3: Why the education system isn't ready for AI & how I pivoted to consulting

Ikum Kandola wanted to quit just a few months ago. After his first startup Teachify hit the brutal reality of the education market's resistance to AI, he pivoted hard into consulting, a space where AI actually drives revenue. Now TheAx.ai is helping smaller consultancies compete with the Big Four by productizing their knowledge through AI.

Ikum is co-founder of TheAx.ai, an AI-powered consulting platform that turns traditional time-based consultancies into outcome-based businesses. A computer science graduate who worked at PwC while launching his first venture at university, Ikum brings both technical depth and hard-won startup experience. TheAx has grown to 15 customers and £4k MRR after bootstrapping their MVP from a two-week pilot project that proved the concept.

He explains:

• Why "build it and they will come" is complete BS (even with a great product)
• How a two-week consulting gig became the foundation for a platform play
• Why he does 10 hours of dev work per week max (hint: sales is everything)
• The data-backed presentation that saved his startup from co-founder conflict
• How to leverage your co-founders' networks instead of cold outreach
• Why building public gets you builders, not customers