I spent my sophomore summer of college at Promly, a tech startup seeking to get ten steps ahead of teen suicide.

Highlights

• Exposed to the considerations specific to a tech startup

• Learned about product-user fit and how to steer product development based on user insights

• Getting scrappy with research related to mental wellness, social development in teens, and social media structures

Challenges

• Time zone difference - While the Promly team worked from the East Coast, I was working on the West Coast

• Navigating trust and safety issues for an app designed to foster connections among teenagers

• Determining minimum viable product before we shipped Promly

Success Stories

• Delivered a cold outreach strategy targeted at getting influencer ambassadors to talk about Promly

• Helped build out early features like 20BY20

• Structured brainstorming and learned how to ask specific, insightful questions that made ideation sessions fruitful

Time at Promly: June 2021 - August 2021

Location: Morristown, New Jersey