This can be a problem with some, but I think it really depends on the goal of hackathon. It sounds like the ones you attended were all startup and business foc

This can be a problem with some, but I think it really depends on the goal of hackathon. It sounds like the ones you attended were all startup and business focused, in which case the idea (and hence the pitch) does become more important. But other hackathons I've seen are all about the tech, and they do give people time and space to set up a live demo at the end.