Thoughts of a Lotame Intern -- Part One...

I asked one of our interns, Dan Reich, to write a piece that I could post here, about his experience thus far in being a part of Lotame. Dan is a talented intern, who has come to us from the University of Wisconsin.

I am especially interested in INTERNS, and their perception of working at Lotame. I cut and paste this post, unfiltered, uncensored --- and from the heart.

Thanks Dan....(his post on his summer thus far with Lotame is below -- 4 weeks into his internship.)

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To start this post, I will reiterate something Andy said in one of his earlier posts. Right now, I am exhausted, yet I have never been more excited to be where I am right now. When people ask me, “How’s your summer internship going? What are you doing there? What are you learning”, I take a deep breath, and simply say, “Everything”. And it couldn’t be better.



To date, I have worked on virtually every aspect of this business. I have worked on company presentations and presented them to the management team and investors. I have participated in creating a revenue model that will ultimately define the way this business makes money. I have even gone as far as to invent new words, metrics, and ways of measuring data that will one day be adopted by an entire industry. Besides playing ping pong in the office every once in a while; there are no limits and restraints on creativity or productivity. In this office, I am surrounded by a team comprised of some of the most driven and talented individuals I have ever met.



And what am I learning? Every single day I am learning how internet monetization works (and will work) and I am learning from the best in the industry. From the deadhead and a sales leader behind Advertising.com (Andy), to the cool and collected original sales force member at yahoo (Scott), I am being exposed to the minds of some guys who have, for a lack of a better word, “made it”. As an aspiring entrepreneur, this is truly invaluable.



And what about the tech guys? As an undergrad electrical engineer at the University of Wisconsin, I am also exposed to some brilliant minds that are developing our technology. How often does an engineer in any field, have the opportunity to walk over to the CTO’s desk (Jeremy) and watch him write the algorithms and platforms that will be used by an entire industry? Being able to have even 2 cents worth of input to this is also truly remarkable.



This really is an adventure and an experience. Everything I do throughout the day will in one way or another effect the company’s growth and development. Every day, I am presented with new and difficult challenges and unsolved problems, and its awesome. You could be sure that I’ll be back here after I’m finished with Wisconsin.



Being that this is Andy’s blog, I will end in saying…

“Turning nothing into something is G-d work, and you get nothing without struggle and hard work.” – Nas



PEACE

D$ - Dan Reich