Using AI to
Design Your Venture

From idea to business model — with AI as your co-founder
Vishal Sachdev · Gies College of Business · March 30, 2026
#BuildToLearn · #LearnToBuild

By the End of This Session, You Will Have:

"I don't think I've typed a line of code probably since December… A single builder with the right tooling can move faster than a traditional team."
Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI · March 2026

The Biggest Shift in Entrepreneurship

2020

Good idea + team of 10 + $500K
= maybe a prototype in 6 months

→

2026

Good idea + one person + AI
= working product in a weekend

The barrier to building has collapsed. The barrier to thinking clearly about what to build hasn't.

The Idea

Build to Learn.
Learn to Build.

Why "Build to Learn" Matters for Entrepreneurs

Learn to Build

Use AI as a tool — research markets, draft business models, analyze competitors, prototype products.

AI is your analyst, your copywriter, your junior developer — all at once.

Build to Learn

The act of building with AI teaches you — forces clearer thinking, surfaces hidden assumptions, reveals what you don't know.

You don't just get a deliverable. You get sharper judgment.

The best entrepreneurs don't just have ideas. They test ideas fast. AI is the fastest way to test.

Proof: What One Person + AI Can Build

These are projects I built — while teaching full-time — using AI tools:

IlliniHunt.org

AI-powered scavenger hunt platform used by 200+ students. Built from my BADM 372 entrepreneurship course.

Full web app

Canvas MCP

Open-source tool that connects AI to Canvas LMS. Used by educators worldwide — 90+ GitHub stars.

Open source tool

AgentLab

Student-run lab building AI agents for education. Students ship real products, not just papers.

Student venture

IlliniClaw

AI teaching assistant for 400+ students in BADM 554. Handles Q&A, drip campaigns, peer review nudges.

AI assistant
The Skill

Context Is Everything

Bring AI to Your Work, Not Your Work to AI

Weak prompt

"Help me write a business model for my startup"

Generic advice. Could apply to any startup. Waste of time.

→

Context-rich prompt

"Here's our venture pitch [uploaded], our market analysis [uploaded], and our customer interviews [pasted]. Challenge our business model."

Specific, actionable, tailored to YOUR venture. This is the unlock.

AI is only as good as the context you give it. Your venture docs, your market research, your interviews — that's the raw material.

Your Tool Today

aistudio.google.com
Free
No credit card needed
Upload
Your docs, decks, notes
Gemini 3
Google's most capable model

Setup (30 seconds): Open an Incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N / Cmd+Shift+N) → go to aistudio.google.com → sign in with your personal Gmail (not @illinois.edu)
AI Studio is free — no credit card, no waitlist, no app to install.

The Build

Stress-Test & Prototype
Your Venture

Three Rounds

Round 1 · 10 min

Rip Apart My Value Prop

Upload your Asgmt 1-3 slides. Ask AI to find your weakest assumptions and strongest angles.

Round 2 · 10 min

Draft My Business Model

Have AI draft the 6 building blocks of your business model — then tell you where you're weakest.

Round 3 · 15 min

Build a Landing Page

Have AI build a real, working landing page. Open it in your browser. This counts toward your prototype extra credit.

Each round: paste the prompt → have a conversation → write down one insight that changes your plan

Round 1: Rip Apart My Value Proposition

Step 1: Upload your Asgmt 1-3 slides (venture selection, market analysis, lean startup/MVP)

Step 2: Paste this prompt:

Copy & Paste This
I'm building [YOUR VENTURE — one sentence]. I've attached our assignments so far (venture selection, market & opportunity analysis, and lean startup/MVP).

Act as a brutally honest venture advisor. Based on our materials:
1. What's the strongest part of our value proposition? What should we double down on?
2. What are the 3 weakest assumptions — and what experiment could we run this week to test each one?
3. Based on our TAM/SAM/SOM and competitor analysis, are we going after the right opportunity?

Don't be nice. Be useful.

10 min — Push back on what the AI says. Ask "why?" at least twice. Write down the one assumption that surprised you.

Round 2: Draft My Business Model

Continue the same conversation. Paste this next:

Copy & Paste This
Our next assignment is a Business Model with these 6 building blocks. Based on everything you know about our venture, draft a first pass at each — then tell me where I'm weakest:

1. Customer Segments — do we have distinct segments?
2. Value Proposition — what's the real promise?
3. Channels & GTM — how do we reach customers?
4. Customer Relationships & Support
5. Revenue Model — how do we make money?
6. Cost Structure & Scope — key activities, resources, partnerships

Be specific to our venture. Flag the 2 blocks where we're weakest.

10 min — This maps directly to your Assignment 4 (due April 8). Challenge the AI's suggestions — your judgment is what makes this yours.

Round 3: Build a Landing Page

Same conversation. Now we build something real. This can count toward your 5% prototype extra credit.

Copy & Paste This
Based on everything we've discussed — our refined value proposition, our real customer, and our venture concept — build me a complete, single-page landing page in HTML.

Include: a headline that captures our value prop, a subheadline that speaks to our target customer, 3 key benefits, a call-to-action button, and a clean, professional design.

Output the full HTML code. Make it look real — this is what I'd show a potential customer.

15 min — Copy the HTML → open a new browser tab → paste into the address bar as data:text/html, followed by the code. Or: open Notepad, paste, save as landing.html, double-click to open.

Now Make It Yours

Your landing page is a first draft. Talk back to the AI:

Try These Follow-ups
"Make the headline more urgent"

"Add a section about how it works"

"Change the color scheme to [our brand]"

"Add testimonials — make up realistic ones"

Why this matters

A landing page forces you to answer the questions investors ask:

  • What do you do? (headline)
  • Why should I care? (benefits)
  • What do I do next? (CTA)

This is a digital prototype — it counts toward your 5% extra credit.

Show & Tell

"AI won't replace entrepreneurs. But an entrepreneur who knows how to direct AI will outpace one who doesn't."

Your Next Steps

What to Try Next

Desktop AI for Knowledge Work

Claude Desktop

Download the app. Drag in your files. Brainstorm, write, analyze — all on your laptop, all private.

claude.ai/download

Codex by OpenAI

Desktop app for building with AI. Reads your files, writes code, builds prototypes. Your on-device co-founder.

openai.com/codex

The Mental Model: Skills & Connectors

AI tools get powerful when you connect them to your data. The next frontier:

  • Skills — teach AI to do specific tasks (analyze a market, draft a pitch, review financials)
  • Connectors / Plugins — hook AI into your tools (Google Sheets, Notion, your CRM, your database)
  • Agents — AI that takes action on your behalf (research competitors, monitor reviews, draft outreach)

Today: AI as advisor. Next: AI as teammate.

The best time to learn AI
is while you're building something real.

You already have a venture. Now you have a co-founder that never sleeps.

#BuildToLearn · #LearnToBuild
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