Students selected for top fellowship program

Six students engineered their way into working at the nation’s most promising startups.

They have been selected for the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Fellowship Program. This is designed to give students the opportunity to experience a taste of the life in a prominent Silicon Valley startup, offering top notch experience in computer science. Over 2,500 applications from over 200 universities were received, and three percent of the pool was chosen.

The program is one of the premier fellowships in technology in the country. The KPCB Fellowship Program provides top-quality mentorship and access to substantial networks and responsibilities. There are different fellowships within KPCB to apply for: engineering, product and design. All accepted applicants from Penn applied for the engineering fellowship.

The process consisted of submitting a resume and completing an optional coding challenge. From there, cuts and callbacks were made to advance to proceeding interview rounds.

As a part of the process, a portfolio company reached out to applicants to ask to set up interviews, which also included a general informational meeting about the program. After another round of callbacks, they sent the remaining interviewees 20 startup companies within the portfolio. From there, individuals were given the opportunity to apply for interviews for those companies and become a KPCB fellow.

College and Engineering junior Adam Cole is working for a startup called Upthere, and was introduced to other companies through the recruiting process including Square, Shazam and Airwear.

“It is more cultured towards a learning and exploration experience,” Cole said about anticipating his summer with the startup. “I have the opportunity to choose which direction I want to go.”

Through KPCB, participants will be able to meet with renowned venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. Some eminent investors from previous years include John Doerr and Mary Meeker.

The applicants believe that KPCB is an investment in their futures.

Engineering and Wharton sophomore Thomas Lee will be working for Opower, an up-and-coming software as a service firm. “Within Opower itself, I’m interested in the energy industry and environmental issues. It is a good opportunity for me to get to know more about the energy industry, especially electrical utilities.”

For Engineering senior David Mally, participating in KPCB isn’t just a way to land a summer internship, but an opportunity to open doors at multiple firms.

“I became familiar with a lot more companies, and I am now looking at full-time jobs for next year,” he said. “It is good for getting my name out there and getting more exposure.”

KPCB is open to and encouraged for any individual, regardless of their school within Penn.

“It just takes some comp sci knowledge that can be acquired through the Internet and with the hacking scene,” Engineering and Wharton junior Nilesh Kavthekar said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a philosophy major or finance major.”

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