From Idea to Startup: From the Classroom to Practice
January 20 , 2026
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In the current semester, within the course “Design Thinking and Service Design,” the final assessment for students was organized in the form of a startup pitch competition.
As their final project, students worked on startup ideas based on real-world problems — analyzing consumer needs and market demand, and transforming ideas into functioning business models.
During the defense, special attention was given to:
• the relevance of the idea and the problem it addresses,
• alignment with market needs and the value created for users,
• monetization strategies,
• revenue generation,
• initial costs and financial justification.
The defense process became a gateway into the startup ecosystem for students. One student’s project was accepted into the UzCombinator acceleration program.
Several students also registered their projects for the “Mirzo Ulug‘bek Vorislari” innovation competition.
This experience enabled students to turn academic assignments into real projects, test their knowledge and skills in practice, and define their future entrepreneurial paths.
The goal of the course is to develop specialists who can solve real problems, understand the market, and economically justify their ideas.
The results speak for themselves:
📈 increased student interest in startups
🚀 well-directed practical preparation
Going forward, these projects will be further developed and implemented in practice.
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📖 Broaden your academic horizons with Nordik publications.
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