On 3 May, the entrepreneurial competencies training Startup.Genesis was held at Voronezh State University as part of the federal project “Platforms of University Technological Entrepreneurship”. More than 90 students took part in the training.
The federal project “Platforms of University Technological Entrepreneurship” was developed in Russia in 2022 for the training of professionals in the field of technological entrepreneurship. The trainings are coordinated by Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and Voronezh State University is one of the regional partners. The trainings give students basic knowledge of technological entrepreneurship through game experience. Real entrepreneurs act as business coaches who are willing to share the most relevant tools for business development.
The experts of this meeting included founder of the Sokrat platform, IT entrepreneur, entrepreneur tracker, and marketing and product growth specialist Andrey Grishin and IT entrepreneur, tracker of corporate accelerators (Sberbank, Beeline, X5 Retail Group, etc.), and product leader Alexander Saprykin.
“The trainings allow developing new skills which will later help not only with employment but with launching your own business as well. It’s always useful to know how it works from the inside and how the processes are built. We tell students about how business models of projects are created. Contrary to general thinking that business models are like a big report with many pages, we show the participants that it is a work tool that can be created rather quickly, tested on first clients, and then improved in the course of work. Speaking about the qualities that are important for beginner entrepreneurs, I would mention communication skills, being open and curious, all of which will allow young entrepreneurs to quickly make useful contacts and find professionals for their team,” said Andrey Grishin.
Students could try on the role of technological entrepreneurs: they organised the work of their teams, created the concept of a tech entrepreneurial project, conducted research regarding their potential customers, developed a product idea, and also studied the needs of their target audience and learned how to prepare a value proposition. The participants worked on business models of their startups and presentations of their products.
“These trainings make students think about how to build their business, what difficulties they may face, why it is interesting, what skills they need, and what a young entrepreneur should be like,” noted Alexander Saprykin. “We tell them about how to think of an idea for your business, how to develop a business model, how to count money, how to find value for your target audience and things like that. This information is useful not only for future entrepreneurs but for any other areas of activity and it can be used right away. As for the secret of success of each startup, there is no such thing. You just need to start and after some time you will get experience, a strategy, and understanding. By the way, today entrepreneurial skills are becoming more and more appreciated.”
