AI to MVP: Supercharge Your Startup Journey

The Design and Innovation Meetup for November 2025 has a special guest host! We're pleased to be collaborating with Pascale and the team from Stand Tall who'll be offering a session on practical AI for startup founders - or the startup curious!

AI is changing how founders build, from validating ideas faster to testing products before a single line of code is written. This session is designed to help early-stage founders cut through the noise and learn what actually works when applying AI to real startup challenges.

You’ll explore how to use AI across the discovery phase: sharpening problem statements, mapping assumptions, sizing markets, and turning messy notes and interviews into usable insights. The session also covers rapid prototyping with AI tools to test value propositions, interfaces, and workflows before investing in full development.
Expect a frank, founder-to-founder discussion about the pitfalls too: data quality, hallucinations, privacy, and knowing when to trust AI versus your own judgment. You’ll leave with clear next steps, new insights, and a shortlist of tools to help you get further, faster.

The session is led by Chris O’Neill from Creative HQ, who works directly with founders through Startup Aotearoa and accelerator programmes nationwide.

We’ll also be celebrating the launch of a new partnership between Stand Tall and Startup Aotearoa.

And - as every - another great opportunity to connect with like-minded innovators from around Tauranga and the Western Bay.

MAKE SURE YOU NOTE THE DIFFERENT START TIME AND LOCATION! WE ARE AT BASESTATION, STARTING 5:15!!