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Getting to Know BAScii: A Faculty for Ambitious Young Innovators
- pararawee
- Jun 19
- 11 min read
Today, TheClassTutor presents an interview with “Tae,” a student from the BAScii program at Chulalongkorn University—an exciting faculty known for nurturing the next generation of startup founders. Let’s find out what students actually study in this program.
Teacher Golf: Hello, Tae. Could you please introduce yourself?
Tae: Hello, my name is Tae Techanukoonchai. I’m around 20 years old and currently studying at BAScii, Chulalongkorn University.
Teacher Golf: What cohort are you in?
Tae: I’m from BAScii cohort 003—the third generation.
Teacher Golf: So that means there are already some graduates from earlier cohorts?
Tae: Yes, the first group just graduated recently.
Teacher Golf: This faculty gained a lot of attention when Chulalongkorn first launched it. So, when students graduate from this program, what do they typically become?
Tae: Well, this program isn’t like engineering or BBA where, for example, if you major in finance, you’ll go work in finance, or if you study engineering, you’ll go into an engineering job. BAScii is different. We’re more like generalists—we can do a bit of everything. Honestly, most people who join BAScii don’t even know exactly what they want to become yet. Alumni have gone into consulting, marketing, management trainee programs, or even into big-name apps like LINE or Agoda.
Teacher Golf: So when you chose this faculty, what did they promote it as?
Tae: The main selling point was startups. They emphasized that if you join this program, you’ll get real hands-on experience in creating a startup—which is a big trend right now. That’s what got most people interested.
Teacher Golf: That reminds me of the show Shark Tank. Have you seen it?
Tae: Yes, I have.
Teacher Golf: On that show, people pitch startup ideas to investors. Is BAScii kind of like that?
Tae: You could say that. The faculty gives us the foundation to make those kinds of connections. We learn how to pitch to investors, and if your idea is solid, you can really go far.
Teacher Golf: So it’s like a broad-based education?
Tae: Yes, very broad.
Teacher Golf: So if someone has a tech idea, they’d need to understand IT and app development. If it’s something in the medical field, they’d need to study that area too, right?
Tae: Exactly.
Teacher Golf: Can you share any cool startup ideas from your classmates, or is that confidential? I’d love to hear what students in this program are coming up with.
Tae: Sure! One of my friends started a project called Carsup. It’s one of the top startup projects in our program. He’s competed in lots of competitions and actually won first place at the Chula Startup contest.
Teacher Golf: Hold on—Chula Startup is a startup competition within Chulalongkorn University itself?
Tae: Yes, it’s an internal competition.
Teacher Golf: What year do students need to be in to join the competition?
Tae: Anyone can join. It’s held once a year.
Teacher Golf: About how many teams usually compete?
Tae: Hundreds of teams enter. Then they narrow it down to just 10 finalists. My friend’s team won 1st place. After that, they won the Bangkok Startup competition too, placed 2nd in the Thailand Startup contest, and even made it to the semifinals at the Global Startup level.
Teacher Golf: Has anyone actually invested in it yet?
Tae: Yes, they have. From what I know, he already received a 7-figure investment (in Thai Baht). The idea is a platform where people can inquire about car repair shops. For example, if someone has car trouble and doesn’t know where to go, the platform helps them find a suitable repair shop and take care of everything in one go.
Teacher Golf: So it seems like this program really pushes students to explore beyond the classroom, right?
Tae: Yes, the program gives us the foundation, but students are also encouraged to compete in a lot of competitions. At Chulalongkorn, we’re offered many opportunities to compete. There are all sorts of case competitions, and the two major ones in the second year are Chula Startup and CEO Chula. The mentors in CEO Chula are top-tier. There are two main tracks: product and food. For the food track, mentors are successful restaurant owners—like those from Potato Corner. For the product track, it’s mostly fashion—like youth fashion brands such as Madmatter Studio, which are found in shopping malls. All the mentors are from real retail businesses.
So besides gaining knowledge, you also get pushed hard—falling and getting back up again—and you build connections too. You build real relationships with the mentors. The faculty even organizes seminars where angel investors and successful startup founders come in. Top, the founder of Bitkub, has given talks, as well as Shannon from Shark Tank. It’s like Shark Tank coming in to dig for promising startups from young students.
Teacher Golf: That’s amazing. After listening to this, I feel really fired up about this faculty. It’s clearly a program built for startups, and from what you’re saying, it’s not just a marketing gimmick. The students really have to deal with challenges that mimic real-world situations and bring their ideas to life—even if it means failing on paper first. Now, let’s go back for a moment. When you first applied to this program, what scores did you need?
