Startup Weekend • 54-hour MVP blueprint

CompostNow NYC

New York City

Policy + Climate + Civic Tech

Make compost rules simple and participation measurable.

A resident-facing guide and opt-in reminder system that tracks participation and routes feedback to improve program design.

Local fit: Dense buildings, climate hazards (heat/flood), and complex compliance regimes—good for building compliance copilots and low-bandwidth civic information tools.

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Core user stories

As a resident, I learn what goes in organics for my building type and set reminder nudges.
As a small business, I estimate service needs and find local compost pickup options.
As a composter/program manager, I see participation metrics and contamination feedback themes.

Clickable demo scope (what you build)

Building-type wizard → ‘what goes where’ guide.
Opt-in reminders page (email/SMS stub) + simple participation check-ins.
Partner dashboard showing participation and top confusion points (mock).

Team of four roles

Product & Policy Lead: Translate program rules into a building-type wizard and define contamination feedback categories.
UX / Frontend: Build the wizard + ‘what goes where’ guide + reminder opt-in screens.
Backend / Data: Store building rules and reminder preferences; compute participation metrics; seed example routes/partners.
Partnerships / Story / Ops: Validate with a composter or waste manager; craft soil/regeneration narrative; deploy 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 New York City).

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).