Students use AI for purpose-aligned startups
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Tom Parson
Recently, I was invited to deliver an entrepreneurial workshop to students as part of the University of Manchester Startup Weekend.
The Startup Weekend is a fantastic initiative run by the Masood Entrepreneurial Centre, part of the University. It invites students from all disciplines to take part in a bootcamp-style weekend of startup ideation, validation and pitching.
Breaking down barriers
Back in April, I was chatting to Aurore Hochard, Director of MEC. Aurore was explaining the Startup Weekend to me, and shared that one challenge is encouraging students to come along who don't yet have a business idea.
Many students feel like the Startup Weekend isn't for them, because they don't have a side hustle or startup idea.
The weekend is open to all students, but many perceive it to be for 'entrepreneurial' students to explore a side hustle or business idea they already have.
We needed some way to attract curious students to the weekend, even if they didn't consider themselves 'entrepreneurs'. It needed to be very accessible, very low stakes, and fun!
Together, we came up with the workshop title:
Blank Page to Big Idea: Unlock Startup Ideas with AI.
Explore your authentic self through entrepreneurship
I thought about what would appeal to me if I were a student, curious about the world of entrepreneurship, but without any experience or business ideas.
I'd want to explore startup ideas that excited me and felt aligned with my values and passions, to see how I felt about it.
I'd want the opportunity to see if entrepreneurship was a viable path for me.
I recalled the Japanese concept of Ikigai. Ikigai translates as 'a reason for being', and is a framework anyone can use discover their true purpose in life.
Ikigai requires you to write down:
- What you love
- What you're good at
- What your world needs
- What you can be paid for
And explore the overlap - where your life calling awaits.
The challenge with Ikigai
The hardest part of Ikigai is the last bit - coming up with things that are in the overlap between all four areas.
To do that effectively would require us to explore unknown unknowns - the things we don't even know we don't know. How is that possible?
With AI! AI is brilliant at pattern recognition, and it knows all the job roles or business models that are out there - even the ones we don't know about.
AI is brilliant at pattern recognition, and it knows all the job roles or business models that are out there.
AI isn't a silver bullet, but for this specific task, it's perfect.
And thus the workshop was born - using Ikigai + AI to come up with startup business ideas that a) solve a real problem and can be monetised and b) are aligned with your skills and passions.
Every founder's dream!
On the day
The workshop was a lot of fun to deliver, students were engaged and excited, and many came up with some great ideas using AI.
Afterwards, many students approached me with questions about how to progress their business idea, which I loved, and I got great feedback on the workshop.
One student even messaged me afterwards to say:
Hi Tom,
I really enjoyed your session, it was one of the most engaging talks of the event!
Your point about Ikigai and then using AI to be a tool in your journey really inspired me.
Nmesoma Anyanwu, workshop participant
Over the rest of the weekend, students went on to explore their business ideas further, validate them, and pitch them to judges.
I thoroughly enjoyed this whole process:
- Figuring out the workshop's purpose within the Startup Weekend
- Collaborating on the workshop topic
- Delivering to such a positive reception!
So satisfying!
Tom delivered a high-energy workshop as part of our Startup Weekend.
Speaking to a room of over 100 students, he was engaging, dynamic, and brought everyone into the conversation.
The students were fully engaged from start to finish and many stayed behind afterwards to ask questions during networking.
I’d highly recommend Tom to any educational institution looking for an inspiring workshop experience that truly connects with students.
Aurore Hochard, Director, Masood Entrepreneurship Center
If you are interested in applying these concepts to your work, try our Ikig-AI play:
Tom Parson
If you're interested in running a workshop like this, I'd love to chat!