Applications now open for summer internships at the Desai Family Accelerator

The Desai Family Accelerator, an intensive program offered through the Zell Lurie Institute and the Center for Entrepreneurship that helps early stage ventures scale and succeed through funding, mentorship and other resources, is now accepting applications for summer interns. The companies currently in Desai’s portfolio are working to launch their products, demonstrate product/market fit and raise investment, and summer interns will help them develop their companies and achieve their goals.

Desai is hiring development, design and business development interns who will help portfolio companies with business development, financial modeling, product QA/testing, customer development/support, user acquisition, user experience, design, marketing and market research. Students who thrive in a fast-paced environment and are current students or recent graduates are welcome to apply. Interns will work full-time at the Ann Arbor office and should have a strong interest in 1) technology and startups, 2) great execution, organizational and communication skills 3) desire to learn and improve and 4) the ability to work individually and as part of a team.

This is the first year the Desai Accelerator has hosted internships. You can download the application here. Please submit your completed form with any other relevant materials to Lauren Roth at loroth@umich.edu by Sunday, March 29 at 11:59 p.m. You can also contact Lauren with any questions you might have.

MBA Student Powers Up Space Technology with Kickstarter Campaign and New Start-up Venture

Simon Halpern, BSE ’03, MSE ’04, MBA ’14, has had his sights set on an entrepreneurial career in space technology since he was a youngster. Now he is closer than ever to reaching his lifelong goal.

This fall, Halpern managed the launch of a $50,000 Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to support the building, testing and flying of the new CAT engine, a specialized rocket propulsion system being developed at the University of Michigan’s Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory, or PEPL, to power small, low-cost spacecraft, or CubeSats, around outer space. Concurrently, Halpern created a new business venture focused on the commercial satellite space. His business model for the Motor City Rocket Shop revolves around the designing, building and sales of CubeSats and satellite equipment as well as the collection and marketing of data about space weather patterns, transportation and asteroid trajectories.

“We’re at an important inflection point as a country and a society where ordinary individuals are starting to contribute to scientific and commercial space technologies − something that in the past was the closely held purview of a few governments,” Halpern says. “As we start to democratize access to space and unlock the possibilities of space research and exploration, it will prove empowering to ‘citizen explorers’ who have an opportunity to fund space projects and even conduct their own space experiments.”

Right now, all systems are go for both of Halpern’s endeavors. The Kickstarter campaign for CAT, launched Nov. 25, has far exceeded its $50,000 fundraising goal, attracting pledges from 900 backers of nearly $70,000, with more than a week remaining until it ends on Dec. 20. U-M Aerospace Engineering faculty members Ben Longmier and James Cutler are overseeing the development and testing of prototypes of the CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) at PEPL. They will use the additional crowdfunding to accelerate research, purchase more sophisticated equipment and put CAT into Earth orbit on a CubeSat. “This thruster engine is revolutionary because it is solar-powered, uses unpressurized water as a fuel and is highly efficient,” Halpern explains. “It will only work in space, so it will be carried up by a rocket or launched from the International Space Station.” The ultimate aim of the R&D project is make space exploration more affordable by propelling miniaturized equipment to new locations beyond Earth at a cost far below that of conventional satellites, he adds.

Halpern also has started the countdown to the launch of the Motor City Rocket Shop. In early December, he pitched his business concept at round one of the Michigan Business Challenge and passed with flying colors. His next step is to assemble a multidisciplinary team to continue building the company and then prepare for round two of the MBC, with coaching assistance from the Zell Lurie Institute.

Halpern’s two U-M degrees in aerospace engineering and space systems engineering and his eight years as a space systems engineer at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems − where he worked on NASA, NOAA and U.S. Department of Defense satellite contracts – provided the technical underpinnings for his current entrepreneurial activities. However, Halpern acknowledges he lacked in-the-trenches business experience. That changed during a self-sourced summer internship at NanoSatisfi, a San Francisco company that offers affordable access to space through its open-source satellites. As a business-development intern, Halpern leveraged knowledge and skills from his first year at the Ross School of Business to build the business case for collecting and marketing data from space. He also participated in preparing two CubeSats for transport to the International Space Station in August for their inaugural launch on Nov. 19.

