Startup Weekend • 54-hour MVP blueprint
SignalLedger Bay
San Francisco Bay Area
Policy + Climate + Civic Tech
Connectivity truth on the ground—usable for grants, oversight, and accountability.
A crowd-verified broadband map for the Bay Area that logs speed, outages, and affordability, producing policy-ready evidence for digital equity efforts.
Local fit: Multi-jurisdiction complexity (cities, counties, utilities), high cost of living, climate/air quality events, and stark digital divide within a high-tech region.
Core user stories
- As a resident, I log a quick speed test, monthly cost, and outage notes in under 60 seconds.
- As an advocate, I view a map of submissions and export a neighborhood brief for a hearing or grant application.
- As staff, I see affordability gaps and persistent outage clusters to prioritize interventions.
Clickable demo scope (what you build)
- Mobile-first submission form (speed, cost, provider, optional notes) + consent language.
- Map view with filters (speed tier, cost band, outages) using seeded + sample submissions.
- Auto-generated one-page “policy brief” page per neighborhood (mocked).
Team of four roles
- Product & Policy Lead: Define consent + privacy stance, the policy outputs (briefs, dashboards), and the minimum viable survey questions.
- UX / Frontend: Build the 60-second submission flow and map + filter UI; optimize for low bandwidth and mobile.
- Backend / Data: Store submissions, compute simple aggregates, and generate a ‘neighborhood brief’ page from metrics.
- Partnerships / Story / Ops: Recruit 8–12 test submissions from attendees; validate advocacy and grant-use cases; deploy and pitch.
54-hour build plan
- Hours 0–6: Pick one user segment; do 5–8 quick interviews; lock the “one workflow” MVP.
- Hours 6–24: Build the clickable flow end-to-end with stubbed data; draft the policy narrative.
- Hours 24–40: Add one policy-ready output (brief/dashboard/export); tighten UX; seed data for 2–3 neighborhoods.
- Hours 40–54: Polish demo script; add analytics mock; finalize pitch + one-page handout.
What to show in the final demo
- The “happy path” (one user completes the core task in under 2 minutes).
- One policy-ready output (a brief, dashboard view, or export).
- One local proof point (seeded neighborhoods / agencies / partner types relevant to San Francisco Bay Area).
How it can earn revenue without becoming extractive
Revenue fit (values-aligned): sell a low-cost subscription to local governments/nonprofits, or charge implementation/support for pilots—avoid extractive fees on community participation.
Guardrails: publish scoring criteria, minimize data collection, and default to community ownership where possible (co-op/commons patterns).