<iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PHTV9K7" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">
Loading
Skip to Main Content
Product cover image for Unicode: Recoding the Future

Unicode: Recoding the Future

Dominic Lim, Sophie Fiala

Product #:W46190
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Entrepreneurship, Strategy
Setting:Uzbekistan, 2024
Details:Case (PDF) • 9 pages • 2025-10-08

Subjects:

Emerging marketsBusiness modelsPivots

Industries:

Education institutions

Geography:

UzbekistanAsia
Your Price:$9.71

Purchase this material with a free Educator Account and enjoy more benefits:

  • Free Educator Copy
  • Free Teaching Notes
  • Build your coursepack
  • Discounted academic price

Faced with a lagging domestic tech industry, serial entrepreneur Diyor Latipov needed to determine the next steps of his technology education for kids start-up, Unicode. Founded during Uzbekistan’s tech boom in 2021, Unicode taught coding basics to over 500 children ages 4 to 18 in a three-year period and developed a self-sustaining business-to-business model. In April 2024, Uzbekistan’s tech bubble had burst. Faced with budget cuts, schools were ending their contracts for Unicode’s lessons. Additionally, Unicode was struggling with high staff turnover rates. Reluctant to give up on Unicode, Latipov considered how to pivot to extend Unicode’s offerings and scope to meet the new market constraints.

Learning Objectives

This case can be used in introductory and advanced entrepreneurship courses that focus on new venture scale-up. It can be used at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Through studying this case, students will learn how to navigate the challenges of building a start-up in an emerging economy. In working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
  • Understand the influence of geopolitical factors, availability of capital, and volatility of foreign investment on the start-up ecosystem in a developing market
  • Analyze the internal capabilities of a start-up using the strategy triangle, focusing on its capabilities, goals, and product market focus, and determine whether it has a sustainable competitive advantage
  • Assess the start-up’s business model and understand how its revenue streams can be supported by different partners and customer segments
  • Evaluate the potential go-to-market strategies that could be used to break into a new industry or geography
Loading
Case Study: Unicode: Recoding the Future (English version) | Ivey Publishing