An Internship Program Like No Other to Help YOU

I am leading a summer program at Wesleyan University entitled “Intro to Business, Finance & Life,” which is half course and half internship from June to August. After a rigorous and competitive application process, we have seven pods of four students each. We are now formally opening conversations with searchers, search-funded companies, and long-term hold entities to match our intern pods in internships over the summer. If you are interested, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT THE ADDRESS BELOW. This is not like any other internship program. • Each pod will devote 800 hours (4 interns times 10 weeks at 20 hours per week) to complete an agreed project, a $10k value which is free to you. • All our students will receive remote and in-person training from Pacific Lake during the spring, tailored to you and the project you want completed. • During the summer, your interns will be supported by a teaching assistant, by Pacific Lake, and by me. There will be constant course correction and checks to ensure success. My motivation here is simple: to help young people grow. After three decades in the trenches as a big-company CFO, venture capitalist, and thought leader in the search ecosystem (including many search investments, boards, the “Matlack” formula, etc.), my passion is to give back. This program is an organic outgrowth of that passion. I have found that working with courageous young people at the very start of their business careers is uniquely inspiring and fun. We are looking for partners who see the value in what our interns can do for you and are committed to the values of service and teaching a growth mindset, which are central to our mission. We intend to fill our seven slots for a pod of interns by the end of February to customize training and ensure the summer experience is as beneficial as possible for everyone involved. Please see the attachment fact sheet below. If taking on a pod is of interest to you or your organization, let’s have a conversation. PLEASE EMAIL ME at redacted and give me some basic facts about who you are, where you are operating, and your interest in taking on a pod for our program. Thanks so much to all of you who have read my long-winded posts and believe, as I do, that this community is uniquely great. Tom BFL Internship Program Fact Sheet Program: BFL is a unique program for the most promising undergraduates built around three pillars: practical skill development, broad exposure to the business world, and deep reflection on building a meaningful life. We offer a unique blend of classroom and experiential learning based on the core concept of a growth mindset. Before the summer starts, all students will receive thorough training by Pacific Lake on how to be the most effective intern possible. During the 10-week session, June 8 - August 14, students will split their time, spending 20 hours per week working on their internship and 20 hours per week on our class. Cohort: Our cohort was selected in the fall through a rigorous selection process that included applications reviewed by 10 volunteer CEOs, reference checks, and in-person interviews for finalists. The resulting group includes 6 first-generation college students and a former army nurse who speaks 7 languages. 60% of the cohort are student-athletes, and 40% are female, with many international students and recent immigrants. The 27 students are divided into three teaching sections of nine, each led by a Program Assistant, and further divided into six pods of four students and one pod of three students, each led by a mentor from last year’s program. Internship: We will place our seven pods, each with a searcher or search/long-term hold acquired company. We plan to have the 7 sponsor searchers and companies selected by the end of February, so the Pacific Lake training can be tailored to each student’s actual internship. We want to be sure we have 100% alignment in expectations and that the experience is highly beneficial for both those who take on our interns and the interns themselves. To ensure this, we hope to work collaboratively to draft a memo of understanding around the work project and the respective commitments of the searcher/CEO, the pod of students, and us (me, my program assistants, Pacific Lake) before the intern pod commences work. Some elements of that memo we would hope to cover are: ● Definition of the entity (search, if company, what group in the company), location, since we ideally would like interns to have a chance for in-person interaction, and basic biographic info on the personnel involved to help match with our pods. ● Expectations in terms of location and timing of work for pods. ● You will be getting 4x200 hours or 800 student hours free ($10k value as we will pay each intern a $2,500 stipend). What are the specific project or projects for which that time will be reasonably allocated and completed? This is where a lot of prep work will be required to ensure everyone is clear from the start, and students have a work plan going in. ● What is the end product for the intern pod work? Ideally, they will provide a report or make a presentation as a culminating event at the end of their time with you. ● In a growth mindset, feedback is crucial. We require a commitment to providing structured feedback to the interns and reporting back to us on how they are doing (so we can support and help improve their performance). This could be informal weekly updates and formal reviews twice—once halfway through and once at the end. It might be beneficial for the PA responsible for the pod to sit in on the weekly check-in, while the formal reviews should be documented, and copies shared with us to keep everyone informed. ● Supervision. Identify who at the company will supervise the intern pod directly and how available they will be to assist (preferably daily; could be an MBA intern). ● What training, if any, will the intern pod receive once on the job? ● We commit to supervising our interns through regular check-ins and by dedicating class time for interns to raise issues, discuss progress, and receive support and guidance. We will flesh out the details of this in the memo document.