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The LEL Venture Fellowship is a three-month seasonal internship program designed for undergraduate, graduate students, previous founders, or the ones who want to shift their careers from the corporate to the startup, tech, or VC world. You get a chance to learn from founders and investors by helping them with real-world tasks as well as supporting LEL in its day-to-day operations.
The program offers you an opportunity to get a taste of the startup world, build a diverse professional network, get exceptional insights from founders and investors, and prepares you for the next career stage with an industry-specific portfolio.
“It was a great experience interning at LEL and learning more about investing in early-stage startups. I especially enjoyed our weekly pitch meetings, where we gave each other feedback and better understand what factors make a good startup. The most valuable point of the internship has been learning from other venture fellows. Whether through the pitch meetings or working together on due diligence, I learned from other fellows who have experience working in various fields.”Amy Moon
“At LEL, Venture Fellows were given the autonomy to conceive of new strategic ideas and execute them. The leadership trusts the Fellows to interact with founders and represent the firm externally. I really enjoyed learning about new industries, growing my professional network, and gaining a new skill set to better evaluate investments. Most importantly, the culture of LEL and its Venture Fellows is very unique and helps foster a real sense of community and collaboration.”Noah Truwit
“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 had a great time working with the team, and the experience was valuable. I learned how to evaluate deals, prepare marketing materials, conduct market research, do due diligence, and communicate with founding teams. I would highly suggest anyone interested in starting a career in the VC industry join the fellowship program – the support and learning experience I gained through the process was beyond my expectations.”Daisy Wu
“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
Will is a rising junior in the Management and Technology Program at Penn, studying Finance and Systems Engineering. He grew up in New Jersey and has previously worked at an on-campus startup called Order In and as a research assistant with the Weitzman School of Design. In his free time, he likes reading, hiking, and spending time exploring Philly with his friends.
Helena is a recent graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University, where she studied Economics. She is starting work at Accenture and joined LEL prior to consulting in order to learn more about investing and VC. Helena grew up in NYC and enjoys reading, baking, running, and swimming.
John is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Previously, he worked at American Express as a Senior Financial Analyst where he worked on customer profitability strategy and analytics as well as P&L management for the US Small & Medium Enterprises segment. He further has experience in E-commerce operations and economic consulting and most recently has become involved in venture capital as an Investment Scout at GoingVC Partners and as a VC Fellow with Lair East Labs focused on sourcing, ad-hoc analyses, and program operations. John graduated from Columbia University in 2016 with a B.A. in Financial Economics and will prospectively be graduating from Columbia Business School in 2022. In his free time, he enjoys learning about different things: startups, coding, cooking, etc. and is a gamer interested in the growing e-sports industry.
Amy is a recent graduate from Columbia University. She studied Political Science and Business Management. She has experience working in the fields of consulting, real estate, and art. She also has worked with various start-ups and joined LEL to learn more about VC and investing.
Charles studies machine learning at the University of Pennsylvania and is presently a Senior VC Associate at Lair East Labs. He spends most of his free time trying to recreate foods he grew up with in California: Hong Kong style Macaroni Soup, Hawaiian Spam Musubi, and more. When the opportunity presents itself, he is also a big fan of taking in the local nature, exploring museums, and visiting the symphony.
Liz is a recent graduate of Emory University, majoring in Business and Political Science. She now works in the management consulting field in the D.C. area, where she could see her favorite Washington Monument every day. In her spare, Liz enjoys swimming, cooking, and exploring local restaurants!
Zishen (Norman) Ye is a Master’s student in International Affairs at Columbia University’s School International and Public Affairs. During his time at the LEL, Norman thoroughly enjoyed deal sourcing, market research, competitor analysis, due diligence, and outreach efforts. He is also interning for the China Practice at the Eurasia Group, a leading political risk consultancy, where he analyzes how China-related geopolitical risks and policy changes impact private businesses. Prior to that, Norman graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.A in Urban Planning and a B.A. in Political Science. In his free time, Norman enjoys driving, photography, playing competitive e-sports, and exploring New York City!
Bam is a recent graduate at Penn state, where she studied Economics and Math. She will continue to manage her family run audit firm remotely and is pursuing her passion in data science. In her free time, she enjoys video editing and snowboarding.
Noah is a Research Associate at Harvard Business School, researching modern Chinese businesses. Prior to HBS, Noah worked at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, where he developed business programs for its corporate members. Noah graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with double majors in Chinese and Economics & Strategy. In his free time, Noah enjoys cooking, following the NBA, and trying out new restaurants.
Daisy Wu graduated from Michigan State University with a master in accounting degree. With a diverse background in venture capital (LEL/ GoingVC Partner), financial services (Deloitte/ PwC), and management consulting (The Barthwell Group), Wu dedicates her experience and knowledge to help businesses and individuals achieve their missions and generate economic growth.
Takayuki Nakagawa is currently studying as an MBA student in Columbia Business School’s Class of 2022. Before starting his MBA, he worked as a management consultant in A.T. Kearney’s Japan Office, advised leading organizations in various engagements all over the world, focusing mainly on the healthcare industry, such as big pharma, medical appliance companies, and public agencies involved in healthcare. Mr. Nakagawa graduated from the University of Tokyo and got a master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Science before starting his career as a consultant.
