Feb. 5, 2015

By Rumasa Noor

With increasing competition in the job market, internships are becoming more challenging to acquire.
Intern Betas, a company originally founded by UW-Whitwater students Alec Tranel, Tyler Sadowski and Ulysses Smith, helps interns find startup companies to work for.
The company’s strategy works in two way. Not only does it help interns find companies, but it also help companies find interns.
“What we do is we find entrepreneurially minded students who have the idea that they want to start their own business but they kind of want to dip their toes in the water they are kind of scared to go out on their own completely,” Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Intern Betas Brandon Fong said.
Apart from Fong, the team currently includes Tranel as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intern Betas; Sadowski as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO); Edwin Wincek, Chief Investment Officer (CIO); and Alex Steeno as the Director of Diversity.
The idea of Intern Betas was born last year when Tranel, Sadowski and Smith worked together as interns at a financial firm, Tranel said. Tranel was the director of the internship program at the company. He connected with Sadowski and Smith, and the three decided to begin a startup.
Tranel met with Fong through Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), the organization he also presides. Fong joined in as a new member and was asked by Tranel to partake in Intern Betas.
“The way internships are today, there is really kind of a limit as to how far you can go with an internship. It’s almost as if a company has a preconceived notion with what you’re supposed to do, and once you do it, there’s really no more beyond that,” Fong said.
“But with the Intern Betas system, it’s cool because we are able to put the interns in a position where they can grow with the company and being influenced with part of the company, not just another person running to get coffee.”
Tranel said they have worked with multiple startups such as MobCraft Beer, Hunt Butler, Leaguer and College Startup Funding.
Tranel also said their idea isn’t scalable yet, but they are trying to figure out how to make it scalable.
“We’ll definitely be able to take a big leap once we get our streamlined process going,” Fong said.
“Right now Alec and I have some really strong relationships with lots of startups and it’s almost as if we’re looking for more interns to be matched with startups because Alec and I just recently got tapped into a network where we have an abundance of startups. We thought it would be the opposite but it’s a good problem to have and we know there’s lots of room for growth.”
Tranel said his team members have ideas beyond Intern Betas, and he encourages them to pursue those ideas. He wants his employees to have interests of their own, that go beyond Intern Betas.
Both Tranel and Fong have a broad point of view on success stories.
“I think every time we bring on a new person, that’s a success story,” Tranel said.
Fong said his success story entails being able to work with innovative and capable individuals.
“My view on it, personally, is just that it’s such a beautiful opportunity. When you are an entrepreneur you are supposed to surround yourself with people of such a high caliber,” Fong said.
“We all push each other help each other grow and that’s a really cool success story for me to have.”
Interested interns and startups can visit internbetas.com for more  information.