Intern theory

Abstract

Intern Theory Career Solutions LLP (Intern Theory) was launched by Vamil Sangoi with three of his classmates, Dhruvi Dharia, Anshini Jhaveri and Jugal Choksi, midway through their four-year undergraduate studies at the Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering in Mumbai. Having experienced firsthand the difficulty of finding internships during their summer break, their startup (initially called Internup) aimed to help other students find short internships with companies. While some colleges assist their students to find course required internships, most colleges do not require internships as part of their coursework and even where required, many do not assist their students in finding internships. Irrespective whether the course mandates internship or not, many students are keen on internships as it enables them to learn by doing and to build their credibility as potential employees. On the other side, companies that offer students internships can get exploratory work or certain time-bound work done at much lower costs. Moreover, they can possibly find good future employees from their own internship pool. Later renamed as Intern Theory, the student startup used internal funds while operating within the Mumbai market but was soon funded against equity sale to expand its operations across India from their base in Mumbai. The team is now exploring new options to build their market on both sides – to get more college students to register for seeking internships and to get more companies to offer internships by removing any constraints that they may face. As a market maker, Intern Theory faced several unique implementation issues on both sides and found some unique opportunities to exploit. A major new initiative is to offer short online courses to college students that make them more internship ready. While the core internship service is not charged, the company charges students for online training courses. New competitors are entering their market space. This case study enables a discussion on the options for the survival and growth of Intern Theory.