Intern (United States)

Launching a Founder & AI Operator Internship / Apprenticeship Program (Applications Open)

We're opening applications for a new 5.5-month, part-time internship and operator development program that I’ll be running personally. This is something we have been planning carefully for a long time, and I want to be very clear about what this program is, how it works, and who it’s meant for.

The goal of this program is to give a small group of motivated people the opportunity to actually learn how modern companies are built, marketed, engineered, and led using real tools, real constraints, and real decision-making. This is not a shadowing role, not administrative work, and not a résumé-padding internship. It’s a hands-on, educational experience focused on ownership, execution, and learning how businesses actually operate in the real world.

Each participant will manage their own small digital business from start to finish within a clearly defined and supervised framework. They’ll learn how to research and validate products, understand markets and customer psychology, build a brand and digital presence, create and test media, run marketing experiments, and operate the business day-to-day. The business model we’ll use is intentionally structured and straightforward so participants can focus on learning how to think, evaluate opportunities, and execute properly rather than getting lost in unnecessary complexity. Throughout the program, participants will work closely with modern AI tools to support research, marketing, operations, automation, and workflow efficiency, with a strong emphasis on using AI responsibly, strategically, and effectively.

Participants won’t be doing this alone. They’ll be taught directly by myself and other team members participants will also have exposure to experienced operators across technology, AI, and digital business. This includes professionals who have worked as contributors or contractors with organizations such as OpenAI, Apple, and Polygon, along with other founders and industry leaders who understand how real businesses are built behind the scenes. The focus is on practical skill development, critical thinking, leadership, and ownership, not theory for theory’s sake.

The program runs for approximately five and a half months and is designed to be compatible with school, work, and other commitments. The expected time commitment is around one to two hours per day at most. There will be one structured weekly group call held remotely for instruction, review, and Q&A, as well as bi-weekly in-person meetings that are supervised, agenda-driven, and intentional.

Outside of those touchpoints, the program is async-first, with clear milestones, systems, and expectations so participants can work independently without micromanagement.

The internship itself is broken into clear phases so participants are never guessing what to do. The early phase focuses on foundations: learning how the business model works, understanding product research and validation frameworks, getting comfortable with AI tools, learning marketing fundamentals, and aligning everyone on expectations and operating standards. The middle phase focuses on building and launching: selecting a product, validating demand, building the brand and storefront, creating media, and launching initial marketing tests. The later phase focuses on optimization and leadership: improving conversion rates, refining marketing strategies, optimizing operations, learning delegation and automation, and making decisions under real constraints. The final phase focuses on evaluation, reflection, and selection for next steps.

It’s important to be extremely clear about expectations and outcomes. This is a structured internship and operator development program which will possibly lead to further oppurtunities. The primary objective is learning real, transferable skills and gaining hands-on experience building and operating a real business in a safe, supervised environment. That said, this program is intentionally designed as a talent pipeline. Strong performance, consistency, discipline, and demonstrated ownership throughout the program can lead to a permanent paid role at the conclusion of the internship. Potential paid roles may include operator, marketing lead, product lead, or other positions depending on performance, strengths, and fit.

Potential opportunities are aligned around ownership and merit. Participants are evaluated based on execution, decision-making, growth, and accountability over time, not on polish or resumes. High performers will receive strong references, real case-study experience, and priority consideration for paid roles. The goal is to help people think and operate like owners, not interns checking boxes.

This program is open to high-performing high school juniors and seniors, university students, and also motivated early-career individuals who are not currently students but want to build real operational and leadership skills. Prior business experience is not required. What matters far more is curiosity, integrity, discipline, and a willingness to take responsibility.

Because mentorship quality matters, I’m intentionally limiting the cohort to around ten participants. Selection will be deliberate and focused on mindset, motivation, and potential rather than credentials alone. This program is not designed for people looking for a title or something to casually add to a résumé. It’s designed for people who want to learn how real businesses actually work and are willing to put in focused, consistent effort.

Selection for this program will be deliberate, because the quality of the cohort will ultimately determine whether the program succeeds or fails. Applicants will go through a simple but thoughtful selection process designed to evaluate how they think and operate rather than how polished their résumé looks. This includes a short written application covering why they’re interested, what they’ve built or worked on before (anything counts), and how they approach problems. Final candidates will have a brief 10–15 minute conversation focused on reasoning, curiosity, and decision-making, not presentation skills. We are specifically looking for people with curiosity, a bias toward action, comfort with ambiguity, and a willingness to experiment.

If this sounds like something you or someone you work with would genuinely benefit from, feel free to send an email to View email address on apply.placed-app.com or a DM. If you’re an educator, counselor, or mentor working with motivated students or early-career individuals, I’m also happy to provide a detailed program overview you can share.

Our team is excited to work with people who want to build real skills, think independently, and learn how modern companies are actually built and operated.