At Team8 we’ve been privileged to work with dozens of talented individuals, associates, and interns who have joined us over the years from different geographies, backgrounds, and disciplines as part of Team8’s Summer Internship & Associates Program.
With each individual coming through our door, there is a world of lessons to learn from each one. I had the pleasure of sitting down with our past year’s interns, to discuss insights and ideas from their time at Team8 and their ambitions moving forward.
I hope that by reading, you might also take a lesson or two from these incredible individuals, just as I have.
Lesson 1: Find the spark between your personal and professional
Alex Egol was born and raised in NYC. He went to college at Princeton University, where he studied Economics.
He joined Team8 as an intern via the Taglit-Excel Program for undergrads, and found his place on our Fintech team, performing strategy and business research.
For him, there were multiple reasons to choose Team8 for his internship. “First, I grew up in a Jewish household, I love Israel, and I wanted to spend more time exploring the business world. This combination made working at Team8 a no-brainer.”
Talking about his responsibilities at Team8, Alex added, “I was working on mapping the creator-economy market. I’ve never done that before, and didn’t have any exposure to the fintech space. Over time, it got easier for me to learn a new market, figure out who the main players are, and how to do all that much quicker. I loved working on that project.”
Lesson 2: Connect the dots between your career moves
Sam Goldman was born in Bedford, NY. He is currently a Junior at the University of Michigan pursuing a degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering and a minor in Computer Science.
The previous summer, he interned at a startup in the health-tech domain. Speaking about both career moves, he noted that “I absolutely loved the exciting, dynamic ambiance and entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of the startup team. For the following summer, I wanted to continue to explore the start-up world. Team8 is such a remarkable company, not only because it was founded by some of the most prominent names in the Israeli high-tech ecosystem, but also because of its unique business model that gives companies a truly unfair advantage. This fascinated me.”
Speaking about the new skills he acquired during his internship, he shares: “I was handed a lot of responsibility and was forced to figure out many things on my own. As a result of this independence, the experience definitely furthered my ability to be perceptive and self-advocating when need be.”
Lesson 3: Be confident in what you know and equally confident in what you don’t yet know
Jacob Hess is originally from New York City. He is currently a Freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he plans to major in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and minor in Legal Studies and History.
He joined Team8 during a gap year before his university studies, after spending one semester in Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv. “On a personal level I came to Israel hoping to connect with the culture, perfect my Hebrew and interact with the many wonders and complexities that exist in the country. On a professional level, I was excited to become a small part of the “startup nation” and the exciting advancements that Israel is making in the fields of cyber, fintech, and healthcare IT. There was no better place to do all of that than at Team8.”
At Team8, Jacob was a member of the Strategy and Business Research team. “Team8 unlocked my deep interest in Venture Capital and for growth-stage companies. I have been interested in finance and the stock market since I was a kid, but Team8 exposed me to the incredible possibilities in the startup world.
In addition, I came into my internship knowing very little about cybersecurity, but now have a much better appreciation for the importance of the sector–and the size of the opportunity.”
Lesson 4: Invest in a network of partners, you’ll thank yourself later
Aviv Winter grew up in a suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel. He currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut, where he’s pursuing his MBA at Yale School of Management.
Looking back at his experience at Team8, Aviv said “following the MBA, I wanted to shift my career to the VC industry, and I looked for a place where I could hone my skills. I chose Team8 due to my interest in the healthcare domain: I was intrigued by the opportunity to be part of a brand new vertical and learn from scratch about the process of building both a fund and a digital health company.”
Aviv joined our relatively new Healthcare team, which gave him an opportunity to understand the business models and strategies in the digital health sector. “I searched for potential partners for the foundry, and conducted a competitive landscape analysis. The work required various quantitative and qualitative data analytics skills and included interactions with industry leaders and Team8 partners from all domains.”
Speaking on what the summer associateship gave him for his next roles, “the associateship enabled me to learn from a leading team and enrich my skill set towards my future experiences in the VCindustry. This associateship brought me closer to my career goal: creating value for startups and helping companies thrive and grow.”
Lesson 5: Look at the industry from a birds-eye view, then go deep
Chris Champa grew up outside Boston. He’s spent the past few years working in economic consulting in New York. He is now at the Yale School of Management in New Haven, CT, working towards his MBA.
When talking about what brought him to the summer program, Chris said “I was really interested in Team8’s foundry model. The model gives you the high-level strategic view of an industry that you normally would get in a VC, combined with the hands-on experience you would get at a startup. Both experiences are super valuable, but it’s pretty rare to get them both in one role. For a summer associateship, it seemed like the perfect balance.”
In summarizing his day-to-day experience, “Most of my time was spent working with Team8’s latest portfolio company on their go-to-market strategy. That company, Gem Security, came out of stealth, and it was amazing to see some of our work in action!”
Lesson 6: Make the most of the time you have, even when it’s short
Javier Bojórquez R.Bours, originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, is in his second year of MBA studies at Columbia Business School. Prior to that, he worked in consulting at McKinsey’s Mexico City office.
At Team8, Javier worked extremely closely with my team and accomplished a substantial amount. When speaking about his experiences, Javier added “I was in the Strategy & Business Research team for Team8’s Fintech foundry. In this role, I had a main project along with several other tasks. For this main project, I synthesized current state challenges and pain points for CFO tech stacks across company sizes, mapping 250+ existing players’ solutions in 12 categories and identifying 4 market opportunities. Aside from this, I spent time evaluating 3 prospective market opportunities in consumer financing, embedded finance, and mortgages as part of ideation efforts for company-creation.”
Speaking about his future plans, Javier spoke of Team8’s values, “I believe working at Team8 expanded my understanding of not only the VC and start-up world, but also financial services and Fintech in general. I hope to use the knowledge and skills I acquired during my time at Team8 to continue building a career focused on the Fintech sector.”
The Next Step
I want to wish Alex, Sam, Jacob, Aviv, Chris and Javier the best of luck in your careers! I’m sure our paths will cross again.
We at Team8 have begun accepting applications for the next Summer Internship and Associates Program, which will take place from June to August 2023. The position we’re currently recruiting for is an MBA Summer Associate on the Fintech Team in Israel. If you’re interested or know someone who might be a strong candidate with prior fintech experience, please feel free to apply here.