I was considering writing about McDonnell Douglas after having my apartment building buzzed by F-18s all day yesterday (they’re practicing for the Chicago Air and Water Show), but I had a friend send me a link to a posting that was way too cool to pass up. It’s from the venture capital industry, which is notoriously hard to break into. Lowercase Capital is a new Angel Fund that was launched in June by Chris Sacca, who was formerly the Head of Special Initiatives at Google. I’ve spoken with a few venture capital companies who were interested in my business, and most seemed buttoned up (at least compared to the startups that they invest in). This is definitely not the case with Lowercase Capital, unless you mean buttoned up with a Bolo tie. Yes, Lowercase Capital has a Western theme, which is fitting because they’re located in Truckee, CA (I was in Truckee two days ago, and it’s awesome). It almost seems gimmicky, but the whole thing really speaks to how Chris is trying to change the way venture capital works with Lowercase. Continue reading about Lowercase Capital…
It’s a tough time of year for fantasy sports enthusiasts. The football season is over, and it’s still a bit early to be preparing for your fantasy baseball draft. There’s hockey and basketball, but they’re right in the middle of their seasons. The excitement of the draft is long gone, and the playoffs are still too far away. You need an outlet for all of that fantasy sports energy, and Arlington, VA based Fantazzle might be the perfect outlet. They’ve only been on the scene for a couple years, but they’ve already been acknowledged by The New York Times’ Fifth Down Blog as having the most accurate preseason fantasy football rankings for the 2008 season. I haven’t played any of their games, but it appears that they run weekly games instead of full season games. It’s for players who don’t the attention span to last a whole season (or maybe players who get discouraged by being in last place after a couple weeks). Continue reading about Fantazzle…
Today’s post comes with a big announcement. I’m writing a book! A textbook on Career Development to be precise. The best part of that news is that the textbook is going to be available online for free because I’m working with an awesome publisher named Flat World Knowledge. They’re a Nyack, NY based startup that is aiming to revolutionize the textbook industry. I’m sure many have you have been forced into spending thousands of dollars over the course of your college career on textbooks (and how many of them remained in their shrink wrap?). Flat World Knowledge is building a business by providing you with better, more affordable options. Textbooks from Flat World can be read online for free. You can pay to print a chapter (or the whole book) at home. You can buy a softcover copy in black and white—or color. You can even get an audio book version. When my book comes out, you can read it however you want to read it—and you’ll never be forced to pay an arm and a leg for it. Continue reading about Flat World Knowledge…
Since we’ve started, one of our most popular categories for internships and companies has been Software Development. Despite this fact, surprisingly few of those software related internships have been at non-profit organizations. Still, we’ve come across our fair share – mostly open-source projects – of jobs at organizations that combine the web startup feel with the do-gooder mindset. One of those organizations is Participatory Culture Foundation, a Boston, MA based organization, that “makes bottom-up economies and cultures possible by ensuring that our political, social and cultural systems are open and democratic everywhere.” They took the non-profit route because they had seen too many startups sell out of their ideals due to financial pressure – that’s not going to happen to them. Continue reading about Participatory Culture Foundation…
I’m a sponge for random information. I’m not sure why, but I pick up all kinds of weird facts. Some people find it very impressive, while others think that I have way too much free time. If you’re like me and have a love for weird and unusual information, then you need to check out mental_floss – “where knowledge junkies get their fix.” I’m not a subscriber, but maybe I should be. Their About page does a great job of explaining what it is exactly that they write about. The magazine has 5 sections – Stories to Make You Smile, Feed Your Right Brain, Nurture Your Left Brain, Indulge Your Scattered Brain, and Learn to Spin the Globe. It’s everything that you need to be the king or queen of random information. Continue reading about mental_floss…
I’m not going to stop harping on the fact that the future of media is online, and that any journalism student who wants to get hired right out of college needs to be familiar with the “new media.” ReadWriteWeb is a perfect example of new media. It’s a “blog that provides Web Technology news, reviews and analysis,” and it’s the world’s 14th most linked to blog according to Technorati. ReadWriteWeb has over a quarter of a million subscribers, and they continue to break news relevant to web nerds like me. Whether you’re already a web nerd, or you’re just realizing that you need to be one to get a job, an internship with ReadWriteWeb might be just what you’re looking for Continue reading about ReadWriteWeb…
