Prototype or idea: how to pick your Ignite track
Two tracks, same grant, same bar. A quick, honest guide to choosing between the Prototype and Idea tracks when you apply to Adalwin Ignite.
When you apply to Ignite you pick one of two tracks. People overthink this, so let's make it simple: the tracks aren't easy-mode and hard-mode. Same grant, same bar. The only thing that changes is the evidence you bring.
Track A — Prototype
Pick this if you've already built something real. It doesn't have to be finished or pretty. It has to be openable.
- A working demo, even a janky one.
- A repo with real commits — not a single “initial commit” from last night.
- An app, bot, or tool that a handful of actual people use.
Your evidence is a link we can open. That link does more for you than any paragraph could. If you have it, use this track.
Track B — Idea
Pick this if you have a plan and the itch to build, but nothing shipped yet. That's a completely legitimate place to start, and we fund it at the same level. We're backing your thinking and your hustle, not a finished product.
Your evidence is a sharp execution plan — what you'd build first, in what order, and why that's the right first thing. Specificity is everything here. “Build the app, then get users” is not a plan. “Ship a WhatsApp-based MVP for tutors in my area in three weeks, get the first ten to actually use it, then decide if the web app is worth it” is a plan.
On the fence?
If you've built literally anything that runs, go Prototype — a rough link always beats a perfect description. If all you have is documents and intentions, go Idea and make the plan razor-sharp.
The honest part
A common worry: “Will the Idea track look weaker?” No. A clear-eyed Idea application from someone who obviously can build beats a Prototype application for something half-broken with no thought behind it. We're reading for the builder and the thinking, in both tracks. The track just tells us which kind of proof to expect from you.
Still deciding what to write? Read how to apply, then start your application — you can change your track answer any time before you submit.
/ edition one · pune
you build it. we back you.
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