A Three-Week Demo for a National Ideas Competition Finalist

Jose Abel Lopez Gonzalez had an idea for the Dominican Republic: one platform connecting what students learn, what employers need and what policymakers can see. His project was already a finalist in República de Ideas, a national ideas competition, and he had three weeks to show the judges a working demo. He was building it himself. My job was to keep him unblocked and keep the design sound.

Have a pitch date and an idea that keeps growing? I help founders cut a big idea down to a demo that holds up, and keep them moving while they build it. Book a call at cal.com/andres-sepulveda-morales or email andres@redmage.cc.

The idea served seven groups, from students and teachers to employers, community leaders and government officials. Building for all of them in three weeks was not possible, so we chose the views that tell the story from one end to the other:

A student's progress and the skills they have earned, on a phone.

A teacher validating those skills for a class.

An employer finding people by validated skill.

A government view of national indicators, simulated from mock data.

The data was mock and static on purpose, because the judges were there to see how people would use the platform. I still reviewed the logic behind each view so the design would hold when real data arrived. I gave Jose a prioritized task list so he always knew what came next, and answered blockers within a day over WhatsApp and Contra.

Have a pitch date and an idea that keeps growing? I help founders cut a big idea down to a demo that holds up, and keep them moving while they build it. Book a call at cal.com/andres-sepulveda-morales or email andres@redmage.cc.