“Our weekly pitch meetings were a fun way to connect and a great exercise throughout the internship to evaluate early stage companies. I learned the importance of thinking both like an investor and as a founder, and felt encouraged to share feedback from day one. I particularly enjoyed working on projects that took a deeper dive into our investment prospects and with LEL’s portfolio companies. Going through due diligence and working directly with founders on their presentations gave me the chance to contribute my own perspective on live investments. It was rewarding to see my work used in actual investment decisions.”

Helena Lustig

“I really enjoyed my time at LEL, especially as I was able to experience the entire process of sourcing, performing due diligence, and seeing an investment to fruition for Batch 8. Getting a glimpse into how LEL evaluates startups has refined the way I think as an investor and how I view different business models. During the internship, I was offered a lot of constructive feedback and was also encouraged to share my opinions. Ultimately, I learned a great deal from the investment team as well as from my fellow venture fellows. ”

Jocelyn Zheng

“I enjoyed working with the Lair East Labs team during my internship when I was just starting to learn about the VC/startup ecosystem. Most valuable to me was probably that I got to see how LEL analyzes very early-stage startups. I enjoyed working on these investment analyses the most out of my internship as well as learning from the team and also building relationships with the Batch 6 founders and portfolio companies.”

John Lee

“Working with Lair East Labs has been an amazing experience! Even though we were completely virtual, the opportunity to work with and learn from the partners and mentors was extremely valuable. I worked on projects that were meaningful and useful to LEL and its portfolio companies, and learned about so many different industries and technologies.”

William Wang

“I loved being able to work more directly with portfolio companies, focusing on verticals outside of DeepTech and EdTech, and gaining more experience with evaluating Pre-Seed and Seed stage companies. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of this internship, however, was the genuine nature of the Investment Team. I will always remember and appreciate how open the Investment Team was to hearing my concerns.”

Charles Lee

“I love my experience with LEL, as it introduced new possibilities and interests to me. Working with a fantastic cohort allowed me to see what founders, investors, and mentors are thinking during an investment process. Seeing first-hand how a mission drives the founding team to contribute to the betterment of the society is extremely inspiring.”

Norman Ye

“I’ve always worked on the operation end of a startup and found the fellowship program a fruitful experience. Although the learning curve was steep, the amount of experience and valuable insights were really helpful especially the weekly deal sourcing discussion. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned this past few months!”

Napassorn Esharoe