The Summer School as a launch pad for ideas

Stratum, a startup that took shape in TBS Education

Every summer the walls of TBS Education in Barcelona witness three frenetic weeks of theoretical classes and practical workshops. The Summer School opens its doors for undergraduate students to improve their business skills. Jack Minchin, British student of Business Management & Economics at Nottingham Trent University, is one of these students who decided to take advantage of the summer downtime at the school.

Jack Minchin, creator of Stratum

“TBS Education in Barcelona was the best of times, in one of the greatest cities. It was really amazing to meet the delegates from all over the world and the three-week program has left me with lasting memories”, states Jack. He decided to travel to the Catalan city to “explore it for a longer period of time” and because he found the academic content “interesting”.

Shortly thereafter, Jack would shape a start-up that is going strong. Its name is Stratum and it consists of “a digital members club connecting our members with luxury experiences “, as its creator explains. “Stratum is a service designed to alleviate the paradox of choice, by curating the very best experiences around the world and, using a behaviour inference engine, make personalised recommendations for our members”.

Jason Moore and Jas Nijjer

Although the project was born in Barcelona, the original idea dates back to February last year. “And then metamorphosed into our currently business model in August,” says Jack. A model that has undergone many changes and is totally unrecognisable compared to the initial design. Nowadays Stratum also has the work of Jason Moore, Director of Partnerships, and Jas Nijjer, Director of Technology.

For Jack Minchin, his time at the Summer School was “essential” for the development of his startup and helped him define the business idea. “Don’t be scared to admit that your first ideas or aren’t good, you just have to keep iterating until you find a workable solution,” he says. In addition, the course allowed him to detect the needs of his potential audience: ” you might think you have the best idea, but it doesn’t matter. Unless you’re solving customer pain points, no one is going to subscribe to your service or buy your product “.