The Secret Weapon Series:

Interns in Pre-Seed Startups

And no, they can’t be replaced with ChatGPT

Necessity is the mother of invention, the saying goes, and early stage startups have a lot of needs that necessitate innovation. As a first-check VC, we are often impressed not only by product and technology innovation, but by the clever, and often unintuitive, ways our portfolio companies find to maximize their resources, extend their runway, and get value in overlooked pastures.

WisePal, a B2C fintech company that helps consumers reduce their recurring bill payments, has brought this perspective to the world of interns. For the past year, WisePal has been working with interns from Masa and Onward, organizations that connect young(ish) people visiting Israel or in the early stages of Aliya with internships that will allow them to more fully experience life here.

Of course, common wisdom is that working with interns is not worthwhile. Startups always need more working hands and the price is right, but in a world where the main constant is change and where there is little bandwidth for hand holding, an intern can be a weight rather than an asset. Why invest time in a person who, by definition, will be at the company for a short time, probably lacks the skills needed to contribute meaningfully, and is likely to take up valuable time from members of the team who could be getting work done instead of mentoring an intern.

Amihay Shmidman, founder and CEO of WisePal, has taken another approach based on what, in retrospect, is very clear logic: taking in groups of interns — 6–12 people per cohort — that together circumvent many of the usual pitfalls of working with interns, offer the company value, and give the interns themselves a much better experience.

Here is the logic (and reality) based on four cohorts of interns who have worked at WisePal:

• Time: You can spend an hour teaching one intern or spend the same hour teaching twelve interns. Enough said…
• Intern Expertise and Leadership: Companies post the jobs they are looking for, and Masa and Onword find people who either have the specific expertise or are interested in learning. In a group of 12, WisePal has found that there is usually a content expert — in data science, data analysis or digital marketing, for example — who can then help mentor and teach the other interns in the group. Interns with managerial experience can help manage the intern group, with clear benefits all around.
• Motivation: Given the context in which the interns are working — an interest in life in Israel and/or in the high-tech sector — interns tend to be very motivated and eager to learn. For those who plan on staying in Israel, or taking on a role in high-tech, there is the additional motivation to get positive feedback and reviews for their future jobs.
• On the To-Do list: In a young startup strapped for time, there is always a long to-do list and not enough hands (and brains). WisePal interns have worked on a range of well defined and scoped projects, including helping to train AI models, market research, business development, and digital marketing. Interns with an R&D background have taken on stand-alone R&D tasks that the company has not gotten to or are not at the core of its software focus.
• Limited Downside: Addressing the elephant in the (intern) room: when a company takes an intern, it runs the risk of getting someone who isn’t a good fit for any number of reasons. In a group of 12, a single intern will have less of an impact than the group as a whole.
• Cost: The Masa and Onward programs have clear guidelines: companies pay for interns’ office commutes and meal expenses, but cannot pay a salary. This presents an opportunity for companies to be generous within the guidelines, which makes the interns feel cared for. Because of how well the intern program has worked, WisePal also pays Gvahim, another great organization that helps Olim find jobs in Israel, including help with their CVs, HR support, mentoring, interview simulations, and even workshops on the work culture in Israel.
• Hiring Pool: An internship program is an ideal testing ground for company/employee fit. At WisePal, a few interns turned out to be a good fit, both culturally and from an expertise perspective, and have joined the team on a full time basis. One is now responsible for the intern program and another is in data science.

By taking on groups of interns, WisePal benefits from the combined power of experts and novices, limits time spent on training and management, and can identify talent it may want to keep in the company. From the intern perspective, being part of a group is far more enjoyable than being the lone outsider at a company. It is also often easier for people to learn in a group so that they have people with whom to consult and share the experience. It’s rare, certainly in startup world, that one reaches a clear win-win. But an internship program, if done wisely (or, WisePal-y), is just that.

Curious to learn more about secret weapons and other things that interest pre product- market fit companies? We’d love to hear from you.