We’re days away from the hackathon!!
We’re days away from the hackathon…
and here’s how we’re prepping behind the scenes to make sure it goes smoothly.
But first, let me quickly run down what this newsletter will look like every week:
What’s coming up next this month, and
A behind-the-scenes look at what we’re building and why
Upcoming Events
1. Professionals Mixer - Boston
🗓 Date: Thursday, April 23
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET
📍 Location: 345 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA
👔 Dress Code: Business Casual (no hoodies, sweatpants, or flip-flops)
Looking to meet other Nepali students & professionals in Boston?
Our quarterly mixers are designed to help you connect, collaborate, and build real relationships within the community. Whether you’re new to the area or already part of the network, this is your space to find your people and grow together.
2. Professionals Mixer - New York City
🗓 Date: Thursday, April 30
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
📍 Location: Consulate General of Nepal, NYC; 228 E 45th St 4th Floor, New York, NY 10017
👔 Dress Code: Business Casual (no hoodies, sweatpants, or flip-flops)
Looking to meet other Nepali students & professionals in New York City?
Our quarterly mixers are designed to help you connect, collaborate, and build real relationships within the community. Whether you’re new to the area or already part of the network, this is your space to find your people and grow together.
Behind The Scenes
This week feels even more real.
We’re now just days away from the Nepal–US Hackathon 2026…
…and things have officially moved from planning to execution.
Last week, we finalized participants.
This week, we finalized everything else.
Right now:
teams have been fully formed
mentors have been matched to every team
platform walkthroughs sent to participants and mentors
workshop completed
final reminders scheduled
judging flow locked
submission guidelines shared
mentor sessions structured
run of show finalized
At this point, the hackathon is no longer theoretical.
It’s happening.
And honestly… this is always the most chaotic part.
Not because anything is “wrong” but because once you move from planning to execution, real world complexity kicks in.
People realizing their teammates are in different time zones
Mentors getting added into 80 plus group chats
Last minute dropouts
Waitlist backfills
Teams meeting each other for the first time
Hundreds of people logging into a platform they have never used before
ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!
Behind the scenes, the biggest focus this week has been making sure things do not break.
Less “what should we do”
More “what happens if this goes wrong”
We have been thinking through things like:
what if a team member disappears
what if a mentor becomes unavailable
what if teams never connect
what if people miss submission instructions
what if judges get overloaded
what if communication gaps slow teams down
You try to imagine every possible failure point…
…and quietly build contingencies before anyone notices.
That has been most of this week.
We also officially kicked off with the workshop which felt like the first real moment everyone was in the same room.
Hundreds of people
Different backgrounds
Different experience levels
All about to build around the same theme
You could feel the energy starting to shift.
Now we head into the final stretch:
March 27 Opening Ceremony 8 PM ET
- Keynotes
- Problem statement revealed
- Hackathon officially beginsMarch 28 Build Day
- Teams go all in
- Mentor check ins throughout the dayMarch 29 Demo Day
- Final submissions
- Judging
- Winners
- Showcase
We hope to have 80+ projects built from scratch in 48 hours.
That part still feels WILD to say, but…
Right now, the focus is simple:
Make sure participants have a smooth experience
Make sure teams actually build
Make sure mentors can help
Make sure judging is fair
Everything else is secondary.
Gotta go & troubleshoot… let you guys know how it went next week!!!!
More soon,
Shreyas K. Shrestha
Founder, Nepali Leaders Network
P.S. If you made it this far, you’re a real one. These newsletters might be my favorite way to stay connected to 2,400+ of you. See you back in a week!
