Panel adresses how to start at a startup

The main message that came out of yesterday's session on working for Internet startups was a positive one: There are plenty of available jobs out there. In an effort to educate undergraduates on the possibilities within the rapidly expanding Internet job market, five panelists from various dot-coms came to Penn to share their experiences with seniors. The panel, which was sponsored by Career Services, included representatives from local companies Diginexus, Myentertainer.com, SGC Venture and the New York-based InvestorForce.com. Both Diginexis and Investor Force have strong Penn connections in that their representatives are alumni. In 1997, then-Penn students Ari Kusher and Matt Grove laid out the foundations for Diginexus, a software engineering company, from their dorm room on Penn's campus. Now, with a larger office in Center City and 35 additional employees, Kusher and Grove shared their thoughts on how to penetrate the Internet job market. "Find something you love and then find where it intersects with the industry," Kusher told the students. "When you can identify what it is you want from a job, it makes the process of finding one much easier." This advice, which was more inspirational than practical, was shared by the other panelists. "You can get whatever job you want as long as you show passion," says Allison Cohen of InvestorForce.com and a 1992 Wharton alumna. "Do what it takes to get the job you want. Show the employer they need you." The panelists stressed that there will continue to be huge winners and losers in the ever-changing Internet industry. "There are many brilliant people with brilliant ideas that just can't make it." said Sara Conte, president of SGC Ventures, a Philadelphia-based Internet consulting firm that focuses on business development for early stage companies. "It's an extremely tough market." The panelists urged the crowd of undergraduates from the College and the Wharton and Engineering schools to focus on the trends in the industry that apply to their interests and work from there. Then, just to make sure that the students had a more tangible sense of how to approach the search process, several panelists offered some last remarks. "Put yourself in a position of not being a student," Michelle Beaudry of Myentertainer.com advised. "Subscribe to local beat sheets and as many free newsletters as possible. Go to Web sites of well-respected venture capital firms and look at their list of portfolio companies."