How I became an intern for beehiiv (Part 2)

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Last week, enough people voted for part 2. Ask and you shall receive…

This deep dive will be broken into 4 parts. Research, cold email, interview, and internship. It’s a 5 min read — let’s dive in…

The Research

If you’re going to apply for a position the non-traditional way, expect to put in a lot more effort. Just like the person who climbed the fence and got into the club through the kitchen — you’re going to stand out by taking the hard path.

There are 5 places that I dug into to learn more about beehiiv…

1. Past Podcast Appearances

Does the company or employees have any podcast appearances?

Search their names on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

If you find their interviews, here are a few things I look for:

• Anything that sparks my curiosity
• Their future plans or vision
• A core value or belief

Essentially, I’m looking for two things:

1. Opportunities where I can add value

2. Connections where I can start a conversation

2. Twitter

Twitter is a phenomenal place to do research. Founders and CEOs are posting their raw, unfiltered thoughts non-stop.

I use Twemex, a Twitter extension to surface tweets that got buried.

Type in their username, min_faves, and the number of likes you want.

“@denk_tweets min_faves:200”

3. Google

It’s no surprise, Google is a great place to do research.

You can find news and press articles about your company or founders.

My only tip:

Scroll to the very bottom or second page of your results.

4. YouTube

Same thing with YouTube.

Find the videos that aren’t popular.

I found an Elevator Pitch that Tyler Denk did 10 years ago!!

(It’s totally unrelated to the internship…. but still cool nonetheless)

5. Connections

Do you know someone who may know someone who may know the CEO?

Do you know someone who used to work there?

I was lucky to have connected with Abhi Shah — who interned with beehiiv last year — over Twitter.

A few questions I asked Abhi:

• How did you reach out to XYZ company?
• What were your biggest lessons from working there?
• What skills do I need to learn to be “valuable” to them?

BONUS: Clarity

It’s always a good idea to come in with a clear-ish picture of what experiences you’re looking to gain and how your past experiences align with that role.

If you aren’t the most experienced, at least be the most prepared.

The Cold Email

To tell you my cold email blueprint is the best would not only be pretentious, but it would also be false.

The truth is I didn’t and still don’t know how to write a perfect cold email.

I only know the cold emails I don’t like receiving.

There are dozens of different cold email resources you can find on the internet — so I’ll simply leave you with this awesome graphic from Shaan Puri’s Power Writing course:

At the end of the day, it comes down to this:

• Did you grab their attention?
• Was your ask specific?
• Was it concise?

Here's the cold email I sent Tyler…

The Interview

1. Preparation

As previously mentioned, for me, research was the thing I focused on the most. I made a playlist of every Tyler Denk podcast and listened to them while going on long walks before my interview.

Remember: Confidence comes from preparation.

2. The Airport Test

Proper preparation is expected. To go above and beyond, create a genuine connection with your interviewer.

This can’t be faked. You have to genuinely care about the person sitting across from you.

The Airport Test: If your interviewer were stuck at an airport with you for 3 hours, would they have a good time?

Don’t get so caught up in giving the right answer that you forget to be a real person.

The Internship

Congrats! You made it to the internship. Now the real work begins…

1. The Career Cold Start Algorithm

My friend Noah sent me an article by Boz, Meta’s CTO.

In it, Boz developed an “algorithm” to optimize the start of your career.

Your goal is to meet your team, connect with them, and discover additional ways to add value to the company.

2. 10+ hours/day

Hot take: As an intern, work-life balance shouldn’t be in your vocabulary.

When I went to work at beehiiv — I knew that my performance there would determine if future doors would open or close.

Surprise them with how quickly you move. Shock them with how precise your work is. Leave them so impressed, they have to tell others about you.

You don’t want to merely show up, you want to awe them.

Working hard ain’t sexy, but it sure gets results.

3. At every meeting, take notes

Albert Einstein once said, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn't, pays it.”

When most people hear “Compound Interest” they immediately think about money. But you know what compounds faster than money? Skills.

At the beginning of your career, the best thing you can do is be a learning sponge and soak up every last drop of wisdom you can. The point is to learn, not to squeeze a few more dollars from your salary.

4. Weekly Reflections

At the end of each week, take 10 minutes to ask yourself:

• What did I do?
• What did I learn?
• What did I observe?

It’s incredible how quickly you forget things. Make sure to write down the things you want to remember.

TLDR:

1) If you aren’t the most experienced, at least be the most prepared.

2) When you write your cold email, don’t forget to ASC (Attention, Specific, Concise)

3) Remember the Airport Test during your interview.

4) Working hard ain’t sexy, but it sure gets results.

Jay “Know What Season You’re In” Yang