OREANDA-NEWS. On 17 and 18 April, the Idea Validation Weekend of the University of Tartu Idea Lab programme Tramm welcomes Jim Ralley from UK and Kushtrim Xhakli from Kosovo, who are here to help students get the maximum out of their ideas. The ambassador of the UK Christopher Bruce Holtby will also say his greetings.

Tramm is a semester-long extra-curricular programme that aims to encourage entrepreneurial thinking, provide knowledge and skills that enable students with potential ideas form teams, understand patterns of value creation, test their concepts and develop business models. The programme has three training events that support participation in the students’ business ideas competition Kaleidoskoop that brings together teams from both extra-curricular activities and regular entrepreneurship courses.

The participants of the Idea Validation Weekend get an overview of the process of their way to prototype and market. They will test their value proposition, make a rapid prototype and get an overview of traps to avoid. The weekend ends with pitching – quick presentation of the ideas – and thinking about the next steps by making the action plan.

In all this, Jim Ralley from the UK and Kushtrim Xhakli from Kosovo will mentor the students and make them think out of the box.

Ralley works with companies and projects in education and the creative industries to advance knowledge, improve practice and make the world better one tiny piece at a time.

He is currently working with the radical Swedish digital educator Hyper Island on the future of design education, with the world’s largest education company Pearson on creating a real alternative to universities and with many other organisations to improve their work, wellbeing and productivity. He has designed and delivered innovative learning programmes and master’s degree programmes for students.

Kushtrim Xhakli is an experienced entrepreneur with a high passion for innovation and market disruption. In the last decade, he started companies from scratch and managed to bring a range of new technologies into challenging environments.

He is a Co-Founder of Fast Europe Ventures Ltd a digital strategy and business model design, banking and tech solution enabler firm, working with banks, government and telecoms operators and Co-Founder of Changers.com Germany, producer of intelligent and mobile lifestyle solar-charger that enables everybody to produce and consume their own renewable energy.

Jim Ralley and Kushtrim Xhakli also give a master program workshop to the University of Tartu enterpreneurship and technology management students.

Ralley’s stay at the University of Tartu is funded by the British Embassy.