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True Ventures’ Entrepreneur Force Pays It Forward To Budding Tech Leaders

17 points by jasonlbaptiste 16y ago

jdp23 16y ago
Just think about the potential impact if YC and the huge network of companies (and supporters here on HN) did something similar ...
jasonlbaptiste 16y ago
This is actually something we've been thinking about in terms of hiring and culture. Less on an intern basis (though would have same access, just would be shorter period of time) and more on the basis with full time team members. The people we'd want to bring on board should most likely be entrepreneurs, but for some reason aren't ready/want to join a company first. How can we educate these team members and give them access to all the cool/smart people we meet? Essentially how can being a part of our team, also help get you ready to start your own company in a couple of years? The greatest companies ala paypal, fb, goog, fairchild,etc. end up spawning a subsequent generation of entrepreneurs. We want that to be built into OnSwipe from day 1 and not a haphazard bi-product. Really open to some suggestions on the above concept as it's still rough and we're working on it. If this interests you, email me: j@onswipe.com . We're hiring (front end+back end) and I know we're doing something like this, just figuring out right approach. You can help us shape it.
paulbaumgart 16y ago
$3000 stipend for an entire summer? That's well below minimum wage in San Francisco, and less than a fifth of what the large tech companies pay for (technical) internships. If they're trying to "compete with large companies like Google, Microsoft or even Facebook for talent," this hardly seems like the way to do it. Do I just misunderstand the article? Do the companies themselves make up the rest? Or is this "competing for talent" claim mostly posturing?
- adaugelli 16y ago
  Hi Paul, The goal is to try to make this cost-neutral for the students participating in TEC. When we talked to students who were considering taking an internship at a startup versus a big company, the big issue in many cases was that most startups weren't offering cash compensation. The problem being that even if students really want to try working at a startup, it is really expensive to live in the Bay Area - even for 8 weeks. So the goal was not to compete with big companies directly on cash compensation (which most startups would never do even for a full-time hire), but rather enable anyone who wants to have experience working with a small team - the opportunity to be able to afford to do so.
  - gyardley 16y ago
    Good lord, do people still not know enough to pay their interns? Unpaid internships at American startups almost certainly violate federal labor laws, since one of the criteria for exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act is that the company get 'no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees'. Aside from the 'compliance with bureaucratic legalese' issue, unpaid internships are exploitation, plain and simple. Minimum wage isn't that much. Pay your interns.
  - paulbaumgart 16y ago
    Maybe the market is different for non-technical internships. I have no particular insight into that. But for a top CS or engineering student, I seriously doubt this would be an enticing offer. Addendum: I'm really not trying to needlessly antagonize you, but I think your point about cash compensation isn't very sound, because it neglects the equity a full-time employee would receive to offset the below-market salary.
    - adaugelli 16y ago
      Partially agree. It's a different sales pitch than big companies though - our pitch is we'll cover your living expense and give you the chance to work with a small team and see if a startup is the right fit for you. Instead of equity - many of the TEC participants get to own an entire product or initiative. Ali Shah out of NYU came on board and over the summer designed and built the entire VodPod iPad App. Andrew Boni at BC was a core part of the team that helped design and push code to the GigaOM site redesign. At an internship for a major tech company, you're pushing some live code, but its for a small part of a major property. Much like joining a startup early, you get to own major parts of product and get to understand how your work fits into the broader company building process. P.S. Doesn't feel antagonistic at all - I'm just trying to shine a light on how we think about the situation internally. We know we don't pay participants as much as Google, Apple, etc - but we think it actually helps attract the right type applicants to the program.
maxstoller 16y ago
Disclosure: I was a HackNY fellow last summer. I'm all for more programs like this, but I don't think VCs should be running them. HackNY.org is a similar program in NYC. The key difference is that it's a non-profit run by educators and hackers with no commercial interests. HackNY is truly paying it forward.
- adaugelli 16y ago
  Hey Max, I now work at True and was a part of the first TEC class in 2009. Was curious if you could go into more detail about why VCs shouldn't run these types of programs. Our main goal is to help college students connect with startups so they can discover alternatives to the traditional big company career paths they hear about all the time at school. In the end, more people graduating and looking to join startups is good thing for the ecosystem, no matter who is running the program. I'd propose the opposite, that all venture funds should be running these types of programs. Both to help their portfolio companies recruit and to help educate students about opportunities at high-tech startups. P.S. If you're looking for the West Coast equivalent to HackNY - you should check out Startup Roots. http://startuproots.org/ http://startuproots.org/
talbina 16y ago
Is it me or is the title incredibly difficult to parse?

