Let me a bit blunt. An intern that is still in school working a dozen hours a week, is not going to produce anything of real value, realistically. Any reasona

Let me a bit blunt. An intern that is still in school working a dozen hours a week, is not going to produce anything of real value, realistically. Any reasonable company (start up or not) knows this and is willing to take a hit on their productivity to help you out (and also evaluate whether or not you might be worth hiring in the future). So the question of how to be successful should be whether or not you can do something positive, showcase your skills and learn about industry at the same time. If you even get a hint that it's about you producing value to the team, I would consider moving on (given what else you have said). There is no point in being set up for failure. Most of the time with interns, I have to scramble to try to find some vague connection with what we are doing. The intern will feel bad if they realise that they are doing a make work project. In reality, though, it's all about the intern. Especially with talented interns, we just want to make the experience really positive and don't care at all what they do.