Identify the opportunity before writing your pitch
Save the current role or program description and its date. Confirm that applications are open, which route is appropriate, and what the team asks applicants to provide. Persist maintains career opportunities and a fellowship application; Startupathon has its own program site. Choose the route that matches the work you want to do.
This checklist helps you prepare. It does not create eligibility rules or replace the requirements of a particular opportunity. If geography, experience, work authorization, age, availability, or compensation is unclear, ask the team before assuming a requirement or an exception.
Assemble five useful pieces
- A short introduction. State the role you are pursuing, your relevant experience, and the responsibility you want to own. Make it easy to see why those things connect.
- One strong example of work. Include a functioning demo, a readable project, or a specific operational result. Explain the context and your own contribution. Confirm a reviewer can open the link without requesting account access.
- Customer or user evidence. Record who you tested with, what they did, and what you learned. Label estimates and small samples. Remove private customer information unless you have permission to share it.
- A practical next step. Describe one experiment you would run in the first week, the question it answers, and what result would make you revise your plan.
- Availability and questions. Be clear about when you can start, existing obligations, and what you need to understand about the opportunity.
A one-page preparation worksheet
| Prompt | Your draft |
|---|---|
| Opportunity and date checked | Title, link, and current application route |
| Problem I understand | Specific user, task, and current workaround |
| Evidence I can show | Demo link, observation, or work sample |
| What I personally did | Decisions, implementation, and collaboration |
| What is still uncertain | Customer, product, or execution questions |
| First experiment | Question, method, and observable result |
Review from the applicant’s and reviewer’s sides
Open your links in a signed-out browser. Remove broken links, secrets, internal documents, and claims that cannot be supported. A concise application with a concrete example usually gives a reviewer more to discuss than a long list of aspirations.
Prepare your own questions too: What will I own? Who will I work with? What does a successful first month look like? When are compensation and ownership terms discussed? Submit through the official application route and keep a copy of the opportunity you applied to. For more context, read preparing for a venture studio founder role.
Put the guide to work
Practical ways to prepare for building a company: choose a role, assemble evidence, and turn a promising product into a testable customer problem.
Explore current opportunities →