Startup Weekend • 54-hour MVP blueprint

CivicBeacon CHI

Chicago

Policy + Climate + Civic Tech

Climate alerts people can act on—without social media.

A low-bandwidth alert and map page for warming/cooling centers, air quality days, and service disruptions, optimized for SMS links.

Local fit: Big-city service reliability, building energy compliance, and environmental health; strong need for transparent dashboards and circular construction reuse.

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Core user stories

As a user, I complete the primary workflow in under 2 minutes.
As an admin, I view an aggregated dashboard that supports a policy decision.
As a partner, I export a one-page summary that tells a compelling story.

Clickable demo scope (what you build)

One end-to-end happy-path flow.
Seeded sample data + one dashboard view.
Export/share page (print-friendly).

Team of four roles

Product & Policy Lead: Define the policy problem, map the decision-makers, and write the success metric + guardrails (privacy, equity, non-extractive model).
UX / Frontend: Design the clickable flow and build the primary UI screens; ensure mobile-first and accessible.
Backend / Data: Implement the minimal API/database; seed sample data; power the demo with one key endpoint.
Partnerships / Story / Ops: Run fast interviews, validate willingness-to-use/pay, and craft the narrative + demo script; deploy the demo.

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 Chicago).

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).