Happy Election Day! I’m not going to urge you to vote like most other people will, because yesterday I learned that “It’s more likely that you will be killed driving to the polling booth than it is that your vote will change the outcome.” That’d be a lot to have on my conscience, so I’m going to say vote at your own risk. If you’re upset that I’m making a mockery of the political system, then today’s company isn’t for you. That’s because we’re talking about The Onion and their internships. I can’t think of a more fitting company for election day (except for maybe Diebold, but they’re not nearly as much fun) than The Onion because politics and satire go hand in hand. Without politics satire is hamstrung, and without satire politics is utterly painful. The Onion is not only “America’s finest news source,” but also “the funniest publication in the US” according to the New Yorker. Continue reading about The Onion…
Even though we’ve featured two non-profit organizations and their internships every weekend since February, we’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to non-profits. There are thousands of organizations working to make the world a better place, and their numbers are constantly increasing. This growth has led to more and more non-profit organizations that exist solely to help other non-profits. One example is Globalhood, a New York City based non-profit organization that provides “incubation and consultancy services” with the mission of creating “innovative international development projects by bringing together people and knowledge from across disciplines.” Actually, Globalhood calls itself a “for social profit” not a “non-profit,” but legally it’s still a non-profit. Continue reading about Globalhood…
I’m about ready to stick my head in the sand. I haven’t heard positive news from the world of politics, markets, or sports in quite a while. Instead of obsessing over every tidbit of bad news, I’d rather just focus on helping college students find jobs and internships and fly fishing. If you’re the kind of person who can’t do that – who needs to constantly be in the know, then an internship with RealClearPolitics/Markets/Sports might be perfect for you. It all started with RealClearPolitics, which is a website and blog that aggregates political based news and polling data. It was started by an options trader and an ad agency account executive in Chicago and has become a serious brand in the world of political news. Out of that success have grown two more sites – RealClearMarkets and RealClearSports – that focus on the worlds of finance and sports respectively. To fully understand what the sites are about and why they’re so popular, you’ll have to give them a visit and see them for yourself. Continue reading about RealClear…
Are you waiting for a cell phone that you can get surgically implanted? If you intern with MobileCrunch, you might be the person who breaks the news on such a product. MobileCrunch is a blog about everything mobile (as in communications devices). They’re an offshoot of CrunchGear, which is an offshoot of TechCrunch, which is one of the most popular blogs on the planet. If you’re always counting the days until you get a free equipment upgrade on your cell plan, MobileCrunch is for you. Continue reading about MobileCrunch…
Do you have trouble focusing? Is schoolwork hard to get done when there are so many great websites to look at? If you answered yes, then you’ve probably spent a lot of time on Cracked.com. If you haven’t, you should. Cracked.com is “America’s Only Humor & Video Site, Since 1958.” Current features include 6 Real-Life Vigilantes Crazier Than Batman and The 8 Most Obnoxious Internet Commenters. 5 minutes on Cracked.com will give you a good idea of what they’re all about. Continue reading about Cracked.com…
Yesterday we featured Transworld and their 6 publications. It was a bit hard to dig up specific internship information for each magazine, but we had fun, so we’re going to do it again. Today we’re going to look at Gawker Media and their network of 12 blogs. In case you’re not familiar with the Gawker network, here’s what it consists of Defamer (L.A. Gossip), io9 (Science Fiction), Valleywag (Silicon Valley Gossip), Deadspin (Sports), Jezebel (Celebrity, Sex, Fashion), The Consumerist (Consumer’s Rights), Jalopnik (Cars), Gawker (Manhattan Gossip), Kotaku (Video Games), Lifehacker (Productivity), Gizmodo (Gadgets), Fleshbot (Adult, no link – you can find that one on your own). It’s an impressive network of sites, some trashy, and some insanely useful. Gawker Media’s network has been identified as being the most valuable blog with some estimates of a $150 million valuation. Continue reading about Gawker Media…
With the amount that the word “green” is thrown around these days, you’d think there are a lot of envious people out there. Maybe there are, but that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about being Irish. Just kidding. It’s about the environment. There’s still a ton of debate about how far we need to go to with environmentalism, but it’s hard to argue against improving efficiency and sustainability. Green Options is a blog network that is focused on the “need for innovative solutions to our (the world’s) problems.” They say that they’re “not treehuggers or hippies per se,” but that they “believe market-based solutions are the key to reaching true sustainability.” We second them on market-based solutions! It’s a great way to initiate change, because it starts with the most willing. Continue reading about Green Options…
