Business purpose

The Calendar exists to be the canonical, verified time index of MENA startup activity. It serves four business goals: (1) editorial authority — being the most accurate place to find what is happening, (2) user retention — bringing founders, investors, and operators back weekly, (3) cross-module gravity — pulling entities into context (a founder + their speaking history is more interesting than either alone), (4) coverage funnel — events flagged coverageEligible become the input queue for the Events Coverage module.

Primary jobs to be done

1. Help a founder discover the 3-5 most relevant events for them in the next 30 days — filtered by country, stage, audience, and category.
2. Help an investor scan the upcoming demo days + pitch competitions where they can source deals.
3. Help an ecosystem operator (accelerator, agency, gov) see the competitive landscape — who is running what, when, and where.
4. Help a journalist / researcher find a verified entry for any past or upcoming MENA startup event.
5. Help an organizer surface their event to founders via submit-event + verification pipeline.

Editorial vs aggregator stance

The Calendar is not an aggregator. Every event passes through a 3-gate editorial verification before it is publishable: (1) source — an authoritative URL exists (organizer site, official social, confirmed press release), (2) detail accuracy — date, city, venue, deadlines are confirmed against the source, (3) ecosystem relevance — the event is genuinely about MENA startups, not generic tech, not corporate sales conferences. Aggregator firehoses produce volume but ruin trust; the editorial gate is what makes the Calendar useful.