Seung Beom YangMarch 2026
This week I'm reflecting on my tech demo preparation using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle. Instead of demonstrating a specific software tool or craft technique, I chose to teach my peers something I've learnt through lived experience: how to actually build a startup from scratch. But getting to that decision was a journey in itself.
This week was about deciding what to teach, building the presentation, and preparing to deliver it. The process ended up being much more involved than I expected — not because the slides were hard to make, but because choosing the right topic took real thought.
The brainstorming phase
I started the week with a long list of possible tech demo topics. In Week 1, I'd narrowed it down to four: full-stack web dev with AI, game dev in Godot, hardware prototyping, and advanced Figma. But when I sat down to actually plan one of these into a 15-minute demo, I realised I had a problem.
I kept brainstorming more options: how to build a design system, basics of machine learning, how to create your own personal design brand, web development fundamentals. The list kept growing, but none of them felt right. And the reason was always the same — 15 minutes is not enough time to teach someone a technical skill from scratch. I can't teach a room full of design students how to code a website in 15 minutes. I can't meaningfully teach machine learning basics in a quarter of an hour. Even a Figma tutorial would only scratch the surface at that speed.
So I stepped back and asked a different question: instead of "what skill can I demo?", I asked "what is the most valuable thing I could give my peers in 15 minutes?"
Why startups?
The answer came from thinking about the bigger picture. We're in an era where AI is rapidly changing the design and tech industries. Designers and programmers are both facing uncertainty about their roles — tools like AI can now generate layouts, write code, and produce assets that used to require years of skill development. I've seen this firsthand in my own work: with AI assistance, I can build things much faster than I could a year ago.
So what does that mean for a room full of design students about to graduate? In my view, the most future-proof skill isn't any particular software tool — it's knowing how to identify a problem, build a solution, and bring it to market. That's startup thinking. And it's something most design students are never exposed to. From conversations with my peers, I know that a lot of them are uncertain about what they want to do after graduating. Many haven't considered that they could create their own opportunities rather than waiting for someone to hire them.
I wanted to open their eyes to that possibility. Not to tell everyone to drop out and start a company, but to show them a framework for thinking about problems and solutions that would be useful whether they start a business, freelance, or work at a studio. And crucially, I could teach this in 15 minutes because it's a way of thinking, not a technical procedure.
I also realised I was uniquely positioned to teach this. I've co-founded Unimate (a registered company), built and deployed multiple products (Ticker, Uniconnect, Reboot Toolbox), and gone through the actual process of pitching to universities and investors. This isn't theoretical knowledge for me — it's lived experience. I could use my own mistakes and successes as the teaching material.
Research and preparation