jdp23 16y ago

Just think about the potential impact if YC and the huge network of companies (and supporters here on HN) did something similar ...

jasonlbaptiste 16y ago

This is actually something we've been thinking about in terms of hiring and culture. Less on an intern basis (though would have same access, just would be shorter period of time) and more on the basis with full time team members. The people we'd want to bring on board should most likely be entrepreneurs, but for some reason aren't ready/want to join a company first. How can we educate these team members and give them access to all the cool/smart people we meet? Essentially how can being a part of our team, also help get you ready to start your own company in a couple of years? The greatest companies ala paypal, fb, goog, fairchild,etc. end up spawning a subsequent generation of entrepreneurs. We want that to be built into OnSwipe from day 1 and not a haphazard bi-product. Really open to some suggestions on the above concept as it's still rough and we're working on it. If this interests you, email me: j@onswipe.com . We're hiring (front end+back end) and I know we're doing something like this, just figuring out right approach. You can help us shape it.

paulbaumgart 16y ago

$3000 stipend for an entire summer? That's well below minimum wage in San Francisco, and less than a fifth of what the large tech companies pay for (technical) internships. If they're trying to "compete with large companies like Google, Microsoft or even Facebook for talent," this hardly seems like the way to do it. Do I just misunderstand the article? Do the companies themselves make up the rest? Or is this "competing for talent" claim mostly posturing?

adaugelli 16y ago
Hi Paul, The goal is to try to make this cost-neutral for the students participating in TEC. When we talked to students who were considering taking an internship at a startup versus a big company, the big issue in many cases was that most startups weren't offering cash compensation. The problem being that even if students really want to try working at a startup, it is really expensive to live in the Bay Area - even for 8 weeks. So the goal was not to compete with big companies directly on cash compensation (which most startups would never do even for a full-time hire), but rather enable anyone who wants to have experience working with a small team - the opportunity to be able to afford to do so.
- gyardley 16y ago
  Good lord, do people still not know enough to pay their interns? Unpaid internships at American startups almost certainly violate federal labor laws, since one of the criteria for exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act is that the company get 'no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees'. Aside from the 'compliance with bureaucratic legalese' issue, unpaid internships are exploitation, plain and simple. Minimum wage isn't that much. Pay your interns.
- paulbaumgart 16y ago
  Maybe the market is different for non-technical internships. I have no particular insight into that. But for a top CS or engineering student, I seriously doubt this would be an enticing offer. Addendum: I'm really not trying to needlessly antagonize you, but I think your point about cash compensation isn't very sound, because it neglects the equity a full-time employee would receive to offset the below-market salary.
  - adaugelli 16y ago
    Partially agree. It's a different sales pitch than big companies though - our pitch is we'll cover your living expense and give you the chance to work with a small team and see if a startup is the right fit for you. Instead of equity - many of the TEC participants get to own an entire product or initiative. Ali Shah out of NYU came on board and over the summer designed and built the entire VodPod iPad App. Andrew Boni at BC was a core part of the team that helped design and push code to the GigaOM site redesign. At an internship for a major tech company, you're pushing some live code, but its for a small part of a major property. Much like joining a startup early, you get to own major parts of product and get to understand how your work fits into the broader company building process. P.S. Doesn't feel antagonistic at all - I'm just trying to shine a light on how we think about the situation internally. We know we don't pay participants as much as Google, Apple, etc - but we think it actually helps attract the right type applicants to the program.

maxstoller 16y ago

Disclosure: I was a HackNY fellow last summer. I'm all for more programs like this, but I don't think VCs should be running them. HackNY.org is a similar program in NYC. The key difference is that it's a non-profit run by educators and hackers with no commercial interests. HackNY is truly paying it forward.

adaugelli 16y ago
Hey Max, I now work at True and was a part of the first TEC class in 2009. Was curious if you could go into more detail about why VCs shouldn't run these types of programs. Our main goal is to help college students connect with startups so they can discover alternatives to the traditional big company career paths they hear about all the time at school. In the end, more people graduating and looking to join startups is good thing for the ecosystem, no matter who is running the program. I'd propose the opposite, that all venture funds should be running these types of programs. Both to help their portfolio companies recruit and to help educate students about opportunities at high-tech startups. P.S. If you're looking for the West Coast equivalent to HackNY - you should check out Startup Roots. http://startuproots.org/ http://startuproots.org/

talbina 16y ago

Is it me or is the title incredibly difficult to parse?