Business Creativity

Building a company from scratch can be a dream for many people, and this course is specifically designed to help students achieve their dreams. Throughout the course, students will work with like-minded people to create their own business ideas, incorporating cutting-edge A.I. concepts and Generative A.I. tools like GPT and Bard, and finally showcase the same to business professionals and potential investors. Students can either create their own business ideas using A.I. or work on creating A.I. solutions for existing businesses to boost their sales.

This course, initially developed by Dr. Byoung-chul Min in 2011, aims to reinforce competitiveness among students in the global job market, particularly in relation to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and now with the integration of A.I. technologies in 2024. Over the last three years, the course has focused on Metaverse Businesses, helping students create their business prototypes in the 3-dimensional virtual space.

The course emphasizes connecting students to real industries to help them recognize, appreciate, and adapt to organizational realities by incorporating knowledge with practical constraints, especially including A.I. applications with the main focus on A.I. infused with emotions.

One of the fundamental roles of a university should be to help students find their innate passion and connect them with industries related to their passion, leveraging innovative technologies. By infusing industry-based skills into education, we ensure that our students are equipped with practical knowledge, securing their employability right after graduation, especially in the era of A.I.-powered businesses.

Students who take this course experience the whole new process of developing their business ideas straight from the ground up. They also learn to effectively pitch their ideas to potential investors and supporters, multiple times during the semester, enhancing their skills in the context of A.I. advancements. Therefore, by going through the process of business planning and presenting, students are equipped with industry-related skills and competitiveness in the global labor market.

Uncovered their innate passion, discover A.I. tools and created their own GPT.
Developed A.I.-powered business ideas and researched their opportunities and potential.
Worked in teams with similar ideas or interests, integrating A.I. technologies (Focused on incorporating emotions).
Created a brand identity associated with their innovative business ideas.
A business proposal that visualizes their goals and objectives, leveraging A.I. advancements.
Designed and developed a website, using A.I. tools.
Durable, to establish credibility as a business.
Met and discussed their ideas with business professionals from leading companies.
Forecasted their income and growth in the coming 5 years, considering the impact of A.I. in coming years.
Pitched their final business plans to professors and potential investors.
Have a portfolio highlighting their experience and responsibilities as individuals, emphasizing A.I. tools used during the semester.

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This course has a strong and up-to-date curriculum that has both theoretical and practical elements, ensuring that students are not only academically qualified but also trained in practical skills relevant to the A.I. advancements.

The fact that students get to meet business professionals from global leading companies such as Google, Samsung, Kt, CJ Foods, and Lotte Homeshopping, etc helps boost their entrepreneurship development.
It supports innovation by not only encouraging entrepreneurial activity but also maintaining mutually beneficial interaction with industries. The entire process aims at maximizing competitiveness among students and equips them with confidence to thrive in global job market.

Industrial exposure during this course will help learners to build strong industrial contacts with various high-official professionals, which may help them in shaping their career opportunities in future. Since learners are allowed to choose their own roles in their respective teams, it will help them to achieve lots of hand-on experiences that may aid them while pursuing their job roles in any specific department in any industry. Thus, this entire experience assists students to polish their skills and create their own jobs/businesses, in effect hiring themselves so they are not depending on others for employment, or if a student would prefer to work for an existing company, this experience gives them a marketable skill that will be helpful in finding their first job, a skill other college graduates won’t have.

Throughout the course, students will be equipped with capabilities and confidence to create their own business.

Students start by finding their passion through mind mapping and brainstorming activities, incorporating A.I. concepts. It helps them organize their ideas and link them together. Each of them focuses on a problem that needs to be solved in their related field of interest, now with a consideration for A.I. solutions, and develops an individual business proposal for the same.
Tool used for Business Plan (https://www.15minuteplan.ai/mainWizard) (Helps you create a complete business plan within 15 minutes)

Each student proposes their creative A.I.-powered business ideas based on current A.I. technologies industries are incorporating. This can be a new product, a service, or an application leveraging A.I. advancements. Then each one of them pitches their ideas to professors for a minute, emphasizing the role of A.I. in their proposals.

Tools used: A.I. Powered PPT generators, Chat GPT, and Bard.

Students with similar interests or ideas form a group to further shape their innovative business together. Each team then selects an idea from their team members’ ideas that can be developed into a powerful business and discusses the direction further.

After finalizing their ideas, students work on selecting the company they wish to work with or get support from, incorporating A.I. technologies. Professors help at this stage by reviewing each team’s business proposals and connecting them with relevant industries.

Each team then develops their business proposals by determining values, target audience, objectives, mission statement, digital/mobile requirements, etc. At this stage, students learn how to outline their goals, showing what they have been doing, and why their idea is worthy of investment. Students are encouraged to use technologies like GPTs and Bard for their research, but must come up with their own creativity.

Next, each team creates a strong brand identity, including a logo, website, and a brand book that helps them set apart from their competitors with the help of A.I. tools. This brand identity helps them define their values, communicate about their product, and display an emotional connection to interact with their audience.

A.I. Powered Tools such as Figma to Design Logos and Branding elements.

Each of the teams forecasts their financial projections, considering the impact of A.I., and visits the related industries to present their business ideas and receive feedback on how to enhance their business plans. During the industrial visit, students get insight into the internal working environment of the company and get useful information related to the practical aspects of their A.I.-powered businesses.

Finally, students present their final business ideas to potential investors and professors. If their ideas are inspiring, they can get a chance to receive funding from potential supporters or even get a job offer. As the final step for this course, each student submits their individual portfolios based on their experience and responsibilities throughout the course, highlighting their contributions to A.I.-powered innovations.

Thanks to a thorough course plan and Dr. Byoung Chul Min’s successful connections to leading global companies, this course has helped students achieve their competitive edge in the global job market every semester. In spring and fall 2020, students were connected to professionals from Global enterprises such as Google Korea, Korea telecom and CJ Food. All business ideas developed during the course were evaluated by a startup support company, SparkLabs, thus providing students to win a funding opportunity for their inspiring and innovative ideas.

In spring semester of 2020, the team, with their business idea, “Kibbles”, completed and enhanced their business proposal in connection with CJ Foods was selected as a startup project by SparkLabs, a global startup supporting company. The team continued to receive advice and assistance from SparkLabs’ startup platform.

In fall 2019, one of the students, Kim Ki Beom launched an application, ‘Pretzel’ with the help of this course. Pretzel is an exchange student community application that connects foreign students together. His project has been further selected to receive support and funding from Draper University.

The fact that all class activities were directly linked to employment or start-up process motivates students to participate in classes and immerse themselves deeply in their own projects.
The professor of the course selects and links the global companies directly, and as a result, the experts are able to provide valuable feedback and detailed insights into corporate environment directly to the students. This makes academic/industrial collaborations between the university and the companies have practical synergy effects on the students. In the process, not only the students have valuable experience discussing with global companies’ experts, but also the experts from global enterprises can solve their existing or prospective problems using students’ creative and unique ideas. Therefore, this course uses a win-win strategy for both university as well as industry.