“The Gani internship allowed me to hone my business decision-making skills and execute on those decisions in a real company where I had significant impact on the trajectory of a start-up business’s growth and development,” Halpern explains.

Would he ever like to travel into space some day? You bet, Halpern says, adding: “It requires an amazing amount of engineering discipline to put things into space, and I appreciate the difficulty of it and the beauty of the results we get from people who have been there.”

Internship Series: Wello, Joanna Lai

This Monday in our Fall Internship Series we feature Joanna Lai who spent her summer interning at Wello. Learn more about her experience below.

1. What were your core responsibilities for the internship?

This summer I worked at Wello, a health tech startup that offers live personal fitness training over two way webcam. This company launched a year ago and raised one round of funding. With only five people on staff, I was able to make an impact. I was constantly pivoting and fulfilling many different roles. I was a business development intern that focused on marketing strategy. In particular, I was responsible of the company’s email campaign strategy, which included customer segmentation, design, execution, analyzing, and implementation.  

2. Where there courses you took through the U-M or programs offered through Zell Lurie that helped you develop skills applied during your internship?

My core marketing class was extremely useful, and the basic STP (segment, target, position) framework helped me as I went about analyzing different customer groups. Since coming back to Ross, I’ve taken more Entrepreneurship classes, such as New Venture Creation. Inspired by my summer experience, I am excited by and love being a part of the startup community.

3. What were the biggest contributions you made to the company during your time there?

I developed an email marketing strategy that the company will use going forward. I segmented the different customer groups and developed targeted messaging that increased conversion rates. I streamlined their email marketing and provided recommendations to increase customer acquisition. Further, I had the opportunity to be a spokesperson for Wello at a TV news station in Utah!

4. What experiences/skills developed from your internship will you apply at school/in your career?

Before Wello, I worked as a program manager at Google. My goals this summer were to do something I was passionate about and to get experience in the health tech space. Deciding to merge my background in tech and passion for health, I delved into the newly emerged health tech area. The experiences I gained this summer were invaluable. I now know what it takes to truly run a startup business, and I felt the different challenges in fundraising and early stage startup life. I know the difficulties of two-sides market places, and I experienced the sheer determination and will needed to succeed.

5. Would you recommend these types of internships as a good avenue for students to pursue to augment their business education vs. those within a corporate or traditional banking firm?

Startup and corporate/traditional internships both serve their purpose. Each student should think about what the goal for the summer internship. Is it to get experience in the startup space? To have a job offer going into their final year of school? To experience a large corporate environment where management invests in employees? Depending on what ones background and goals are, that should help determine if a startup internship is right for you. 

Personally, I already had the large corporate experience, so I wanted to try something new. At a startup, I was able to truly understand the business model, whereas at a bigger company, it’s easy to get lost. If you want to learn on the fly, wear many hats, and are okay with unpredictability, then yes, I recommend this type of internship! 

6. What is your advice of how to get the most out of the internship?

Know what you want out of your summer internship. Don’t compare your experience to those of your peers. Learn from those around you, whether it’s the CEO, engineer, or undergraduate intern. You can learn something from everyone. Also, network and reach out to other people. As a student, people are willing to talk and help you, so take advantage of that. Make as many connections as possible!

Internship Series: Arboretum Ventures, Chris Doughty

This Monday before Thanksgiving we feature Chris Doughty who was thankful for his internship with Arboretum Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in the health care sector. Below, Doughty explains his experience in the venture capital world that he wants to someday rejoin.       

1. What were your core responsibilities for the internship?

At Arboretum Ventures I was responsible for evaluating potential investment opportunities, for identifying potential future investment opportunities by finding researchers and entrepreneurs in the Ann Arbor area working on interesting technologies, and for staying up to date on the progress of the firm’s portfolio companies.

2. Were there courses you took through the U-M or programs offered through Zell Lurie that helped you develop skills applied during your internship?

My involvement in the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund provided me with a strong foundational understanding of the venture capital industry, which allowed me to hit the ground running during my internship.

3. What were the biggest contributions you made to the company during your time there?

I think the biggest contribution I made during my time at Arboretum Ventures was a combination of my involvement in the investment evaluation process and  my role in identifying a pipeline of potential future investments based here in Ann Arbor. I believe the firm benefited from adding a fresh perspective to their investment evaluation process and my work on a couple of the potential deals helped drive the decision making process. Additionally, I developed a relationship with the Biointerfaces Institute, which is a collaboration of local engineering and medical school researchers who work together with the goal of solving major issues facing the healthcare industry. I believe this group of individuals will be the engine behind many of Arboretum Ventures future investments.

