather than quitting we can give a try that is the thing here and getting demotivated or getting stuffs like ok this is the end that mindset is something that will ruin stuff and being as a leader it is the duty of the leader to ensure that he motivates the team no matter whatever the situation a backup plan means a short term plan because initially you would have a time frame of 2 or 3 months for doing what are the developments and stuff and this 36 hours is where you are going to deploy the entire thing the entire hard work is going to be deployed here and so having a proper backup plan on market research and stuffs pre-preparation is crucial here to be honest as I said our team was formed 20 days before that was a major hurdle and to be honest the initial code which we had was also scrapped one week before the finale cause it had contributions of the previous team members so we had to rebuild the entire code so the entire thing which we had planned for 6 to 5 months we had to speeden it up it would have been 2 or 3 days time we have to complete it in 1 hour we had to complete it in 30 minutes the coordination is very crucial here and a proper understanding between the team cause if we don't have a proper understanding between the team and the leader says to do a certain work it will come into something called pressure or stress and working together is something that can take things to the next level I am a person who always believe that the strength of the team is the leader and the strength of the leader is the team and if you believe that anything is possible that's what I mean so the strong message coming off from you side is you never say die attitude I mean that is I think the form the backbone of your performance out there in S I H so now coming to another very important aspect is the final presentation that is very crucial you know the entire work that you have done till date depends upon that so how did you deal with the final presentation part of your program so for the initial for the final pitch we had spent around 2 hours for analyzing what we are going to pitch cause it's just an 8 minute time frame for the final pitch we have to show the product demo we have to explain the product we have to explain the architecture the judges need to understand that so we had a proper plan of time frame the first one and a half minutes we are going to explain our presentation we are going to explain our architecture the next 2 minutes we are going to give the demo of our product and the next 1 minute the judges will analyze our product and the next 3 minutes will be the time frame to question us and for us to answer this is how we split up the 8 minutes actually and what we did is we arranged 4 laptops in front of the judges 1 laptop was having the ppt 1 laptop was having the architecture 1 laptop was having the product 1 laptop was having the database the code and everything and that made it more convenient for the judges to see through on whatever we are seeing and that was something which worked out actually it didn't consume much time for us to navigate between a single laptop and stuff so starting from the arrangements itself it was a plus for us because the architecture we made it was a simple architecture we just used a small block diagrams to explain the architecture the more we keep it simple the more it will be easy moreover we ensured the code was optimized because they just went through our code they asked questions from the code as well they asked questions from our product and we were ready for facing everything because we had a proper time frame of everything we went as per the time frame itself and that's what having a killer presentation is very crucial because most people focus on the product and miss out on the presentation giving equal importance to the presentation just as the product is very crucial in an aspect especially when it comes to the final round of evaluation so having a killer presentation that's the operating line here and indeed it was very meticulous of you know the way you arranged everything so I'm sure you will notice that and make use of that particular input from you so Gamelil now tell us after going through all this after winning this thing where is your team now like what are you guys up to did you make use of all this particular you know triumph of yours and step forward or where are you guys now what are you guys doing now actually we have started our own startup actually it's named as CodeEndress which is basically a software development company and we started it as a web based service based company I said that the team was formed in the last minute right that team the three brothers of me we four of us together started a company and this SIH product and the win of smart India hackathon was our stepping stone to elevate to the next level and adding to it in the results sheet which came our name was in the first as well and that was a plus so we were able to get claims with the help of it as well and currently we have completed around 60 plus projects from 8 different countries our office is headquartered in Chennai Tamil Nadu so second office we have planned to open in Bahrain lately and currently we are operating as a completely service based company with web development, app development digital marketing, cyber security and everything that is related to the software aspect because we have planned to keep our startup completely bootstuck without involving any external investments that is the thing here so the product of SIH we have planned to land it out as a SaaS based product and the build this one progress as we need a huge external investments for that starting from the marketing and the server we need an agreement with the government for the USSD so there are a lot of procedures to be done that and we need a lot of investment and this service based aspect of our startup is something that is standing there, I am the chief operating officer of my startup and I am here representing that stuff so that's really wonderful to hear you not only you know went ahead to win the competition but converted this win into something very substantive so congratulations on your startup and we wish you all the very best in all the you know success going forward so Gamelir it was really nice talking to you and I hope the inputs from you will be very welcoming and very useful for the people who wish to you know participate in SIH in the further coming editions thank you so much for joining us and all the best for your future endeavor thank you sir it was a great pleasure to be here and I know that there are definitely a lot of people like me who needs guidance and stuff so that is what I have already created a detailed playlist starting from drafting a winning PPT what are all the plans and strategies how to crack the finale having a killer presentation everything I have made it as a playlist in our youtube channel that is of my startup code hunters as well one thing which I would like to say for all the SIH 2022 participants and upcoming aspirants never give up and consistency is the key and having a trust in you having a trust in your team that is what is everything and teamwork is always the dream work and I bet it will be one hell of an experience that's all I have to say sir thank you so much for being a part of this show and I would expect and hope that people will make use of the playlist that you have created for their benefit and that's very nice of you and very thoughtful of you thank you so much for joining us thank you sir it's my pleasure to be here so this was Gamaliel he and his team not only went on to win the competition but created a startup out of that so how wonderful is that so I hope you will be inspired by you know such stories such people and move into this world of smart India hackathon with great zeal and enthusiasm thanks for watching