My six-week summer internship at tomato pay (formerly known as Fractal) is sadly coming to an end this week. Whilst being here, I’ve had the pleasure of working under some incredible people and getting the first-hand experience of what it’s like to work at a startup in a space as exciting, and nascent, as fintech. In short, it was a fantastic experience.
Initially, I was given the role of “Business Development Intern”, but I quickly realised that my job would involve so much more than that.
At tomato pay, I was immediately given a level of responsibility and freedom that I hadn’t expected. Indeed, I already got that feeling during my short interview process, which was one of the main reasons I decided to join the company.
From day one, I was allowed to sit in meetings and calls that I found interesting. Within my first week, I had already sat in and contributed to calls with major banks, and, product and business meetings.
In that same vein, I had the flexibility to work on anything that intrigued me. I wanted to get a broad understanding of the business, and as such, throughout my time, I’ve touched every facet of the company (except engineering - that requires a whole different skill set).
Having said that, if you wanted to work with one specific team with particular projects in mind, tomato pay will happily accommodate that.
As an intern at tomato pay, you have the privilege of being able to talk to any other team members anywhere, at any time. Being in a small open office, and having a team with very diverse backgrounds and expertise, leads to conversations that can go in all sorts of directions. Everyone has a different story to tell, and as an intern, simply listening will teach you a lot.
Working in a WeWork is also a great experience. You get very spoilt, to say the least. Barista-made coffee, drinks on tap, food, events, office supplies (all included, might I add!), friendly staff, and simply beautiful design are all staples of WeWork offices. Anything you could want in an office is there, and now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to work anywhere else!
Most importantly, in just six weeks I can confidently say that I have learnt a lot, both on a macro and micro level. For instance, I now have a much better understanding of the fundamentals behind finance and banking, whilst also having learnt about SCRUM, and how important it is for a team of developers to run effectively.
I learnt a lot. Nick, our CEO, broke down the business model of payment authenticators to me, I listened to important conversations between different team members, I learnt the basics of product development and design through exciting product meetings and brainstorming. In particular, I’ve gained a lot of insight into the day-to-day operations of a startup, and how they interact with small tech companies and large corporations. There are countless learning opportunities for an intern at tomato pay.
Above all, tomato pay is fun! Working at tomato pay doesn’t feel like work most of the time. The environment is friendly, nurturing, and collaborative to the point where you really feel like you’re a part of something special and meaningful.
