Build With Validation® is the same in every engagement: find the right problem, test the assumptions your initiative rests on, and commit budget with evidence. All that changes is the format: a facilitated cohort, applied consulting, or a focused validation of a single high-stakes decision.
Every assumption your initiative hinges on, surfaced and ranked by risk so you know which beliefs would sink you if they're wrong.
Testing focused on the riskiest assumptions first, while the budget is still in your pocket.
Every engagement ends with clear recommendations you can take to a board or funder: proceed, pivot, or pause.
Your team keeps the methodology. No retainer by design, capacity building to the exit is part of the plan.
WHO IT'S FOR
Economic development organizations, business support organizations, and innovation teams that want validation capability in-house not just another consultant on speed dial.
WHAT HAPPENS
Eight facilitated sessions taking your team (or your business community) through the complete Build With Validation® methodology on live initiatives, not case studies. Participants map the assumptions behind their own programs and products, rank them by risk, and run real tests between sessions. This translates to teams making data-informed decisions to move initiatives.
Eight facilitated sessions, in person or remote
Assumption mapping applied to each participant's live initiative
Innovation metrics your team can report on
Train-the-trainer (T3) documentation so you can run it again without us
A dual funder-ready outcome report, economic development and/or AI adoption outcomes, formatted for your use case
Cohort engagements are scoped to align with per-supplier spending thresholds.
WHO IT'S FOR
Organizations with a specific decision in front of them, maybe it's a program to design, a funding strategy to set, a product to validate, or a change to lead. If you need to know you're solving the right problem before resources are committed.
WHAT HAPPENS
We run the four phases against your mandate. Discovery surfaces what's actually driving or limiting outcomes through stakeholder interviews, data review, and assumption mapping. Design builds the initiative on validated evidence rather than conviction. Validate tests it against real users and real constraints. Exit transfers the decision-making methodology to your team.
A diagnostic briefing on what's really limiting your outcomes
Ranked assumptions, with the highest-risk ones tested
A validated design — not a prototype that surprises you in production
A documented proceed, pivot, or pause recommendation
Your team is capable of running the next initiative without us
WHO IT'S FOR
Leaders with an AI mandate and a budget, deciding which bet to make first before a vendor contract is signed or development starts.
WHAT HAPPENS
AI implementation is costly and current data indicates roughly 95% of enterprise AI pilots deliver no measurable return. These failures are not because the models are weak, but because the use-case was never validated. We apply BWV to your AI mandate: surface the assumptions behind the initiative, identify which ones would sink it, and test those first.
The assumptions behind your AI initiative, mapped and ranked
Evidence on which use-case to pursue first
A defensible go/no-go position before vendor or development spend
Outcomes formatted for AI adoption reporting where required
WHO IT'S FOR
Conferences, economic development associations, funders, and leadership teams who want their audience to leave with a method, not just motivation.
WHAT HAPPENS
Keynotes and hands-on workshops on problem discovery, assumption mapping, and validating before you build grounded in real rural engagements, including the work behind Airdrie Economic Development's EDA Award-winning initiative.
Conference keynote
Half-day workshop
Board or leadership session
Panel and podcast appearances
Every GFL engagement starts the same way: we understand what you're trying to achieve, where you are, and what's in the way. From there we'll tell you whether the BWV Cohort Program, Discovery Consulting, AI validation, or something you build in-house is the right next step.
We'll map your situation
What you're trying to achieve, what's in the way, and what you've already tried. No homework required.
We'll identify the risks
The beliefs your approach is built on that, if wrong, would send everything sideways.
We'll recommend the fit
Cohort, consulting, AI validation, or something you build in-house, we'll give you our honest assessment.
Useful regardless
A clearer picture and the assumptions worth testing first, whether or not we work together.