OpenAI Academy: Small Business Jam 2025

TL;DR: OpenAI Academy hosted a small business salon in San Francisco. Several entrepreneurs shared how they use ChatGPT and custom GPTs to efficiently handle daily tasks like product catalog management, website building, and data entry, and emphasized that AI's non-judgmental nature makes them unafraid to ask any question. ## Event Background and Participants The OpenAI Small Business Salon 2025 was held in San Francisco as part of a five-city series covering Houston, Detroit, Miami, New York City, and San Francisco. The event aimed to help small businesses boost productivity and output with AI. Participants came from diverse industries: - Dana Cherry – Owner and COO of Monsam Portable Sinks - Mike Manidis – Owner of Atlas Skateboard Shop in San Mateo, California - Megha Shah – Enterprise Sales Representative at Trademore Technologies - Matt Rosenberg – Co-founder and Head of Operations at Bangkok Brush - Sarah Blair Pollock – Founder of Build Up Fitness - Singon – General Manager of Naadam Mongolian Restaurant They shared a common goal: "Everyone walks away with one new tool that leverages AI to increase productivity and output for themselves or their company." ## Participants' Expectations and First Impressions Many participants previously used ChatGPT "just casually" and knew it had more potential. One store owner said, "I have some specific use cases where I want to learn through ChatGPT because I've been using it very casually before, but I know it has way more potential." Another was trying it for the first time: "I know AI is a powerful new tool, and I'm not using it at all right now. I feel like if I don't explore it, I might miss out on a huge opportunity." One entrepreneur specifically highlighted AI's non-judgmental nature: "One of the great things is when I realized I can ask it any question without worrying about how it perceives me. I don't need to preface it with 'I know this is a stupid question.' It's completely non-judgmental, and that feels empowering." ## Advanced Features and Real-World Applications The event focused on ChatGPT's advanced features and how to apply prompts to real workflows. ### Product Catalog Automation Previously, when new stock arrived, product information—categories, variants, sizes, colors—had to be created manually for each item. Participants discovered: "It looks like AI can look at a catalog I upload, or even browse a website, and automatically generate complete product descriptions so we can just copy and paste." ### Rapid Website Building Another participant shared: "I even made a complete website and it's live right now." This shows AI can drastically shorten the time from idea to execution. ### Custom GPTs "I built a custom GPT that will save a lot of time every day. I can get this done in 30 minutes." Customized GPTs make repetitive tasks efficient. ### Smarter Entrepreneurship "I just came up with a smarter way to start a business, and a safer way." AI helps entrepreneurs think about their business models from new angles. ## Summary and Takeaways Participants generally felt that AI opens up countless possibilities—"It's like having an expert for every task." At the end of the event, they marveled: "It's absolutely amazing." Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjYqxEd0VPU