IDEALAB- Call for Expert: Market Validation Sprint

Park Innovation is a mission-driven organization focused on innovation, combining a community project, coworking space, tech hub, and business accelerator to promote community development. With over six years of active engagement, Park Innovation offers unique programs and resources to empower youth and women with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and employability programs. The initiatives at Park Innovation align with its two core pillars:

1- Entrepreneurship, focusing on fostering innovation and empowering startups through tailored support, mentorship, and access to resources that enable sustainable business growth.

2- Employability and Employment, aiming to bridge the gap between education and employment by equipping youth with essential, market-relevant skills and practical experiences to thrive in a competitive workforce.

For the fourth batch in a row, Park Innovation is implementing Idea Lab in South Mount Lebanon, a 10-week entrepreneurship support program being implemented across Lebanon with the aim of providing the proper technical, financial, and business support needed for entrepreneurs to validate their solutions and turn their ideas into businesses. It allows entrepreneurs with Cleantech and Agrifoodtech solutions to learn how to identify their problem, validate their solution in the market, use the 1500 USD to build their first prototype, and create a strong team that has the capacity to take on challenges and scale their startup.

We are seeking an experienced and skilled trainer to lead the Market Validation Sprint, guiding startups through market estimation, assumption validation, and competitors analysis, enabling them to validate their product offerings based on real customer needs and feedback. Startups will also receive training in stakeholder engagement, market validation methodologies, interviewing customers, and research-driven marketing strategies to ensure product-market fit.

Scope of Services

The selected expert will be responsible for the workshop from planning to execution, monitoring, and reporting. The duration of the in-person physical workshop is 5 hours including practical exercises, for 10 teams concurrently. Following the training, the expert will be leading 2 VIRTUAL (online) clinics: Validation Board and Market Sizing and Competitors Analysis one hour per clinic per startup for the 10 startups (20 sessions in total for the two clinics with all startups).

Key areas to be covered:

• Conduct a practical Market Validation Workshop for startups, focusing on understanding customer needs, validating assumptions, and refining product-market fit in the context of Agrifoodtech and Cleantech.

• Guide startups through market research methodologies to identify customer pain points, test assumptions, and validate their business concepts using structured approaches.

• Support the creation of customer personas and segmentation strategies, incorporating information gathered from interviews and research to tailor products/services to the right audience.

• Facilitate the adoption of a Build-Measure-Learn mindset by mentoring startups on applying Agile principles for iterative testing and market adaptation. Emphasize qualitative validation through customer interviews and feedback loops to ensure a strong problem-solution and product-market fit.

• Assist startups in defining key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of their validation efforts, ensuring data-driven decision-making aligned with the Agriculture and Clean Energy sectors.

• Encourage startups to create a structured and adaptable roadmap for market validation, aligning with Lean and Agile principles for continuous learning and refinement.

• Lead two clinics: Validation Board Clinic and Market Sizing and Competitors Analysis Clinic, providing one-hour tailored sessions per startup (20 sessions in total).

  • Validation Board Clinic: Guides startups in systematically testing assumptions, gathering feedback, and iterating on their concepts through a structured validation approach.

  • Market Sizing & Competitor Analysis Clinic: Helps startups understand TAM, SAM, SOM, and conduct an in-depth competitor analysis to evaluate market opportunities and competitive positioning.

• Startups will complete four structured exercises that reinforce their market validation process:

  • Interview Register – Systematically document and analyze customer interviews to track insights and feedback.

  • Validation Board – Use a structured framework to test business assumptions, validate key hypotheses, and pivot if needed.

  • Market Size Estimation (TAM, SAM, SOM) – Help startups quantify market potential and evaluate scalability.

  • Competitor Analysis – Guide startups in mapping industry players, assessing competitive advantages, market gaps, and differentiation strategies.

Qualifications and Requirements

This call welcomes applications from independent trainers/consultants or legal entities based in Lebanon.

• A Bachelor's degree in Business, Entrepreneurship, Engineering, or a related field is required, with preference given to candidates holding a Masters or PhD.

• 5+ years of experience guiding startups through early-stage development, competitive advantage identification, validating assumptions, and market estimation.

• Strong knowledge of Lean and Agile methodologies, focusing on iterative learning and efficiency.

• Experience in market research, interviewing/surveying techniques, competitors research, validation methods.

• Expertise in qualitative validation methods, including conducting effective customer interviews.

• Skilled in facilitating hands-on exercises that translate theory into actionable practice.

• Background in AgrifoodTech/Agriculture, or Clean Energy startups is a plus.

• Strong communication skills in English and Arabic, with an engaging and interactive training style.

• Availability to conduct the workshop at Park Innovation, Semkanieh- El Chouf (tiny.cc/pi-location)

Expected Deliverables

• The selected expert is required to provide a comprehensive curriculum outline, detailing the various subtopics to be covered during the workshop, along with estimated durations for each segment. 

• Upon approval, the selected expert will be responsible for delivering the 5-hour workshop and 20 total clinics in accordance with the approved curriculum.

• The trainer must complete a feedback form for each startup, one after the training and another after the clinics, detailing their observations and assessments.

• The expert shall be ready for an oral briefing about the startups right after the sprint to highlight all strengths and areas of improvement to the IdeaLab program manager.

• Furthermore, the trainer is required to adhere to the relevant procurement procedures (quotation, signature of a service agreement, invoice, receipt, MOF certificate and/or ID/Passport, programmatic deliverables).