The meeting, led by Soren Blank, served as an intense orientation for a new internship program. The primary goal was to set brutally honest expectations and filter for only the most dedicated candidates. Out of over 30 people who signed up, only the attendees of this meeting were selected to move forward.
Core Principles of the Internship:
- Extreme Hard Work: The internship will be "brutal." Soren expects a minimum of 10 hours of focused work daily. He emphasized that laziness, procrastination, or a lack of commitment will result in immediate removal from the program. The focus is on discipline over motivation.
- Media Training & Personal Branding: A significant portion of the internship will focus on non-technical skills. Soren argued that in 2025, technical skill alone is insufficient for major success. Citing his own career and the success of viral tech figures, he stressed that marketing, communication, and building a personal brand are critical. Interns will be required to:
- Actively post their work and progress on social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.).
- Create content, including videos, to build a following and demonstrate their expertise.
- Read recommended books on branding and self-improvement.
- Money as the Ultimate Goal: Soren was direct in stating that "passion is b*******" and the primary motivation for this hard work should be financial success. The internship is designed to provide a path to high earning potential, which requires a relentless work ethic.
- Engineering Mindset: The program aims to teach interns how to think and operate like real-world engineers, focusing on problem-solving, research, and building complete products, rather than just following tutorials.
Logistics and Rules:
- Duration: The internship will run for 3 months, with a possible extension to 6 months for high-performing individuals.
- Structure: Interns will not be given specific projects. Instead, they will be guided to brainstorm, research, and develop their own project ideas.
- Collaboration: Teamwork is encouraged, and interns may be paired up based on complementary skills (e.g., front-end and back-end).
- Daily Stand-ups: A mandatory meeting will be held every day to discuss progress and plans. Missing meetings without a valid, pre-approved reason is not acceptable.
- AI Usage: Using AI tools like GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT to write code is strictly forbidden for learning purposes. These tools can be used for research but not to bypass the learning process.
- Supervision: Soren, along with his teammates Tanvir (a developer who dropped out after class 8) and a backend specialist, will supervise, review code, and provide guidance.
Introductions:
The latter half of the meeting was dedicated to introductions. The diverse group included university students from various fields (Computer Science, Marketing, Psychology, Accounting), dropouts, and individuals at different stages of their coding journey. Ages ranged from 17 to 29. Common themes among the participants were a desire to overcome procrastination, gain real-world experience, learn personal branding, and ultimately, achieve financial independence. Soren and Tanvir were particularly impressed with the ambition and clarity of several candidates.
Next Steps:
Soren instructed all attendees to message him on WhatsApp to be added to the final group. He will follow up with a Google Form and further instructions to officially begin the internship.
Meeting Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sN1FTR0POORe_4WSropPjChTOzchrecD/view?usp=sharing
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