I Am a Professional: Tips From Former Winners of Technological Entrepreneurship Track

Tasks at every stage

Last year, the first round of the Technological Entrepreneurship track for Bachelor’s and Master’s students included theoretical questions on a product approach, namely, production costs, customer loyalty, and team management. Students were also offered to solve certain cases. One of the tasks was to write a market entry strategy, as well as define a target audience and value proposition.

As a final project, participants had to generate a business idea following the established criteria. In doing so, they had to build a business plan and address the issues of intellectual property rights, payback, and investments. After their projects were completed, the authors presented them to the expert board. 

The winner of the last year’s competition was Denis Dotsenko, a first-year Master’s student at the Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations, who surprised the jury with a business plan for a new mobile app that can say how many products are currently in a woodshop or a warehouse based it its photo. His runner-up, Egor Bondarenko, a second-year Master’s student of the School of Translational Information Technologies, developed a machine learning algorithm capable of suggesting medical tests for patients and referring them to the right medical specialists. The app is supposed to accelerate the process of diagnosis. 

Training for the Technological Entrepreneurship Track

Since Denis Dotsenko graduated from ITMO with a Bachelor’s degree in innovation, he had already had experience in creating and managing innovation projects. The acquired knowledge came in handy when he had to address the challenges related to investments, economics, and project management. Denis, nevertheless, turned to other sources offered by the contest’s organizers, too. 

To prepare himself for the contest, Egor Bondarenko took an ITMO’s course on technological entrepreneurship where former and current startupers spoke about how to start a business and go global. Egor believes that this course helped him advance to the final round. He also has some expertise in economics. The student has studied at the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and worked in consulting previously. 

The hardest part 

Denis Dotsenko found the final round the hardest. Within a limited time, participants had to go through a wealth of information and develop full-fledged business projects. With no prepared materials, it would be even harder to train for the finals. To make sure his project will be ready on time, Denis went for a topic that wasn’t new to him.

As for Egor Bondarenko, he struggled most with fitting everything he wanted to say about his project into a five-minute presentation. He had to cover lots of bits in his presentation – from road maps, technologies, target audiences, and investments right to MVPs and firsts sales. To succeed, the runner-up practiced his presentation skills: he wrote a speech and rehearsed it over and over again. 

Life after the contest

To Denis Dotsenko, the contest was an opportunity to get into ITMO without having to take any exams. Now, he is studying strategies and methods of digital transformation at ITMO’s Technological Management and Innovations. For taking a silver medal, Egor Bondarenko received a cash prize that he put in a managed account. After the competition, Egor decided to carry on with his project. 

Tips for future winners

“First and foremost, you should attend lectures organized by the contest’s crew because there, you will find similar tasks and get answers to your questions. Then, you shouldn’t engage in a long argument with the experts – even if you don’t agree. It’s better to move on to other questions and still receive your points without losing much time. And, finally, the experts expect real results so, I think, you have better chances if you have an MVP or your idea can be implemented technology-wise. So, you better prepare in advance to make it easier for you at the final round,” says Denis Dotsenko. 

“This contest is a great way for students to try themselves in entrepreneurship and attract investments for their projects. I’d recommend getting out of your shell more since business is all about community. It’s also good to study other fields, which you know little to nothing about, and not be afraid. Entrepreneurs should welcome the new. You won’t learn anything if you don’t try new things,” shares Egor Bondarenko. 

This year, apart from the Technological Entrepreneurship track in partnership with VeeRoute, ITMO University is running three core tracks with SberBank: Robotics, Programming & IT, and Information & Cyber Security. To learn more about other tracks, check out our articles on Information & Cyber Security and Robotics.