CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
a personal journey to challenges (and rewards) of a MIP Internship Program
“Good luck with San Francisco!” said Maggie when the final interview had come to an end. During that same interview, I was told that no one had ever got an internship in Hawaii or San Francisco, the two most requested destinations by all applicants.
In September 2019, I was at a crossroads in my career. The solution came from AADFs Master’s and Internship Program to which I applied. My first interview went well but, I had forgotten that good feeling I had, as the same night of the first interview, the Earthquake of November 26th, hit.
In late January 2020, all fellows met. Created a Whatsapp Group and started making small talk and know each other better. And then, Covid-19 happened. Thanks to that Whatsapp Group, we gave support to each other and became good friends. But, at the same time, it looked that San Francisco was way far, under the rubble of the disaster or in some mARN molecule, of a most awaited vaccine, yet to be invented.
All interviews with potential hosters went well. I was the right choice for them, but on the other hand, COVID-19 was doing its job, and companies postponed or changed plans. The same was happening to most of the other fellows. One year had passed and, everything seemed to be lost.
On April 26th, 2021, one day ahead of my 36th birthday, I read:
“Just a thought… / … I … wanted to put forward a new company that we found in San Francisco. It is called [StartUp] Genome….”
Denise had brought what would have become my first birthday present.
In Albania, we have this expression: “E treta, e vërteta” translated “the third one, the true one”; and it was, but not without other challenges.
The first one was time. Time had passed, and things were different from the time I applied; I was different. Some choices had become way too hard. Second, the pandemic, after a short truce, had started what looked like a fourth peak. Rumors gave a second lock-down in autumn. You could not fly to the United States from any Schengen country, only Turkey or Serbia. High demand, in high season, pushed my departure twice. But this would not stop me from going to the place I wanted to be! San Francisco.
In 2011, together with a partner, I started my first company in digital communication. From that project, we went forward and presented the idea of a check-in app at the local Startup Weekend (2.0). Foursquare was riding the top of the wave. From there, I got introduced to the people and startup community that was still forming in Albania. With one of the organizers and the mentor at SW2.0, we continued our journey in the startup ecosystem. Garazh, the Student of ICT in the Entrepreneurship association, was born. Later, my work with the Swiss Entrepreneurship Programme was more hands-on involvement in developing the small but vibrant Albanian Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.
After nine years of working with startups, what better place to be than San Francisco? Startup Genome was my perfect match. My host is the world-leading research and policy advisory organization for public and private agencies committed to accelerating the success of their startup ecosystem. Startup Genome’s mission and impact are rooted in more than a decade of independent research with data on three million companies in over 280+ cities. Every year the company publishes The Global Startup Ecosystem Report. For those interested in Startups, this publication is a must-read!
Startups and Analysis; The two things I have been doing in my entire career.
Being here is a dream come true but also a challenge itself. I am part of a team that has members in 4 different time zones. My supervisor, Pranav, is based in India, with 12:30 hours of difference. The rest of the team works from Europe and East Coast. This fact did not stop me from being involved in two prime projects for the organization. The first research is regarding the startup ecosystem of a European Country. The other one is measuring the economic impact that governments can expect in the long term from investing in startups. Having a clear insight into this matter will give startup ecosystems the right place in government spending. The approach to tackling this issue is quite revolutionary.
It is only the first month and, I have already learned a few things. These are easily transferable and can also apply to all fields of research or data analysis. I already have a clear idea of how to put into practice these techniques in what I do back in Albania. And, it is only the first month.
Another challenge is the weather (Karl[1], altogether with the cold summer) and the cost of living in San Francisco, the most expensive city in the U.S. and one of the most expensive in the world. The European-like lifestyle makes it easier to adapt. In San Francisco there are plenty of free activities, like going to the park, which, for the people of the City is the main hobby, visiting the numerous attractions. By the way, did you know that San Francisco has 220 parks?
San Francisco, for the first time in decades, saw a net population decrease during the COVID pandemic. This fact is visible in the windows of many businesses still closed or just re-opening; hopefully, a good omen for what is coming next, for San Francisco and my experience here in the U.S..
Living and working the dream (U.S., San Francisco, Startup Genome) in challenging times is, as the name suggests, challenging but not impossible. All great things in life come with challenges. Thus, never stop trying and believing! Keep doing this and, you will succeed.
At the beginning of this journey, it seemed impossible for me but, here I am, saying to these challenging times: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
You can accept the challenge too, click here and apply to the AADFs Master’s and Internship Program.
Vasken Spiru, MIP Internship Fellow 2020
[1] Karl, the fog of San Francisco, as locals call it.
