Louis Bidou

I have been discussing with many friends and entrepreneurs looking for interns to help them every day. They have very few money and may be tempted to hire the first person applying, with the excuse that his/her tasks will not be of high added value. But I don't think it is a reason to complete our teams with average performers.

Execution is the key challenge startups are facing. We need people who are able to get things done smartly, and who do it fast, or at least faster than others. Yes, we may have to pay a premium compared to the average intern compensation to attract those serious people, but I do think it is worth it.

Let me share with you a story I have been told a few months ago. A growing New York based startup, which raised a Series A round with one of the major VC fund on the East Coast, has been hiring apparently-good interns for months. Even if investors urged the team to switch to hire experienced people on key positions, passionate interns kept up joining. Finally, the investors admitted they have never seen a team attracting such reliable interns. The founders paid special attention not to hire the first student applying, but really looked for a good fit. It paid and continues, to a certain extent, to pay off.

Of course, it's tough to build a growing and sustainable machine with team members in the context of an internship, but I believe we actually can get the ball rolling pretty fast with passionate people in their 20s jumping on our projects.