On March 12, a few of us have organized Startup2Student, an informal networking event for CU students with programming skills who are looking for summer internships, part time, or full time jobs. The students designed this event. They asked for no HR people to be present, and for it to include only founders and senior execs. They wanted it to be casual. They wanted to hear from young entrepreneurs as to what it’s great to start or work at a startup. They wanted to know in advance what each company was looking for. They wanted to do it in the engineering building so it was easy for them. Finally, they asked for a no-pressure option of going to visit these companies after the event. We are trying to deliver all of this, just like the students wanted it.
So, we’ve rounded up some fantastic young (25 and under) founders who will be speaking briefly at the start of the event about their choice to be an entrepreneur right out of college. Then, each of the participating companies will briefly describe what they do and what they’re looking for. Beyond that, it’s a simple networking event where students can speak with each company. After the event, each company also holds “drop in hours” where any of the students can come hang out in their office and work with their team for a while, just to see what the culture is like and to experience what it might be like to work there.
We hope this format is successful. So far, only 6 companies have signed up to participate. We’re looking for software/web companies who might want to participate. Here are the details. There’s no cost to be a part of this. Please contact me soon at David at Colorado Startups dot com if you think your company might like to be a part of this event. We’re expecting about 40-50 students who are interesting in programming jobs to be in attendance.
