Priya Rehn
Partner · Deepwater Ventures
PROGRAM FORMAT
ARENA_
SOLVE SOMETHING. PROVE SOMETHING.
Teams form. Problems are real. Time is limited. Mentors are available. Outcomes matter.
COMPETE_TEAM-BASED_TIME-BOXED_
PROBLEM_
TEAM_
BUILD_
JUDGE_
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT_
WHY IT MATTERS
SOME SKILLSONLY SHOW UPUNDER PRESSURE_
The Arena puts real problems in front of real teams, with a clock running. What you can actually do shows up here in a way no talk about it ever will.
COMPETE_
Real constraints. Real deadlines.
COLLABORATE_
Teams form fast. Roles find themselves.
PROVE_
A working solution. Not a slide about one.
REALPROBLEMSREALPROOF
COMPETE_
Real constraints. Real deadlines.
COLLABORATE_
Teams form fast. Roles find themselves.
PROVE_
A working solution. Not a slide about one.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE ARENA?
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE ARENA?_
From CTFs to industry-sponsored challenges, ARENA_ turns knowledge into something judged, timed and real.
CTF_
Capture the flag, for real,
against other teams actively trying to stop you.
HACKATHON_
Ship something working in hours,
not a deck about what you'd eventually build.
AI CHALLENGE_
Beat the public baseline,
then watch someone else beat yours an hour later.
SECURITY EXERCISE_
Red team and blue team,
on the same system, at the same time.
HARDWARE COMPETITION_
Build it under a deadline,
then defend it when someone tries to break it live.
STARTUP PROBLEM_
A sponsor's real, unsolved problem,
pitched back as your team's actual answer to it.
UPCOMING ARENA CHALLENGES
UPCOMING ARENA CHALLENGES_
CTFs, hackathons and sponsored challenges from upcoming HATCon events.
SAMPLE PROGRAM — challenges are published as each city confirms
5 sessions shown
09:00
NOV 14
CYBERSix hours, four escalating tracks — web, binary, crypto, forensics. Mentors circulate; the scoreboard doesn't lie.
HATCon BengaluruCTF40 teams
10:00
NOV 14
AIA held-out dataset, a public baseline, and a leaderboard that updates every ten minutes. Bring your own compute or use ours.
HATCon BengaluruAI CHALLENGE60 teams
13:00
NOV 14
CYBERA sponsoring company brings a real, sanitized production incident. Teams have four hours to diagnose, fix and present it.
HATCon BengaluruHACKATHON24 teams
11:00
NOV 15
BLOCKCHAINDesign and defend a small protocol against a live red team trying to break its incentives, not just its code.
HATCon New DelhiHACKATHON36 teams
14:00
NOV 15
FRONTIERTeams ship control code to a shared rig overnight, then it runs a timed course live — no do-overs once the clock starts.
OnlineHARDWARE COMPETITION18 teams
DIFFERENT WAYS TO COMPETE
DIFFERENT WAYSTO COMPETE_
Same clock. Different ways to bring a team to it. Compete, mentor, judge, or set the challenge.
COMPETE_
Form a team. Take on a track. Solve it before the clock runs out.
MENTOR
FOUR DEPTHS. ONE ARENA.
FOUR DEPTHS.ONE ARENA_
Different domains. The same real stakes.
SAMPLE FIGURES
AI_
36 CHALLENGES · 28% OF THE PROGRAMME
Systems that reason, act and build alongside us.
- Applied challenges
- leaderboards
- evals
Related circle: AI Infrastructure
CYBER_
58 CHALLENGES · 46% OF THE PROGRAMME
Defending the systems the world now runs on.
- CTFs
- red vs blue
- incident response
Related circle: Threat Intelligence
BLOCKCHAIN_
19 CHALLENGES · 15% OF THE PROGRAMME
Trust, identity and value as programmable primitives.
- Protocol hackathons
- exploit hunts
Related circle: Zero Knowledge
PEOPLE IN THE ARENA
PEOPLE IN THE ARENA_
The scoreboard is the most honest feedback you'll ever get. It doesn't care how the pitch sounded.
DIFFERENT WAYS TO SHAPE
COME IN WITH A PROBLEM_
The best challenges start as someone's real, unsolved problem.
CYBERTHREAD_
What makes a CTF track hard without being unfair?
4H AGO
AIDEBATE_
How do you judge an AI challenge beyond leaderboard score?
1D AGO
BLOCKCHAINTHREAD_
What's a good sponsor problem versus a marketing exercise?
9H AGOGO DEEPER FROM HERE
GO DEEPER FROM HERE_
Six formats. A bigger picture.
HAVE A PROBLEM WORTH SOLVING?
Submit a problem for HATCon_
Sponsor a challenge, mentor a team or judge the results.
We're looking for real constraints, clear scoring and problems worth six hours of a team's time.
SUBMIT A PROBLEM_CFP OPENING SOON_
- Clarity
HATCON_
THE NEXT BREAKTHROUGHSTARTS WITH A TEAM AND A CLOCK_
REAL PROBLEMS.REAL TEAMS.REAL OUTCOMES.