I interned at a start-up at 18

ArcLab is a SaaS EdTech company that focuses on workplace training and digital SOP such as training modules, mobile training, and tracking of learner analytics, etc.

Learn on the job

As an intern, I quickly learned that startup life means wearing many hats. My work went beyond just completing assigned tasks — I got to be involved in projects that directly impacted users. I contributed to reading and parsing input material and interfacing it with GPT models. I also had to develop prototype features for the product, and it was nice to see how I directly influenced changes to the product to improve its usability.

Adaptability

I also learned the importance of adaptability. At a startup, things move fast, and priorities can shift overnight. This forced me to stay flexible, proactive, and comfortable with uncertainty.

Surrounded by brilliant people

I was most impressed being surrounded by brilliant people who were deeply passionate about their work. Working alongside the CTO and the rest of the team pushed me to raise my own standards. Their problem-solving mindset, willingness to experiment, and drive to keep improving taught me as much as the projects themselves.

I learned that being ahead of the game is important. Even when working on current features, we were discussing how the UI/feature would continue to look down the line, how it would scale to more users, etc.

Conclusion

Being part of ArcLab showed me what it takes to grow an idea into a product, and a product into a business. It was challenging, but also incredibly rewarding. It confirmed my interest in working with startups and building solutions that make a real-world impact.