This is part of a series of posts by recipients of the 2021 Career Services Summer Funding Grant. We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they spent their summer. You can read the entire series here.
This entry is by Samuel Jacob, WH ’24
This past summer, I had the opportunity to intern at MetaProp, a VC firm focused on the real estate technology industry. This opportunity was extremely rewarding and allowed me to learn how the various components of a VC firm work together to generate stakeholder value. More specifically, I was able to create a real estate technology newsletter that connects the firm’s portfolio companies with business development opportunities in the world of real estate technology. Creating the newsletter was a challenging and rewarding experience. It was challenging because it required me to compile information and data into an aesthetic medium, but it was rewarding once I was able to see the tangible, positive impact that it had on the firm. Additionally, I was able to engage directly with MetaProp’s partners and gain valuable insights into how they engage with clients and prospective investment opportunities. My supervisor, Jenny, made my experience extremely rewarding by trusting me to take on new and exciting projects within the firm.
Through this internship and the generous grant from Career Services, I was able to travel to New York City and work at the MetaProp headquarters. Spending time in the office was a great experience because it allowed me to connect with members of my team who primarily worked remotely. Growing up in a small town in central Ohio, life in ‘the big city’ had always been something I wanted to experience. My experience at MetaProp’s New York Headquarters allowed me to engage with the vibrant dynamics of finance and technological innovation in a very memorable way.
More broadly, this experience allowed me to further cultivate my interest in venture capital and startups. Because my daily projects were largely focused on helping our portfolio companies, I was able to gain first hand experience on the grittiness and sacrifice that comes with starting a company. Going into the internship, I was unsure as to whether entrepreneurship was a career path of interest to me. However, after completing this internship and engaging in the entire VC value chain, I realize that although the startup and VC journey is not easy, it is rewarding. Being able to play an active and early role in the companies that have the potential to change the world and improve the lives of many people makes entrepreneurship rewarding in my opinion.
More specifically to real estate technology, working at MetaProp made me realize that the traditional real estate and housing complex is ripe for disruption. There are many ways to innovate in this industry, and this innovation will improve the housing crisis, one of the most pressing issues in our society.
I am extremely grateful for my experience at MetaProp and for the generosity of Career Services. I plan on continuing to explore entrepreneurship through the various resources at Penn and hope to return to the VC industry post-degree. This internship was extremely valuable and provided me with a wealth of knowledge that will undoubtedly influence my future and time at Penn!