2018 has been a year of incredible growth for the Leanplum team. We officially opened our sixth global office in Amsterdam, expanded our New York office, and moved into a new award-winning office in Sofia, Bulgaria. In June, we completed the acquisition of Connecto, a conversational marketing startup based in Bulgaria. Last but not least, we added a total of 90 employees to the Leanplum family — fifteen of whom were interns.
Interns are an invaluable part of Leanplum and critical to the company’s success. While some interns stay for just the summer months, others join the team full-time to take on long-term projects that enrich their experience.
We sit down with a few of our current interns across multiple departments to hear their unique perspective about working at Leanplum (be sure to check out our original intern blog post as well).
Jack S., Marketing Intern
Describe being an intern at Leanplum.
As an intern at Leanplum, you are granted a degree of access and impact seldom seen at other companies. If you do your work and you do it well, you will quickly find yourself enmeshed in numerous critical projects. Beyond that, interns at Leanplum aren’t treated differently than full-time employees. If you speak up at a meeting, chances are your input will be appreciated.
Employees at Leanplum are also more than willing to mentor interns on the intricacies of their respective disciplines. From team leads on down, Leanplum employees are experts in their fields, and interning with the company is a tremendous opportunity to draw on their expertise.
What is special about Leanplum?
In most organizations, values and shared ideals are often given lip service. They’re high-level ideas that have little impact on the day-to-day.
At Leanplum, that’s not the case.
The company’s values are reflected at every level of the organization, from one-on-one interactions to weekly meetings. The level of transparency regarding every aspect of the business — from performance metrics to financial details — is truly staggering, as is the willingness of employees to collaborate across teams and departments.
Lastly, everyone at Leanplum really is a ‘doer.’ There isn’t a single person at the company who rests on their laurels, slacking off or avoiding work. Everyone at the company is committed to success, both for the company and for themselves. You’d be hard pressed to find a more motivated, committed, and effective group of people.
Nikhil P., Software Engineering Intern
What was your favorite part of interning at Leanplum?
My favorite part of Leanplum is definitely the people — everyone here has been incredibly friendly and it’s been awesome getting to know them. A close second favorite would be the free food.
What did you learn as an intern at Leanplum?
One thing I learned this summer is that while I may be good at limbo, limbo is not good for me. Leanplum’s sixth-anniversary picnic was a lot of fun, but I definitely tweaked something in my back 😂.
On a more serious note, I learned to take a more nuanced approach to project design at both low and high levels. From simple code style choices and optimizing module decomposition loading to overall infrastructure architecture, I learned all about the “engineer” part of software engineer!
Jade T., Software Engineering Intern
Describe being an intern at Leanplum.
Interning at Leanplum is unlike any other place I have worked. The company values — Be a Doer, Push Innovation, Skip Politics, Lead Humbly, and Show Gratitude — show up in everyday interactions and make Leanplum a very welcoming and encouraging place.
Whether it was going to coffee together every day or being trusted with projects that impact the company, I always felt like an integral part of the team. My mentor gave me the space to make my own choices and supported me when he knew I could do better. The product feature that I worked on was requested by customers using Leanplum’s beta product and will go into production soon.
Leanplum also allows you to experiment with work outside of your team. This blog is a collaboration between the marketing team and interns across departments. I was also part of a group that focused on empowering women inside and outside the workplace.
What is special about Leanplum?
A couple things stand out. The first is the weekly “Unwind,” an event every Friday at 4 pm with snacks and socializing. My favorite Unwind was “Pigs & Prosecco,” where the company brought in piglets for us to pet. The second stand out is the weekly all-hands meeting, where our CEO updates the company with new initiatives, progress reports, and deep dives into topics relating to the overall vision of the company. I also love the office puppies, what we call “Leanpups.” The office is dog-friendly so if you ever need a break from your work, you can find one of the many pups to pet around the office.
Finally, my team rocks! My final presentation was done in a full body orca suit because we are the orchestration pod. Get it?
Outside of work, members of my team taught me how to rock climb on one of my last days, and a pod mate gave me a plant based on my name. The sense of family really stands out at Leanplum, and the connections you make with your teammates are what makes this place so special.
Katie S., Human Resources Intern
Why should someone be a Leanplum intern?
Ask any employee about what makes Leanplum so special, and the answer is consistently the people and the culture. I couldn’t agree more!
Leanplum takes their core values seriously, and you can see them reflected in each person you encounter. People go out of their way to help each other, and as an intern, you are provided with all the resources you need to learn and grow professionally. Leanplum has shown me what a team really is and has set high expectations for any future company I work for.
What is special about Leanplum?
Every startup experiences highs and lows. But Leanplum is unique in the fact that they value transparency and spend time discussing the lows together. Because of this, I got to experience firsthand how the company works through challenges that are thrown their way.
The entire Leanplum team attends weekly all-hands meetings led by the CEO where company-wide wide updates are openly shared. Each meeting ends with a Q&A where we are encouraged to communicate any questions and concerns we may have. These meetings exposed me to teams beyond my own and allowed me to learn how a company runs from the top down.
I began this internship understanding that the goal was to gain experience as well as provide me with professional development and learning opportunities. Ultimately, Leanplum’s family mentality and emphasis on transparency allowed me to do just that.
Nancy O., Business Resources Intern
Describe being an intern at Leanplum.
College students/grads should look at Leanplum for internship opportunities if they want to be challenged, grow their professional skill-set, and build meaningful relationships. Our projects/work have a direct impact on the business and our mentors are dedicated employees who support, train, and coach us to be successful in our roles.
Leanplum has a great culture full of amazing people with can-do attitudes, and interns are given all the social perks Leanplum has to offer. This makes you feel like you are truly part of the team.
What is special about Leanplum?
Something special about Leanplum are the Plums (all the people who work for LP). It is powerful to know that people share the same vision and work hard to achieve personal, departmental, and company-wide goals. AND they have fun while doing it.
Thanks for everything you do, Leanplum interns!
—
Leanplum is hiring! Explore our career opportunities here.
