Be where the puck is going

How do you build a company in the age of AI? MIT lecturer and entrepreneur Paul Cheek showed us "how to buld a business in 30 minutes".

Bergen 11 February: Paul Cheek opened his session with this quote on the screen by Wayne Gretzky: “I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

He then challenged us in Vestland to do the same.

Paul is a global expert in innovation-driven entrepreneurship and artificial intelligence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship in Boston.

He also lectures in our startup and scaling programmes at MIT, where he works closely with our Norwegian participants.

The day before our seminar, Paul spoke from the main stage at Vestlandskonferansen in Bergen by Agenda Vestlandet.

The next day, he met founders, innovators clusters, and industry representatives in a packed auditorium at our seminar on entrepreneurship and AI.

Photo by: Agenda Vestlandet/Vestlandskonferansen.

Building a business in thirty minutes

Paul demonstrated how to build “a business in thirty minutes. From idea to market using AI tools such as Gummy Search, Orbit Jetpack and Lovable. These are the AI tools that help founders and organisations move faster, test assumptions earlier and sharpen their focus.

He challenged the audience to go home and master at least one of these tools.

Learning from those who have done it

The seminar was led by Owe Hagesæther, CEO of GCE Ocean Technology, who also moderated a panel featuring participants from our MIT-based programmes.

Lars Grønnestad (VIS), Hanne Misje Lokøy (CCB), Hilde Ulvik Hordnes (Dynamon) and Bjarte Fagerås (GCE Ocean Technology) shared their experiences from working through the disciplined entrepreneurship framework themselves.

As Hilde Ulvik Hordnes put it, they had previously been “chasing too many rabbits.” The programme helped them focus. Clarify priorities. And move forward with greater direction.

Ideas tested live on stage

Six companies then pitched their ideas and received direct feedback from Cheek who was joined in the panel by Karina Birkeland Halstensen from Farvatn and Bjarte Fagerås who mentors our programmes.

Katerina Rydlova (photo) pitched her company Body Moody, which aims to revolutionise women’s health with a heated bodysuit.

The companies that were selected for a four minute pitch were:

Mynder
Body Moody
Cognosic
Havdis
MTT
Visito 

They received honest and concrete input on how to move forward from an investors perspective.

Synnøve Olset (photo) pitched the AI company Mynder, which delivers secure AI agents for compliance, GDPR, NIS2 and risk management.

Ulrik Granheim (photo) is transforming curriculum development through innovation in Cognosic.

We thank Agenda Vestlandet for making this session possible, and everyone who showed up, asked questions and contributed to the conversation.

The seminar was a collaboration between Agenda Vestlandet, VIS, NCE Finance Innovation, Media Cluster Norway and GCE Ocean Technology.