Reflecting on my internship at Spatial Networks 7 months in…
Last October, I began my journey at Spatial Networks as a remote intern in Los Angeles, CA. This April, I got the opportunity to attend the Spring All-Hands and meet the entire team at HQ in St. Petersburg, FL. All I have to say is…what a relief this company is real.
Jokes aside, I was blown away by the energy and passion everyone brought to the table. I got a chance to see all the achievements taking place and how integral each person was to the organizational roadmap.
Prior to joining Spatial Networks, I had no experience working in a small company. I was very much used to working in smaller teams within a much larger organizational structure and under a much taller umbrella. Rarely did I get high-level perspectives on how my work translated into real impacts that would help the company get closer to its mission.
After a few training and mentorship sessions, I learned why I was brought onto the team — to help reduce churn and increase conversion of Fulcrum customers. I didn’t receive a step-by-step guide on what I needed to do. In fact, I was included in team discussions, customer calls, and project planning phases; all of which exposed me to different aspects of the company at both high and functional levels. Sure, exposure further elevated my understanding of the history of the company, why the products were created and for whom, what our struggles are, and how each team serves the grand purpose. In addition, here are a few lessons learned throughout the last seven months of internship at Spatial Networks:
Know the WHYs
This might come across as pretty obvious but when I reflect on my earlier days as an intern, I don’t recall always questioning why I was given a particular task, let alone how to track my results. I assumed that the studies had already been done to justify the reasons behind my project or campaign. In my first few weeks at Spatial Networks, I expanded the Fulcrum app gallery on our website by building mobile survey app templates targeting potential users in relevant industries. In the process, I also tracked the SEO keyword ranking for each app to see how well optimized each piece of content was for searches. By understanding the metrics in relation to the end goal, I was able to build apps that were better optimized for searches and drive more traffic to our website.
Embrace new responsibilities
And by this, I do not mean wearing multiple hats as an intern, plus the coffee maker, printer, mailer, etc. I do admit this largely depends on the company size, type, and culture. However, what I noticed at Spatial Networks, a small B2B SaaS company of 58 employees, is that each person is not only able but also willing to wear multiple hats. Currently, I am making onboarding and educational videos for both existing and potential Fulcrum customers. Winding back 7 months to when I received my internship offer, I never imagined that I would be applying my video production skills or be the voice of Fulcrum. In a way, the flexibility of this internship allowed me to take on new responsibilities, where I got to leverage both my geography and design knowledge. Rather than defining my capabilities based on my initial position description, I learned to become comfortable in embracing unexpected responsibilities, especially those in which I can demonstrate my versatile skills and unique background.
Learn from the experts
I grew up seeing my dad read books on business development, operations, and success. I would even catch him reading his college textbooks on mechanical pump engineering from time to time. Back then, I didn’t understand why that was necessary, knowing that he was already at an executive level. Since graduating college last May, I realized that although my liberal arts college education helped me become a better, more civic-minded, and educated person, it didn’t teach me how to be a functional and valuable addition to a software company in the real world. To fill the gaps, I reached out to people in my network who worked closely with B2B software products to hear about some of their pain points and ways to overcome those challenges. I was lucky enough to be subsidized to attend SaaStr Annual 2019, where I learned from and connected with industry leaders and experts on how to bring success to customers. Lastly, I’ve been reading everything from customer success to product management in order to learn from successful business use-cases as well as failures.
Needless to say, my internship experience at Spatial Networks thus far has been incredibly valuable and rewarding. I believe that a company is truly defined by the people that work there and I’ve only gotten positive vibes from people that are passionate and committed to the company’s vision. My experience would not be the same without the people that I work with, who mentor and support me, and I couldn’t be more thankful.
