XV Forum of Young Scientists of KAFU: Seminar “STARTUP SPARKS: IGNITE YOUR IDEAS IN 90 MINUTES”

On April 7, 2025, the XV Forum of Young Scientists of the Kazakh-American Free University “Modern Scientific Directions: from Applied Research to Innovations” started. On the first day of the Forum, the seminar “STARTUP SPARKS: IGNITE YOUR IDEAS IN 90 MINUTES” was held. The speakers of the event were: Alexandra Astafyeva, PhD, MBA, MEd, Director of Creative Development of KAFU, James Evenson, Partner and Co-founder of KAFU; Max Furman, Content Creation Manager, Founder of Start2 Group. The event brought together students seeking to develop their entrepreneurial skills and learn more about startups.

The meeting began with an interactive introduction, which immediately set the participants up for productive communication. James Evenson shared valuable knowledge about entrepreneurship, explaining who an entrepreneur is and what qualities are necessary for successful business. He stressed that a good entrepreneur must be creative, ready to take risks, remain resilient and quickly adapt to changing conditions.

During the seminar, students applied the strategy “Problem + Solution = Business Idea”, which allowed them to develop their own business ideas. Among the proposed projects were the installation of portable chargers at the university, the creation of unique fitness bracelets for time management, and the development of online platforms for searching information with a user-friendly interface.

In addition, the participants discussed important aspects of entrepreneurship in the context of studying at the university and shared their own experience in this area.

The seminar ended with a speech by Max Furman, who focused on the importance of self-presentation and competent speech delivery for successful communication with the audience.

Thanks to this seminar, KAFU students realized how important it is to be creative, bold, and not afraid to implement their ideas. With such experience, they are ready to implement their business projects and achieve success in the future.

Material prepared by Sofia Koltygina