HTE404
Market Validation and Research Lab
Faculty
Luiz Fittipaldi
Global Strategy & Planning Manager at PREPLY
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
This course is a fast-paced, hands-on research lab for aspiring founders and strategists. Over 16 sessions, students will learn how to investigate real customer needs, conduct both qualitative and quantitative market research, analyse competitors, and synthesise findings into clear, data-backed insights.
The focus is not on building or pitching, but on learning how to validate whether an idea is truly worth pursuing. By the end of the course, students will have developed and tested a research-driven case around a real opportunity — ready to inform their next steps.
Learning highlights
- Frame and prioritise startup opportunities using structured research methods.
- Conduct customer discovery interviews to uncover actionable insights.
- Build market sizing models using TAM/SAM/SOM frameworks.
- Analyse competitive landscapes to identify white space and positioning gaps.
- Design lean experiments to test key assumptions and reduce uncertainty.
- Leverage secondary data and public sources to enrich and validate findings.
- Synthesise research into a clear, insight-driven market validation report.
Course outline
15 classes
What Makes a Venture Worth Building?
By the end of this session, students will:
* Understand the difference between ideas, strategies, and marketable problems.
* Begin defining their startup “why” through vision anchoring.
* Identify assumptions and gaps to be validated through research.
* Select or refine the opportunity they’ll work on throughout the course.
How Founders Use Research to Make Better Bets
In this session, we’ll:
* Explore real examples of how early research changed startup trajectories.
* Map the difference between exploratory and validating research.
* Show how to turn intuition into structured inquiry.
* Teach a lightweight framework for tracking assumptions & evidence.
Behavioural Segmentation & Customer Archetypes
We’ll cover:
* Behavioural & demographic segmentation.
* How to identify early adopters & mainstream users?
* Jobs-to-be-Done mini-intro (JTBD light).
* How to turn interviews and observation into actionable segment maps?
Market Sizing 101
We’ll cover:
* TAM, SAM, and SOM: what they are and how to model them?
* How to research top-down and bottom-up market data?
* Why investors care about credible sizing?
Competitive Landscape Mapping
We’ll explore:
* Direct & indirect competitors.
* Frameworks to identify gaps and saturation.
* Free & Paid tools for competitive benchmarking.
Problem Sourcing and Prioritisation Frameworks
We’ll explore:
* How to source ideas from trends, communities, and qualitative data?
* Prioritisation tools like RICE, MoSCoW, and custom scoring.
* Strategic criteria: pain intensity, frequency, budget, and urgency.
Customer Discovery Plan & Desk Research
We’ll cover:
* How to mine Reddit, Quora, Trustpilot, and LinkedIn for insights?
* Tools for survey design and response quality.
Desk-based persona development.
Strategic Hypothesis Building
What it covers:
* How to define strategy hypotheses (e.g., “X segment has Y problem and will pay Z for solution A”)?
* Mapping assumptions & evidence.
* Framing experiments to validate/invalidate key assumptions.
Validating with Secondary Data & Public Insights
We’ll explore tools and approaches for:
* Analysing macro trends using platforms like Statista, Euromonitor, and Google Trends.
Pulling insights from industry reports, newsletters, white papers, and government datasets.
* Understanding customer behaviour through public forums, Reddit threads, YouTube comments, and app store reviews.
* Evaluating competitor positioning via LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and landing page reverse-engineering.
Business Models & Unit Economics — How Companies Actually Make Money
By the end of this session, students will:
* Understand key components of strong business models.
* Break down unit economics: LTV, CAC, contribution margin, and more.
* Analyse and rank real-world tech companies by the strength of their model.
Opportunity Modeling Lab
We’ll:
* Rebuild earlier market models using new assumptions.
Layer on customer segments and pricing tiers.
* Review investment filters (ROI, margin potential, path to breakeven).
Patterns, Signals & Noise: Making Sense of Qualitative Data
We’ll cover:
* How to cluster qualitative data into themes?
* Identifying high-frequency signals across different sources (interviews, forms, behaviours).
* Spotting contradictions or outliers — and deciding what to do with them.
* Using simple tools (e.g. Miro, sticky notes, tagging systems) to visualise insights.
* Creating research-backed “truths” to guide the final recommendation.
Research-Driven Personas & Opportunity Mapping
We’ll cover:
* Building final composite personas based on real behavioural and demographic data.
* Mapping user needs and pain points to potential opportunity spaces.
* Identifying edge cases, red flags, and segments to avoid.
* Exploring how validated needs could map into categories or business models (without building yet).
* Discussing what a “next step” looks like after research — prototype, pivot, or kill.
Student Research Clinics pt.1
In this working session, students will share their ongoing research progress, receive real-time feedback from peers and the instructor, and refine their next steps. The goal is to stress-test assumptions and sharpen clarity.
Student Research Clinics pt.2
In this working session, students will share their ongoing research progress, receive real-time feedback from peers and the instructor, and refine their next steps. The goal is to stress-test assumptions and sharpen clarity.
Prerequisites
None. Students will learn all concepts from scratch, with mentorship support available throughout the course. Anyone with curiosity and a commitment to deep research and strategic framing is welcome.
Methodology
The course is delivered as an intensive, hands-on research sprint, combining short lectures, live demonstrations, workshops, and coaching. Each session blends case-based discussions, practical frameworks, and individual or group exercises. Students will select an opportunity to research and validate throughout the course, receiving iterative feedback along the way. The final sessions will be dedicated to presenting and refining their final project.
Grading
Hi! I’m Luiz Fittipaldi (or just Fitti), a global strategy consultant and mentor with a passion for helping professionals unlock international careers with clarity and confidence.
I’ve led global strategy at companies like Preply and Bolt, launched ventures in tech and edutainment, and advised executives and founders across more than 40 countries. I specialise in business strategy, international expansion, and turning complex challenges into actionable plans — whether you’re scaling a business or navigating your next career move abroad.
See full profileApply for this course
Market Validation and Research Lab
by Luiz Fittipaldi
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Nov 10 - Nov 28, 2025
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.