This summer, I worked as the Strategy and Business Development Intern for Bikky, one of the ten startups selected for the accelerator’s summer batch. I delved into market research and strategy and built a new website for the company. I also led search engine optimization through coding and content creation on the site, I managed over ten client relationships, and designed marketing collateral for use in investor meetings. For three months, I developed skills both specific to the tech startup industry and applicable to any other industry - learning about SaaS startups, writing case studies, building a user-friendly website, maintaining meaningful client relationships, knowing how to pitch a company to investors and media outlets, and performing analyses on technical data.
The most learning, however, happened completely naturally - just talking with and learning from all the incredibly smart and accomplished members of the office who had come from all walks of life and wanted to impart their hard-earned wisdom. Being in Manhattan, I was able to easily attend several company networking events in fields I’m interested in learning more about, including finance, tech, and consulting.
What I wish was different
I do wish there was a bit more training for the interns, and some formal programs specifically for us to learn about certain aspects of Venture Capital and Startups and Investing. But I think the charm of the internship is that we were thrown into the startup culture just as much as all the founders were.
Advice
Issa Rae recently said in an interview, “We have a tendency when we network to network up, and it really is about networking across”, and I truly believe that anyone at an internship should take this advice. They are incredible opportunities to build experiences and relationships with other students from schools all around the country who are in the same position as you are– who want to be immersed in the technology world and bring a different set of tools to the table. Ask a million questions and bring a good attitude and everything else will fall into place.
