Search by tag «Entrepreneurship» 108 results
‘New Wallet’ Founder Mikhail Leontiev: ‘My Ultimate Goal is to Make People Associate Russia with Business’
Five years ago, ITMO graduates brothers Mikhail and Alexey Leontiev launched their business in manufacturing wallets from Tyvek, an innovative material that combines the properties of paper, plastic film, and textile, thanks to which items made from Tyvek are tear-proof, don’t get wet and weigh only tens of grams. Leontiev brothers started working on this concept when they were studying at ITMO University’s Faculty of Physics and Engineering. Nowadays, their wallets are sold in 150 shops nationwide and the company’s accomplishments include successful collaborations with popular streetwear brands, trendy calligraphy artist Pokras Lampas, Louna music group, and the founders’ alma mater ITMO University. ITMO.NEWS met with Mikhail Leontiev to talk about creating a unique brand, starting your own company, and going all the way from engineer to businessman.
11.07.2018
ABBYY Founder David Yang on AI, Building a Business and the Meaning of Life
David Yang founded his company ABBYY when he was still a student at MIPT. Today, ABBYY is one of Russia’s largest IT companies and deals with optical character recognition, linguistic technology, and artificial intelligence. Yang spoke about his beginnings, what it takes to be an entrepreneur, the future of AI and the meaning of life at a public event in St. Petersburg.
04.07.2018
ITMO Graduate and Entrepreneur Yaroslav Pavlov on Changing Academia Through IT
10 years ago, Yaroslav Pavlov graduated from ITMO’s Business Informatics program; since then, he’s managed to study in three different countries, build a managerial career in the field of IT, and launch one of Russia’s first iMBA programs at the RANEPA Institute. Currently, Mr. Pavlov is head of his own project that helps Russian business schools and companies get distance education processes up and running. In an interview for ITMO.NEWS, the expert spoke about the common problems that managers working in IT face, the specific features of Russian business schools, and why blended learning will become all the more popular in educational establishments.
04.05.2018
Russian and Finnish Students Learn About Business Together with FIRST+
30 students from Finland and Russia are currently attending the “Project-Based Approach to Business Canvas Model” intensive program in St. Petersburg. They learn about the use of business process engineering tools and work on cases of major companies like Valio, SOK and Bonava. ITMO University was chosen as one of the program’s main venues. The week-long course was made possible thanks to collaboration between ITMO University and the Tampere University of Applied Science, and a grant from the FIRST+ program, which promotes collaboration and partnership between universities of Russia and Finland.
22.03.2018
How to Start Your Own Business: Advice from Experts
ITMO University just hosted an expert session for hardware, high-tech and IT projects of the Future Technologies accelerator. This year, a record-breaking amount of participants made it to the final selection - 25 teams in total. Up until March, they’ll be finalizing their technologies, choosing and testing business models, studying their target audiences and making their first sales. Recently, the novice entrepreneurs’ projects were assessed by experts - founders and CEO’s of companies, specialists on growing markets, the financial sector and marketing. In an interview for ITMO.NEWS, they’ve shared about why most startups face common problems, the usual mistakes novice startupers face, and what there is to expect from 2018 in terms of promising technologies.
31.01.2018
Stickerum Startup Brings Your Favorite Telegram Stickers to Life
Social networks such as VK and the Telegram messenger app have made stickers hugely popular on the Russian internet. There are so many stickers available that you can express any emotion and replace whole sentences using them. However, the users don't just love the virtual stickers - you can find actual stickers of various brands, events, organizations and even famous personalities on laptops, smartphones, notebooks and more. Three students from ITMO University decided to bring the virtual stickers into reality, launching a startup called Stickerum, which lets Telegram users make real stickers out of virtual ones. Our special interview with Vitaliy Guryn, member of Stickerum’s team, gives us more insight into the new startup - and how to order your first set of stickers.
24.01.2018
New Opportunities: ITMO University Revamps Its Entrepreneurial Activities
ITMO University is restructuring its Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations. The new faculty will also include the Institute of International Business and Law and two departments of the Faculty of Management and Automation Controls (Academy LIMTU). The new Faculty will cooperate closely with the Project Management and Innovation Department, which will help optimize the university’s portfolio of educational programs in the field of technological management, entrepreneurship and innovations, intensify project work, and give students the opportunity to acquire entrepreneurial competencies as early as in their first year at the university. In an interview for ITMO.NEWS, Nina Yanykina, Head of ITMO’s Project Management and Innovation Department, expanded on these recent changes and the tasks of the university’s new structure.
29.12.2017
ITMO.REGIONS Startup School Comes to Volgograd State Technical University
As part of the ITMO.REGIONS trans-regional network of startup schools, an expert team from ITMO University has conducted two training programs on technology entrepreneurship and fundraising at the Volgograd State Technical University. The initiative is part of the “Conveyor of Innovations” strategic project; among its partners are the Volgograd Oblast business incubator and the regional government.
06.12.2017
Future Technologies Program: Teams Present Projects at Demo Day
On September 21, as part of the St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum (SPIIF), a Demo Day was held for ITMO Business Incubator’s acceleration program Future Technoogies. Ten teams presented their ideas to the expert jury, special guests and visitors. Over the course of five months, the projects have gone through many stages, from initial prototypes to final products, and acquired market introduction strategies. Visitors of the Forum could learn more about ITMO University’s technological projects at a special exhibition.
25.09.2017
How to Launch a Tech Project and Succeed
What does one need to get into tech, and, ultimately, launch their own project? A unique idea, a team of professionals, materials, equipment, financing and, first and foremost, specific knowledge that can’t be gained fast and cheap. Not having even one of these things will often make even the most enthusiastic entrepreneur abandon their work before it’s even started. The staff at ITMO’s Student Laboratory OLIMP, however, believes that finding your place in the tech world isn’t as hard as it may seem. Four years ago, a student team had a similar experience, and they are now ready to share it with others. As part of Gogol Library’s “Popular Science Week”, OLIMP’s co-head Kirill Bodrov gave a talk about the traps and pitfalls of technological entrepreneurship, why it’s important to visit FabLabs and science festivals and where to find the right skills and people for a project.
14.09.2017