I genuinely did not expect this.
Around 4–5 days ago, I had Crowdwide hosted mainly for testing. It was still an alpha, I was still building a lot of the backend, and I wasn't really thinking about putting it into any contest.
Then Harun found it on DEV.to.
He became the first person to actually try Crowdwide, found bugs, reported them to me, and started talking about the project.
At that point, Crowdwide wasn't anywhere near finished. The UI and overall platform structure were already coming together, but important parts were still incomplete. I was even using Postman to test API responses because the proper authentication and credentials flow wasn't finished yet.
Then Harun suggested that I submit Crowdwide to the KODA Code Jam.
And honestly, if he hadn't pushed me, I probably would've kept sitting there polishing the UI and saying:
"I'll submit it when it's more complete."
Instead, I just shipped the alpha.
🫡 Then Harun Wrote About It
After I submitted Crowdwide, Harun made a DEV.to post called: "The First Legend Has Entered the Arena: CrowdWide Just Submitted to the KODA Code Jam".
And I genuinely wasn't expecting that either. 😂
He called Crowdwide the first submission and talked about the idea behind the platform — especially the goal of giving smaller communities a fair chance to grow instead of letting only already-huge communities dominate discovery.
He also wrote about the fact that I shipped the project while it was still an alpha instead of waiting for everything to be perfect.
That post honestly meant a lot to me.
So thank you, Harun, not only for pushing me to submit Crowdwide, but also for taking the time to write about it and mention me in your post. 👊🐯
You were literally the first person to test Crowdwide, the first person to point out bugs, the person who pushed me toward the KODA Code Jam, and then you wrote about the project after I submitted it.
That's something I'll definitely remember.
🏆 And Then I Checked the Hall of Champions...
A little later, I went to check the KODA Hall of Champions.
And I saw:
👑 Season 2 Champion
Crowdwide — Community & Social Platform
ChampionCrowned.
I was like...
WHAT. 😭🔥
The project I had only recently hosted for testing had actually become the KODA ONLINE FEST Season 2 Champion.
And apparently, I now have:
👑 Champion Status Forever
That's honestly crazy to see.
🛠️ But Crowdwide Is Still Just Getting Started
The funny thing is that Crowdwide is still an alpha.
I've built a huge amount of the UI and the overall structure, but there is still a massive amount of work ahead.
- Authentication and account systems
- More backend functionality
- Community management
- Moderation systems
- Discovery and recommendation logic
- Monetization features
- More testing
- And a lot of things I haven't even built yet 😭
So I don't really see this championship as the finish line.
If anything, it makes me want to finish Crowdwide even more.
Because now I have something sitting in the Hall of Champions while the actual product is still being built.
That's a pretty good reason to keep cooking. 👨🍳🔥
👊 To Harun
Seriously, bro — thank you.
You found Crowdwide when it was still rough, became the first person to test it, reported bugs, pushed me to submit it, and then wrote about it publicly.
And now Crowdwide is sitting there as:
🏆 KODA Season 2 Champion 👑
I definitely wasn't expecting this when I first put the app online.
But I'm glad I shipped it anyway.
Alpha is enough to start. It doesn't have to be perfect to exist.
Now the real work begins.
And Harun...
When Crowdwide is finally complete, you're going to be one of the first people testing the full thing. 😂👊🐯
Crowdwide — KODA ONLINE FEST Season 2 Champion 👑
Still building. Still cooking. 🚀
