Inside the Internship at Nova Founders Capital with Sebastian Tollak
Why did you apply for the internship?
I applied for the Nova Founders Capital Internship a year ago because I wanted to test myself among the most talented and driven people. I knew I wanted to have a gap year between high school and university in order to mature and get experience from “the real world” outside the educational system. For me, this was the best place to find out what it takes to build startups and excel in the business world! Also, I could see myself fitting in the culture of hard-working and ambitious people way smarter than me.
What has been your greatest learning so far?
The list of things I have learned this year is comprehensive, and I will try to limit myself on this one. One of my major learnings has been the small tips and tricks that enable you as a company to outplay your competitors. Skills such as how you find leads, write a good cold email or automating processes have really been an eye-opener for me. This single year of working with people who have way more business acumen and experience than me has saved me a decade of learning this the hard way! Another great learning for me is the whole mindset our culture is affected by: Never see boundaries, always improve existing processes and initiatives, take action today not tomorrow etc. These principles may sound simple, but forcing myself to surround me with people effectuating these principles have improved my own standards. Furthermore, I have obtained some handy skills from the corporate toolbox from my many hours of training in PowerPoint and Excel. These tools are inevitable when doing business and learning how you can utilize these programs brings indisputable value.
What has been the coolest thing about the internship?
The coolest thing about the Nova Founders Internship is the people you get to work with. The fact that you are not the smartest in the room is hard to accept (Let’s face it!) but you grow so much more under these people than you would otherwise. You are perceived as important as anyone else, which also means that you get direct and honest feedback — This only steepens your learning curve! In general, your colleagues are willing to pass on their experience and invest in your learning process, which is awesome when you are coming with close to zero experience. Another cool part of the internship is the amount of responsibility you are trusted. The length of your CV doesn’t determine the tasks you get. Instead, it is your approach and willingness to learn that leads to more intriguing and complex tasks.
What has been the hardest during the internship?
The steep learning curve comes with a few (a lot!) bumps in the road. You will make mistakes, and it feels terrible. As long as mistakes are not repeated, it is a good way to learn — But learning the hard way. Especially prioritization of tasks has been a problem of mine which has caused a lot of late nights.
What are you responsible for?
I work in CompareEuropeGroup which facilitates financial comparison sites across Europe — currently active in four countries. My main responsibilities consist of financial reporting, excel modelling and analysis of group related data, ad-hoc tasks for the CEO and other special projects. A special project could be marketing analyses, copywriting or market research.
How does a normal day look like for you?
No day is the same. I usually define what I want to get done throughout the day and then work on that list — Often it changes during the day. The secret is to choose and focus on the task that is most important and urgent — Because you will have loads of assignments on your desk. An example of a recurring task could be the preparation the monthly investor update which consists of the monthly P&L figures, comments on the previous month’s performance and action points on the objective or the upcoming month.
What would you have liked to know when you considered applying?
At the beginning of the internship, it was difficult to face the reality that you ran your head against the wall various times due to your lacking experience. Here it would have been valuable to have a more thorough understanding of how you can use your mistakes constructively to learn and grow. Another important learning I have discovered is the importance of “building machines”. It is often worth the time to explore how you can automate and improve existing processes instead of “brute forcing” yourself out of the problems.
What are your plans after the summer break?
I have been granted to opportunity to continue within Nova Founders Capital on their Management Trainee Program while studying International Business at Copenhagen Business School.
What are your long-term goals?
My long-term goal is to excel within my field and use my experience to lead and inspire great people who want to contribute to making great results. I want to be a part of building exciting projects from scratch that can grow. In the nearer term, I want to learn from the best people I possibly can surround myself with and continuously seek to improve my own skills within various fields.