4. Would you recommend these types of internships as a good avenue for students to pursue to augment their business education vs. those within a corporate or traditional banking firm?

I think the ZLI internships are exceptional opportunities for students interested in non-traditional careers. Without the support of ZLI, I never would have had the chance to join a venture capital firm as a member of their investment team at this point in my career. The unique experience has been a great talking point during interviews and has given me exposure to an industry I hope to someday rejoin.

5. What is your advice of how to get the most out of the internship?

Ask a lot of questions. Ask for feedback. Take on as much as possible, but make sure you can do a great job on everything. If you commit yourself to the role, view it as a learning opportunity and place yourself outside of your comfort zone. You’ll gain more from the ZLI internship than you would from a more traditional opportunity.

Internship Series: Venture Investors, Dan Freed

This Monday we bring to you Dan Freed, who interned at Venture Investors, and used his knowledge of start ups-from his entrepreneurial classes-to receive the most value out of his experience. Below you can find more information from Dan Freed about his internship.

1.       What were your core responsibilities for the internship?

My internship, Venture Investors, was broken up into three different parts.

First, I worked on deal sourcing and due diligence. I would help the firm look for new opportunities to invest as well as help evaluate existing opportunities that they were currently considering. This meant anything from an analysis on a specific industry, giving my perspective as a college student (youth = money), or meeting with the founders to learn more about them and discover their goals. Secondly, I worked on a portfolio-company level with companies that Venture Investors was already invested in. This provided value to the specific company because they had scarce resources, as well as to Venture Investors because it gave them a reputation of being a VC firm that does more than just give money. I worked directly with various founders and companies on things such as competitive analysis, organizing focus groups, pricing strategy, etc. Being able to influence companies at such an early stage is very rewarding. The final aspect of my internship consisted of developing a report about the “next big things.” I researched various trends and also looked at how technology has evolved throughout history. Using everything I learned throughout the summer, I presented this report to the company as something they could use to guide investments in the future; they were particularly interested in my unique perspective as a young person/college student.

2.       Where there courses you took through the U-M or programs offered through Zell Lurie that helped you develop skills applied during your internship?

EECS 183 is what got me seriously interested in entrepreneurship because it gave me exposure to building things. I also took ES250 during the fall which furthered my interest in entrepreneurship and gave me a broader and better understanding of all the different things that must be considered when going from idea to successful company.

3.       What were the biggest contributions you made to the company during your time there?

• Holding a focus group of 8 college students to help a portfolio company out with user feedback/perspective on a social planning app.
• Playing a major role in doing pricing analysis/strategy for a Detroit-based tech company that was approaching its initial monetization period. They were beginning to roll out a B2B product and I played a major part in helping to decide their pricing strategy and even got to sit in on a board meeting with some big shots!
• Producing the final report as mentioned above entitled “The Next Big Things.”

4.       What experiences/skills developed from your internship will you apply at school/in your career?

A MUCH greater understanding of the fundraising process for a startup. It takes months, sometimes even a year to bring investors on board. I also learned that people want to like who they are working with/investing in, so that is a major aspect to think about.

I developed great networking skills as well as connections that can be used for future internships or jobs. The greatest skill that I developed was pricing analysis. I did extensive research on B2B and B2C SaaS companies and how they price their products. I used this information to draw up version 1.0 of a company’s pricing strategy.

5.       Would you recommend these types of internships as a good avenue for students to pursue to augment their business education vs. those within a corporate or traditional banking firm?

YES! I got to wear multiple hats, interact with important people, and have a massive impact on a daily basis. I truly felt the things I was doing mattered, and it was all projects I am very interested in, so it didn’t even feel like work most of the time. I was the only intern, so I wasn’t just a small part of a huge corporation, everything I did mattered, and the progress I made was seen. This isn’t something you can always get at a banking firm/traditional corporate setting.

6.       What is your advice of how to get the most out of the internship?

Ask questions, meet people and be open to doing things you have never done before. As an intern you aren’t expected to know how to do everything, so it is a great time to try different things that you may like, or may be extremely good at once you gain the knowledge. Work somewhere where you are genuinely interested in what they are doing; it makes everything a lot more fun and valuable.

