Did you miss us? We sure missed you. But amid all the tailgates, in-person classes, and lovely COVID testing, we all can feel it: on-campus entrepreneurship is coming back to life!
Before we get to the insider info for this week, we're super pumped to show you all what we've been cookin' 🧑🏽🍳 ! Here we go:
1/ Internal Recruitment is Finally Open- Apply Now!
Usually, we at TroyLabs have a pretty unconventional way of recruiting. This year, we're excited to open up apps for everyone to join our collective! We have a comprehensive list of roles we're looking for here, and our application is right here!
This is hands-down the best startup experience you can get on campus, so we highly encourage you to apply! We're looking for people with hustle, a willingness to fail, and a passion for entrepreneurship. On behalf of TroyLabs, we are looking forward to meeting you all! Apps are due September 21st at 11:59 PM PST!
2/ BUILD Applications are Open for Trojan Founders!
BUILD is TroyLabs's 10-week accelerator dedicated to founders at the MVP stage: If you have the shittiest version of your product built, you qualify! The startups that have gone through BUILD are now raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, and our community is stronger than ever!
BUILD covers everything from growth to product to fundraising, so founders can focus on what really matters: building! We’ve had some amazing mentors, including the ex-CFO of Tesla and the head of sales at Google- apply now to join the ranks of some of the best Trojan startups! Apps are due September 20th at 11:59 PM PST!
Spicy Take of The Week:
This is lowkey our favorite part: we love hearing your Spicy Takes™! (Yeah, of course we trademarked that)
Wanna submit your own? Scroll on! This week's take is from [redacted]:
“Stop building for investors and their money. Build something your customers give a sh** about, for the love of god! VC money is not free!!”
Spiciness Rating: 🌶🌶🌶🌶 Damn. Some tough love. Keep it up!
Button: Wanna Spill Some Tea?
Weekly Insights: Snagging a Job!
'Tis the season! Recruiting is back in full swing: whether it's an internship or a full-time role, you can almost sense the frantic cold emails, interview prep, and resume reviews in the air! While we're definitely partial towards building an awesome startup yourself, we get it- students need experience. So we're here to help! Here are some tips for getting past the ultra-competitive hiring process without selling your soul:
Find Some Warm Intro's! This is the one and only time we'll ever call LinkedIn useful: go through your networks for any connections to your dream company, and shoot your shot! Everyone wants to help a student out, and even if your parents aren't Fortune 500 CEO's, the smallest reference can push you over the edge.
Know Where You Fit! This especially applies if you're looking to join an earlier-stage company, but you truly need to understand: 1) Why you want to join this company, and 2) What you envision yourself doing. If you can make a recruiter envision your impact at a company, you have a much better chance of swaying them than someone who isn't sure what they would do on the day-to-day.
Do Your Diligence! For the love of all that is holy, please don't do yourself dirty by spending hours on an application and fumbling the bag because you don't know enough about a company's mission, values, and future direction. It takes just a few minutes to learn about a company's basic culture and vision, and the time is worth the potential upside, every time!
Be... Human Companies want to hire people they would like to spend time with. It's that simple. During your interview, it's easy to become robotic and just start laundry-listing your skills like some kind of super-qualified robot. While that may be effective in convincing a recruiter of your skillset, it works against you on the personal side! Remember, the main point of an interview is to gauge who you are, not what you've done- that's what your resume is for. Trust us on this one: refrain from becoming robotic, and you'll be in a good spot!
Now get out there and snag that offer letter! If you don't really know what you want to get into just yet, try reading this nifty piece by Mark Manson!
Startup and News Radar:
Canva is Valued at $40B???
Yup. The same Canva we all use to impress our teachers with slide decks that require minimal effort is now the fifth-most valuable private startup! Canva started out as a free drag-and-drop visual editor, but it now has 60 million monthly active users and 1 billion (with a B) dollars in 2021 revenue. Who said design doesn't pay?
Intuit Buys Mailchimp for $12B
Mailchimp, the email marketing platform, is something you've probably either used or gotten an email from. With Mailchimp's 13 million users and 95% retention rate, this acquisition makes sense for Intuit's value proposition to small businesses.
However, there's some buzz from Mailchimp's early employees who are a little peeved that they didn't receive any equity in the beginning—yet another reminder to read your offer letters before you sign!
Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak Launches a Space Startup
Seriously, what is up with rich people and space all of a sudden? Wozniak is launching Privateer, a startup dedicated to clearing space debris. This is a super cool problem, especially considering the dangers of space debris as humanity progresses towards space travel and tourism. With competitors such as LeoLabs (who we've done some diligence on at TroyLabs!), Privateer is entering an amazing industry with lots of potential. Honestly, we can't wait!
Twitter's Super Follows Feature Flops
Two weeks ago, amid a lot of buzz, Twitter released a new feature called Super Follows that allows paying followers to gain access to bonus content. This marks a shift in Twitter's monetization strategy from advertising-focused to creator-focused, but sadly, the feature has only contributed to $6,000 in revenue so far. Damn.
Luckily, it's only been two weeks, so time will tell whether this was a terrible move or simply a rocky start! If you start seeing some celebrities on Twitter plugging the feature, don't be surprised 👀
Some Help with the Job Hunt 🤝
Hyper (who we talked about in the last edition) is hiring a full-time Chief of Staff!
Dorm Room Fund is hiring an Investment Partner! We're biased, but this is an INSANE opportunity.
Tesla is looking for a Product Manager Intern for Spring 2022!
Redfin is looking for a Product Manager, full-time!
Eco is hiring a Growth Fellow to help make crypto mainstream.
TikTok is looking for a Frontend SWE, full-time!
Amazon is hiring a UX Designer Intern! Please, someone help them out. I can't stand their UI.
Crunchbase is looking for an Associate Product Marketer.
This Edition's Featured Tweet:
We know it's been a while, so we are PUMPED that we get to inform and entertain y'all, yet again :) Be sure to look out for our next edition coming straight to your inboxes in the coming weeks❗
Share this link with your friends to keep them in the loop as well!!
Stay safe, and let's keep building 🚀