They hacked the hackathon. You didn't.

I agree. When I say I learned "the lesson", there are two possible takeaways a person can take. If you want to win, it really helps to play the game to win (i.e. use these strategies). If you want to focus on your own pride and making something delightful that makes the world better, you have to explicitly choose that, and reject the idea in your mind that you will be rewarded for it. You might be rewarded anyway, but you can't expect it else you will often end up disappointed when you compare yourself to others.