Yale University

Class News

Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES) launches an internship initiative

September 28, 2020

Note from Tony Lavely, 1964 Class Secretary:

Recently, I was contacted by Brihu Sundararaman ’25, via Yale Cross Campus:

My name is Brihu Sundararaman, and I’m the Co-President of the Yale Entrepreneurial Society. This year we are piloting an intern program with Yale Alumni Founders. We plan this to be mutually beneficial at no cost. I've attached a description of the program. Would love to have you a part of the YES family. Thank you!

Brihu and I did have a Zoom call in September. He is a Yale second-year undergraduate who is taking a gap year this year, living in Ohio but still working on YES programs. Brihu is also on the men’s lightweight crew. I was impressed with his commitment and initiative.

I encourage you to read about the YES program and get involved if it interests you. Below are two documents:

The YES Board can be reached any time at the following email: yesatyale@gmail.com. Co-Presidents can be reached any time at Brihu.sundararaman@yale.edu or at (630) 210-6720.

YES Start-Up Support Pilot Beta

Introduction

Goal:

The goal of the YES start-up support pilot is to pair entrepreneurially motivated undergrads with guidance, funding, and resources to help them advance a concept to an MVP and eventually to market. Currently,  the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY) is the central hub for entrepreneurial funding on Yale’s Campus running their fall, spring, and summer accelerators along with their weekly and monthly student funds.

While Tsai CITY is an amazing organization, having a singular point for early funding among Yale’s campus makes reaching resources difficult, a bureaucratic process, and throttles the entrepreneurial spirt. A strong consensus present among Yale undergrads is that Tsai CITY’s financial resources are not easily accessible. Largely due to this, Yale falls behind its peer institutions like Harvard, Stanford, Penn, and MIT in its entrepreneurial culture, spirit, and success. Through YES’s Start-Up Support program, we will lower the entry barrier for undergrads to venture out into entrepreneurship, knit a closer entrepreneurial community between Yale alumni and undergrads, and rapidly accelerate Yale’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Benefits

Angel Benefits:

  • Take a Yalie or two under your wing and connect with Yale undergrads
  • Empower and invest in the next generation of Yale entrepreneurs
  • Featured on our website, newsletter, and social media
  • Get YES swag

Structure

General Structure and Details:

The YES Start-up Support Program will consist of three parts:

  1. Ground Level Start-Up Support (Help with ideation, proto-typing, product-market fit, making a pitch deck, creating an MVP etc.) — this level of support is to give budding entrepreneurs the foundation they need to look for early funding opportunities and have a successful start. Ground Level Support will take the form of:

    • Office hours provided by Venture Capital Firms (Boxgroup VC, more on the way)
    • Peer mentorship from YES members with start-up experience
    • YES Market Research Support (YES members will actively serve as a backboard for market research for budding start-ups. Members may submit surveys, interest forms, etc. to find product market fit.)
    • Guided Utilization of Tsai CITY resources from members with previous Tsai CITY experience
    • Mini ideation fund — $50-$100 to help vetted teams prototype their idea (in progress)

  2. Funding Support (Where you come in!) Each month (tentative) YES will source and compile a maximum of 10 pitch decks for our Angel community. From there, interested Angels can contact start-ups they are interested in. YES leadership will always be open for questions and concerns and will be periodically checking in with all start-ups and Angel investors to ensure a great experience on both ends.

YES Internship Pilot


Introduction

Goal:

The goal of the YES internship pilot is to pair entrepreneurially motivated undergrads with start-ups in a mutually beneficial system. For many undergrads, building their own start-up is a daunting task, even more so in Yale’s entrepreneurial climate. A common theme in start-up land is there is always work to be done, correspondingly, a common desire among undergrads is to dive head-first into entrepreneurship. This pilot aims to bridge this gap, providing tangible, enriching entrepreneurial experiences for undergrads while helping founders accelerate their start-up at no financial cost.

Benefits

Undergrad Benefits:

  • Start-up experience (finally!!)
  • Amazing mentorship
  • Building out a genuine network
  • Tangible, impactful work
  • Connect with founders of companies on a personal level
  • Potentially get start-up swag

Founder Benefits:

  • Free help with your start-up from extremely intelligent and motivated undergrads
  • Take a Yalie or two under your wing and connect with Yale undergrads
  • Empower the next generation of Yalie entrepreneurs
  • Make connections with rising classes for potential full-time hires upon graduation
  • Featured on our website, newsletter, and social media
  • Opportunity to distribute your swag and market your start-up through YES and the Yale Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
  • Get YES swag

Structure and Timeline

General Structure and Details:

The internship program will begin early October and be active throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year. The direction each undergraduate internship takes will be individualized to each start-up. Founders may specify expectations, desired internship time frame (short-term vs long-term), skill sets, desired hours per week, etc. YES will do its best to match interns and start-ups in a mutually beneficial manner.

After pairing, we request the founder, or a member of their team, to schedule a meeting with their YES interns, and write out their proposed structure for the internship. If the founder or team did not already have a plan, task, or requirement in mind, please take the time to create one with your YES interns. Please send the YES Board the proposed structure at yesatyale@gmail.com.

As a note, this structure will vary widely between start-ups. As a baseline, if your interns have direction and are happy with the plan, then it is good to go! Moreover, if you would like to pay your interns, you may do so as well!
Each week, Yale undergrads will be required to write a short reflection piece detailing the work they accomplished, anything they learned, etc. These pieces will be submitted to founders as well as the YES Board. After each internship, we request the founder, or a member of their team, to write a short summary of the internship.

The YES Board will check in periodically with founders and interns to see if there is any way in which we can be of assistance. Moreover, the YES Board can be reached at any time for problems and concerns. You can also contact the Co-Presidents directly at Brihu.sundararaman@yale.edu.

Timeline:

  • August – September 15
    • Initial reach-outs with interested founders. Founders who are interested in the pilot can fill out a Google form here.
    • Recruiting for YES 2020 members will begin in this stage.
  • September 15 – September 20
    • YES Board will touch base with founders or their team to work out specific details of each internship.
    • 2020 Recruiting will be finalized by September 20.
  • September 20 – October 1
    • YES Board will pair undergrads with start-ups. During this period, if a start-up needs to make any changes to their plan they may do so. If a start-up would like to request specific interns, they may do so at this stage. Founders or their team should connect with interns to create their internship structure. By October 1st, please submit this document to the YES Board at yesatyale@gmail.com.
  • October 1 onwards
    • Internships begin. YES will check in with start-ups monthly or on a more frequent basis if requested. Start-ups are committed to the internship structure they outlined.