Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

“Hey, what’s your startup?”

Working at an accelerator provides many opportunities, one of them being the chance to network with numerous startups. However, when you are introverted, this is as big of a challenge as it is an opportunity.

Even though I’m not extremely introverted, I am not the kind of person that would feel comfortable naturally approaching a random founder and starting a conversation by asking “Hey, what’s your startup”?. Therefore, working at an office with 128 startups and 30 other interns that are constantly networking with them has made me step out of my comfort zone.

The last few weeks I have had to force myself to grow and initiate conversations with strangers in order to network and meet valuable people. Even though it has been a bit challenging, so far it has been rewarding. I have had the chance to meet at least 10 startup founders and I have been able to start 1 valuable connection with one of them.

This internship has shown me that work is not always about working, but about talking. And sometimes the most successful are not the ones who work in silence on their computer, but the ones who stand up from their desks and build relationships that can be valuable in the future.