The MENA region's leading mixed-use business incubator, Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) – founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) – has opened up registration for Qatar's first-of-its-kind Lean Coach Program. The program is designed to develop the next generation of certified startup coaches and equip them with the skills necessary to help transform promising startups into successful business ventures.
The launch of the third wave of the program follows the success of its predecessors, which garnered industry-wide attention and recognition within the entrepreneurial community in Qatar. Registration is now open and will end on September 30, 2021.
The program targets aspiring coaches from various fields of business and academia, and aims to build their capacities and equip them with the latest knowledge towards empowering Qatar’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and guiding the next success stories in the country.
Coaches are expected to undergo a training program that will run for 11 weeks starting in October, and covers a set of technical and practical core components. Aspiring coaches wishing to earn a QBIC ‘Lean Coach’ certification must complete the three basic stages of virtual training sessions (5 sessions), virtual coaching sessions (5 sessions), and practical coaching sessions (5 sessions).
The program offers trainees the unique opportunity to follow the QBIC team’s mentoring sessions for entrepreneurs in the Lean Startup Program, and directly train the mentored startups towards the final weeks of the program, making the coaches’ experience throughout the program, a practical and impactful one. The top five coaches will then have the chance to train startups in the 15th wave of the Lean Startup Program for an entire year.
The Lean Coach Program lies at the heart of QBIC’s and QDB’s mission to develop the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, where empowering and qualifying mentors is seen as a key step in building the capacity of aspiring entrepreneurs and helping them write future success stories that will ultimately diversify the economy, localize businesses, and realize the Qatar National Vision 2030.
To qualify for the program, applicants must be Qatari or residents of the State of Qatar, have at least 7 years of work experience within any field of business or academia, possess in-depth knowledge of the commercial and technical aspect of business, and be versed in the Qatari market as well as international markets. They should also be committed to training QBIC entrepreneurs weekly, starting from January 2022.
For more information about the program, please visit https://www.qbic.qa/en/lean-coach-program/