We welcomed last week one of Jönköping International Business School’ students, Amanda Lindström, for a one-week internship with our investment teams at The Factory. She won the Nextstep Career Fair competition and tells us what she experienced at Wellstreet over these intense five days.
"I won an “internship” at Wellstreet through a sponsored pitch competition at my University which meant that I was going to spend a week with the investment team to gain an insight into their work. You might think that a week is too short to learn anything of value, and sure, some things need more time but if you have a curious mind and an interest in the matter, we as humans are able to grasp quite a lot, very quickly. I found myself going out of this week refuelled by energy from all the driven people I met and enough informed about venture capital funding within the start-up scene for tech companies to be able to have a decent discussion about it.
As with any new acquaintance, first impressions are important. With Wellstreet, it felt good from the get-go as they welcomed me to be a part of everything from the first second. It did not take long before I realised that it was a company that would not settle doing things the conventional way but was determined to find new and better ways, constantly challenging the status quo of the market. The open-minded and hands-on culture at Wellstreet resonated well with my own ways and I am happy to have been able to spend a short but sweet time with the investment team. It is not every day you get the opportunity to see the inner workings of the day to day work at a venture capital firm.
The team at Wellstreet has much knowledge and experience from the market and are very hands-on with their portfolio companies which makes the decision-making more effective and everything very exciting and I have learned something new every day.
Going into this internship, I had some previous knowledge from working within the financial sector but I was basically a baby when it came to tech. Getting some deeper insight into what new technologies that some of the brilliant people in this world have come up with have really broadened my knowledge and spiked my interest in the industry. The team at Wellstreet has much knowledge and experience from the market and are very hands-on with their portfolio companies which makes the decision-making more effective and everything very exciting and I have learned something new every day. Moreover, seeing how the fintech industry has been growing and what new things are in the pipeline, has been one of the most exciting things for me since it connects innovation with my own interest in finance. It is also always very inspiring to meet entrepreneurs since they are very passionate about what they do and are driven to achieve great things. It is really contagious!
As I walked together with the investment team this week I got to learn about how they work with funding and managing the relationship to their investors, even got the chance to be part of some meetings and see it for myself. We had some companies pitching their business ideas for us which was very interesting and led to many good discussions. Since the team is working closely with their portfolio companies, I was directly thrown into meetings discussing the details of their business and how to take it to the next level, if more investment was needed or not etc. During my week, a large and important deal was being negotiated. That gave me insights into how those discussions go about with the different stakeholders and lawyers along with the planning and strategizing to close the deal. This week has consisted of everything from network lunches, running around the city on meetings and sitting in the office at the Factory, verifying numbers, screening pitch decks and proo-freading contractual agreements. Being a very entrepreneurial, relational and commercial person myself, I have absolutely loved it.
In conclusion, when I entered the competition at Nextstep Career Fair at Jönköping International Business School, I had no idea what to expect from an internship at Wellstreet. However, it is safe to say that it has been an invaluable learning experience. I have been able to connect with both investors and start-ups which has broadened my network in the finance and tech scene of Sweden. Then, of course, it has been so much fun and I would definitely recommend the Wellstreet group to anyone who asks."
- Text by Amanda Lindström
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