Tae: You need IELTS and SAT scores to apply.
Teacher Golf: What were the requirements the year you applied?
Tae: IELTS had to be over 6.0, ideally 6.5. For the SAT, if you score around 1,300, you should be in a good position.
Teacher Golf: But now the required scores are going up, right?
Tae: Yes, because it’s becoming more popular and competitive.
Teacher Golf: So what do you study in your first year?
Tae: In the first year, we study Finance, and Math that’s similar to A-Level Math.
Teacher Golf: So to study here, you really need a math background?
Tae: Yes, you need math in your first year. Then we take a course called Justice for Innovators.
Teacher Golf: What’s that about?
Tae: It’s about understanding fairness and justice in decision-making as an innovator. We also study Entrepreneurship, where they teach us how to become entrepreneurs. But the most important course is Project Seed. This is the first year we start building our own startup.
In the first semester of Year 1, they give us an overview of how startups work. We don’t form teams yet. We just observe and get a feel for who we might want to work with. A typical team has 3 to 5 members max.
One thing that makes this course stand out is that we can bring in students from other faculties to join our team. They don’t earn credit for BAScii, but they can be part of the team. For example, BAScii students might be great at startups, but if we need someone to handle finance, we can invite someone from BBA. Or if we need someone to develop software, we can bring in someone from ISE.
Teacher Golf: So basically, you’re the one who has to come up with the idea, and if your idea requires expertise in a certain field, you have to go out and recruit that person?
Tae: Exactly.
Teacher Golf: So there are about 20 teams per year? Is that about right, based on 3–5 people per team out of 100 students?
Tae: That’s about right.
Teacher Golf: What’s the atmosphere like in class? These 20 teams are each pitching their own ideas and trying to operate like real startups?
Tae: In the first semester, we learn startup fundamentals—things like validating pain points and how to do that. In the second semester, we form teams and start pitching ideas. We present our ideas—usually in the first week—and then we have to update the instructors every week.
The cool thing about BAScii is that we have connections with real mentors. They select mentors from all over Thailand—people who are already working in startups—and they volunteer to be our mentors. We meet with them once a week for about an hour.
Teacher Golf: Can you give an example of a mentor—someone well-known?
Tae: My team’s mentor last year was named Kastytis. He’s an incubator—someone who helps nurture startups and helps them grow. He’s from Lithuania and runs a company himself.
Teacher Golf: So there are mentors from abroad?
Tae: Yes, both Thai and international mentors.
Teacher Golf: And what kind of help do they give when you talk to them?
Tae: Mostly, they help evaluate your idea—see if it’s feasible. If they think it needs improvement, they’ll have you go back to square one. You might need to revalidate it, interview 50 people, then come back with the results and explain what you’ve found.
Teacher Golf: So the pain points we come up with—those are our own ideas, right? But sometimes they might just come from our imagination. So they make us go out and validate them by interviewing others to see if those pain points really exist for other people too?
Tae: Exactly. A lot of people think doing a startup is glamorous and once you launch, you'll succeed. But that’s not the case—99% actually fail. BAScii teaches us to fail on paper first, not in real life. If we fail on paper, we can still fix it. But failing in the real world? That costs money—and it’s not really worth it.
Teacher Golf: Some people aren’t used to failure. When they fail and don’t have a mentor, they can’t get back up. Talking to you feels like talking to someone already deep in the startup world. Sounds like things get serious starting from year 1—with the seed project and everything. So, let’s say there are five people in a group—do you all work on one idea together, or do you start with several ideas?
Tae: You could start with several ideas, but they want us to focus on just one. In a team, everyone has to divide responsibilities—one person might handle marketing, another does UX/UI design, another works on finance, and so on.
Teacher Golf: Wow, intense from year 1. So what happens in year 2?
Tae: Year 2 is even more intense. In year 1, they understand we’re still forming teams, so they don’t push us too hard. But in year 2, the course changes—it’s no longer called “Project Seed,” it becomes something like “Production Entrepreneur.”
The most important part of this course is setting milestones. You have to plan what you’ll do each week and each month. Then you have to submit a weekly reflection—and your progress has to be real. If you fall behind on a milestone, you have to explain why and how you’ll fix it. That way, we learn from what doesn’t work too.
Teacher Golf: It’s like they’re forcing us to constantly come up with new ideas so we can actually build a real startup. You signed up for this, so take it seriously—make it work. If your idea isn’t working, there needs to be a reason.
Tae: Exactly. If it doesn’t work, you scrap it and start over. I’ve restarted twice already.
