As part of Innovation Week, our Entrepreneurship Centre ran a “Fintech Startup Workshop”. I was invited to be a judge at the event where I gave feedback to the students.

More info can be seen on this LinkedIn post.

Farshad Nowshadi’s post copied here as well for convenience.

It was such fun, in October 2024, to be invited to run a FinTech startup workshop as part of Innovation Week at the beautiful University of St Andrews, ranked the 2nd Best University in the UK according to the 2025 Good Universities Guide. My workshop was designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students and focused on turning startup ideas into reality.

I organized the attendees into competing groups to brainstorm various ideas. While developing an initial concept is relatively straightforward, the more complex aspects are crucial. Questions such as “Is this really a good idea?”, “How do we finance it?”, “How do we find the right team?” “How should we allocate shares and wages?” and “How do we distribute resources across different departments?” can significantly impact the success of any startup. During this engaging workshop, I shared my experiences and helped attendees explore how these details can make or break a startup.

The response to the event was fantastic. Several attendees, some of whom are shown in the photo, approached me to express how much they enjoyed the interaction. A few participants shared their own innovative startup ideas and sought advice on how to elevate them to the next level. I would also like to thank Cassidy from the Innovation Team, Dr. Oz Akgun, and Evelyn Simpson for their excellent support during the workshop.