My Summer Internship at Hackster

My name is Thomas Noonen, and I’m a student at the University of Washington studying economics. I spent this summer interning at Hackster for three months, which was an amazing learning experience.

When I first talked with Hackster CEO Adam Benzion about the position in the spring I was clueless about what would be expected of me. I had knowledge of Hackster and had done some research for my interview but as an economics major, I didn’t know what my role would be. I have some programming experience but not enough to be anything close to a web developer. I have an understanding of how different technology works and major players in the tech and semiconductor industry, but nothing technically in-depth enough to even post a project on Hackster. In all honesty, I’m more familiar with a nine iron than a soldering iron. However, during this first call, Adam reassured me and said he was looking for someone to work on the business end of the company, such as helping out with contests. But after a summer of primarily helping out on contests, I wouldn’t say that I had a specific role or position. I did a little of everything and for my first serious internship in college, it was the greatest way to see how startup businesses actually work.

I learned quickly that being an intern at Hackster means being versatile and self-starting. On the morning of my first day, I was learning about Hackster’s core business and structure and by the afternoon I was writing a copy for a Fortune 100 contest page featuring a product that I was learning about at the same time. Many of my friends would complain about their internships consisting of buying food for the office or sitting around doing nothing, but I gladly never had that experience. There was always something to learn or to do. Whether it was learning about CRM software, doing research for my boss’s blog series, adding products to platform pages, collecting and analyzing data from contests, organizing and distributing coupons to hardware winners, or even answering a contest participant’s questions. I could go on and on, but my internship always felt engaging and the work always felt meaningful.

The work that I am most proud of this summer is the marketing and advertising that I did for NXP’s drone contest, HoverGames: Fight Fires with Flyers.

My task was to increase the contest’s registrations and applications for hardware as the sign-up numbers had started to stagnate. Since this was a drone competition, to boost participation I started reaching out to drone forums, news sites, and online communities to see if I could advertise with them. I ended up making banner ads for a few forums, making sponsored blog posts, and getting included in a few newsletters. It was in many ways a grassroots effort to boost participation but it proved effective as the contest had been “hovering” around 250 participants and closed with a little over 900 participants 30 days later!

As the summer continued I wrote and distributed press releases and sponsored blog posts from other bloggers for a number of contests. I quickly found out that there isn’t a blanket formula for effective advertising as some attempts proved more effective than others at generating contest participation. I learned a lot about how to target particular audiences and what type of advertisements are most effective online.

So after a summer with Hackster what did I learn? First, through these marketing campaigns, I learned how to talk to people effectively and professionally. I always thought of myself as a good communicator but my internship allowed me to put those skills to the test and grow. Having the sense to read an interaction and tact goes a long way, not only to get the job done but also in maintaining professional relationships that could be beneficial in the future. Second, I learned how to craft plans and schedules and get others to be part of an effective team. I learned this by the example that was set by my co-workers.

Being a part of the Hackster team, culture, and vision was an incredible behind-the-scenes look at what helps facilitate the vibrant, exciting, and innovative community that is Hackster.

Hackster is a highly collaborative and fluid environment where everyone is willing to help out regardless of what their official job might be. This spirit is distinct to Hackster and it was notable to me that people would put aside egos and gladly offer advice or help to anyone with the goal of completing a task that was bigger than themselves. Third and most importantly, I saw how enthusiastic entrepreneurs can shape and lead a community of innovators from all over the world. Hackster is a special place to work and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to work there this summer and I’m excited to return on a part-time basis this fall.