Internship Series: Visible Health, Paul Robichaux

It’s Monday which means we have another internship success story to share with you from one of our MBA Students. This week we are showcasing student Paul Robichaux who interned last summer at the start up Visible Health. Below is what he has to say about his experience.

1.       What were your core responsibilities for the internship?

My responsibilities included developing new product messaging, creating marketing communications for customers and for press releases, surveying and interviewing customers to gain usage behavior and feedback on future features, as well as assisting with the development of product concepts.

2.       Where there courses you took through the U-M or programs offered through Zell Lurie that helped you develop skills applied during your internship?

BA 528 – Tools for Discovery was immensely helpful. It is a class meant to immediately equip you with the tools to gather information from people (surveys, interviews, focus groups, twitter data, etc.). Going through the Dare To Dream Venture Shaping Grant application at ZLI helped teach me how to distill the business problem we were trying to solve with customer interviews and prepared me to be comfortable with ambiguity.

3.       What were the biggest contributions you made to the company during your time there?

I helped develop their first marketing campaigns and put some infrastructure around that so they could replicate it once I left. The product launch communication I drafted resulted in an online article spotlighting our product which will be published soon.

4.       What experiences/skills developed from your internship will you apply at school/in your career?

At a startup you have to be a self-starter. No one is going to tell you, “I need these 5 things done”. You have to come up with the five things yourself and get them done by balancing the limited resources available. This last year of the MBA program, I’m trying to take on a more active role in my teams and work collaboratively in groups.

5.       Would you recommend these types of internships as a good avenue for students to pursue to augment their business education vs. those within a corporate or traditional banking firm?

A startup internship is incredible. You get to do everything; you’re forced out of your comfort zone immediately. My first week on the job, the CEO was drawing marketing concepts on the board to explain their strategy–I had to go back to my class notes, thinking earlier that no one uses this in the real world!

6.       What is your advice of how to get the most out of the internship?

If it’s a startup internship, go in with a plan and be prepared to throw it out the window on the first day. More importantly, make sure you like the people or company you’re going to work with. That makes all the difference.

Internship Series: Chat Sports, Brett Scott

Many of our Zell Lurie Institute students have pursued opportunities to put their learning into action by engaging with internships at startups. In our “Internship Series,” you’ll hear from some of those students about their experiences interning for a variety of companies.

The first in the series is from MBA student Brett Scott, who was a Strategy and Analytics Intern at Chat Sports.

1.       What were your core responsibilities for the internship?  

I served as a strategy and analytics intern, in which I was responsible for:

• Building out and tracking the day-to-day metrics of the company
• Managing several projects to build tools to better understand and track our user base
• Developing and executing marketing activities to better retain users

2.       Were there courses you took through the U-M or programs offered through Zell Lurie that helped you develop skills applied during your internship?

 I thought a lot about our Marketing core class during my internship; we are trying to build a brand in a highly competitive industry so we have to think on a daily basis how we position ourselves against our competitors and how we convey our value proposition to potential users.

3.       What were the biggest contributions you made to the company during your time there?  

I developed and managed a new analytics dashboard that helped Chat Sports track our website traffic, user patterns, conversion rates, and email open/click through rates.  Additionally, I managed two technology projects:

1) Built a CRM database to track our user base

2) Built an email sending solution that allows us to now send customized and personalized emails to keep our users engaged.

4.       Would you recommend these types of internships as a good avenue for students to pursue to augment their business education vs. those within a corporate or traditional banking firm?

I had a greater opportunity to get hands-on experience managing projects and people than I had ever had. This opportunity allowed me to turn my internship into a full-time job in a leadership position at Chat Sports, after I complete my MBA.  If business school is really about building leaders, then working at start-ups is probably one of the best places to get that hands-on experience.  I came to business school from management consulting and, while the resources of a big firm provide a lot of opportunities, I think you get a higher level of experience at a smaller company which may be more valuable in the long run.

5.       What is your advice of how to get the most out of the internship?

There’s no secret sauce.  In my experience, I’ve had success by being good at building relationships and being a part of a team.  Not every organization is going to be like that, but if you want to get as much experience as possible out of an internship, you have to be close with who you’re working with.