SummerCamp is a community of Harvard interns in the Bay Area, Boston/Cambridge, NYC, and Seattle who come together every summer to celebrate technology. This periodic series highlights student experiences in SummerCamp programs.
I had an amazing experience with SummerCamp NYC. I was working an internship that I didn’t enjoy, so SummerCamp provided me with the opportunity to gain exposure to other industries and start thinking about alternative plans post graduation.
An event that I really enjoyed was with a seed stage VC firm called Notation Capital. A general partner graciously invited us into his office in Brooklyn for brunch one Saturday morning. There were parfaits and bagels galore. His office looked more like a cozy apartment. We sat on couches posted in front of exposed brick walls, and he spoke candidly with us about his career journey thus far.
His story really resonated with me because he started working at a firm after college very similar to the one where I was interning. He felt unfulfilled there, but the only difference between his experience and mine was that the great recession of ’08 made the decision to leave for him. Soon after, he became really interested in startups, because of the possibility to be creative and dynamic in his work, and because he felt he could make a significant impact. After having worked on a series of successful tech ventures (GIPHY and Bitly, to name a few!), he started his own seed stage VC with a focus on technical founders. He concluded the brunch by answering any and all questions attendees had about the startup/entrepreneurship world and venture capital.
This event really changed the way that I’ve been approaching my job search this semester. I no longer feel constrained by the status quo, and I am thankful for SummerCamp for providing me with the opportunity to see all of the possibilities available to me and to speak with really interesting people who want to help.
Share your SummerCamp story! Send a brief write-up and a photo from one of your favorite Harvard SummerCamp experiences to Adam Zewe at azewe@seas.harvard.edu and we may feature it on this website and the SEAS social media channels.