Teacher Golf: How long did the first idea take before you had to abandon it?
Tae: One semester.
Teacher Golf: That’s 3–4 months gone. And the second one?
Tae: Another semester. Then I started again.
Teacher Golf: That’s actually the key, right? Getting used to starting over again and again.
Tae: Yeah. Our mentor always says starting over isn’t a bad thing. It’s good—you fail fast, learn fast, and grow stronger. That’s how you eventually come up with a better product.
Teacher Golf: Exactly. If you want to do startups, you have to be okay with falling and getting back up quickly—there’s no way around it.
Tae: The good part is, in this program, it’s like we’re in a simulated startup world. If we were out in the real world, we’d be losing real money. But here, they prepare us to face what the real world is actually like and show us how to identify whether our ideas are truly viable.
Teacher Golf: So now that you’re in year 3—what’s that like?
Tae: Year 3 is actually even more intense than year 1. Aside from our core subjects, we also have to take general education (GenEd) courses like every other Chula student. But because we’re seen as future business leaders, our program also requires us to learn a third language. We can choose between Japanese, Chinese, or Korean. You don’t have to take it in year 3—but I decided to get it done now.
We also have a course on Technology and Innovation, taught by Dr. Pietro Borsano, where we learn how to integrate technology into startups or business models. Another course is Applied AI—after ChatGPT came out, people started using it a lot. So this course teaches us how to write better prompts and use ChatGPT more effectively than the average person.
Teacher Golf: Other faculties might use ChatGPT to cheat on assignments, but your program requires you to use it?
Tae: Yes, it’s mandatory. And for specialization, you can choose from options like Data Analytics. But I chose Principles of Pharmacy because my startup idea is about toothbrushes—so I want more health-related knowledge. I also picked Public Health Innovation.
Teacher Golf: Sounds intense—year 1 was tough, and years 2 and 3 still sound just as intense. What about year 4? Do you even have classes?
Tae: Actually, before year 4, in the second semester of year 3, we don’t even study on campus anymore. Everyone is required to go on an exchange program. If you don’t go, you must do an internship. But ideally, we should already do an internship in the summer after year 2.
As for exchange, our faculty has amazing partners—UC Berkeley is the most competitive, accepting about 10 students per year. There’s also NUS (Singapore), Kyushu University (Japan), and others. I didn’t join the faculty’s exchange, though—I applied through Chula’s OIA program and got into KTH in Sweden.
Teacher Golf: What’s OIA?
Tae: OIA stands for the Office of International Affairs. It’s Chula’s university-wide exchange program. Anyone from any faculty can apply, so the competition is tough. But my faculty also has its own quota and partners.
Teacher Golf: Okay, and what happens in year 4?
Tae: Year 4 is when we focus on our capstone project. You can choose to continue your startup, work on your family business, or do an internship and turn that into a project. The company you intern with will collaborate with the faculty to evaluate your project.
This is the year where you really zero in on your chosen direction. There’s also a final presentation, like a grand showcase. If you haven’t finished GenEd or the third language requirement, you’ll have to complete them in year 4 too.
Teacher Golf: Sounds like building a startup—like Carsup, for example—means there are real costs involved. What if you need to travel, build an app, or hire someone?
Tae: Yeah, we often have to cover some expenses ourselves. But the faculty gives each team a budget of about 100,000 THB (~$2,700) to use over all 4 years. If you burn through it and your idea fails, that money’s gone.
Teacher Golf: So your faculty provides some funding, but a lot still comes out of your own pocket?
Tae: Yes, but the smartest thing is to collaborate with students from other faculties who have the skills you need. That way, you reduce costs and get better results.
Teacher Golf: That’s really clever—surround yourself with people who are already wired for startup thinking. They may not know where to start, but they bring valuable ideas. Thanks so much, Tae. Can you remind us of your faculty's name?
Tae: It's now called CSII – Chulalongkorn School of Integrated Innovation.
Teacher Golf: Still a popular choice, I see. How many students do they admit per year?
Tae: Around 100 students.
Teacher Golf: So it’s competitive! Focus on a high SAT score, that’s the most important. IELTS is just supplementary—get at least 6.0, but the SAT score gets you the interview.
Thanks again, Tae.
Tae: Thank you very much!
Teacher Golf: I hope we’ll see you on Shark Tank one day.
Tae: I hope I won’t need Shark Tank—I’d rather get a value investor quietly and scale up.
Teacher Golf: Quietly rich, huh? And maybe someday you’ll be the No.1 toothbrush startup in the world. I’ll be cheering for you. Thanks again, Tae.
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