The Entrepreneurial Summer Internship Program is designed to offer students experiential learning opportunities that afford deep insight into the day-to-day activities of early-stage companies through summer internships.
Stanford GSB seeks companies with promising business models and validation from customers and investors. Only host companies that can provide mentorship are approved.
ESIP does not provide specific guidance to companies about summer wages, but a helpful resource for companies is the data on Summer Employment for MBA Students.
In some circumstances, ESIP may be able to offer a stipend to student/company pairs with financial need. ESIP works with limited program dollars to enable as many students as possible to have a positive internship experience. We ask companies to contribute as much as they can toward student wages. Stipends are awarded on a rolling basis until program funds are completely distributed for the year or until 5 pm PT, May 19, 2023, whichever comes first. We encourage employers to make offers to students as soon as they have found appropriate candidates.
Eligible Companies
We have created a checklist to help companies determine whether or not they meet the ESIP eligibility criteria.
Students accepting an ESIP stipend cannot have previous equity in the company, nor can they take any equity while a part of ESIP and/or during the rest of their time as a Stanford GSB student.
Mentor Requirements
Each company must assign an internal mentor to work with its student. The mentor should be:
- A seasoned industry expert and/or entrepreneur with 10 to 15 years of significant and relevant experience
- Able to interact with the student at least weekly
The mentor does not need to be the day-to-day supervisor. A board director or investor actively engaged with the company may also serve as a mentor if company founders do not meet the above requirements.
Application and Recruitment Process
How you apply to ESIP depends on whether you have identified a student for the intern position.
Applying Without a Student
If you are interested in hiring a student but do not have a candidate identified, you may apply for pre-approval and then recruit a student.
- Complete the ESIP employer application.
- Post your position through the Stanford GSB Job Board. You don’t need to wait for ESIP approval to post the job.
- Identify and interview candidates.
- Once you have found a desirable student, extend an offer.
- Have your candidate submit his or her ESIP student application to us for approval.
We will market approved ESIP opportunities to students via various methods. Each company must do its own recruiting, as we do not offer a matching service. If students are interested, they will contact you directly; you schedule your interviews. You are not obligated to hire a student if you do not find a suitable candidate, nor are you guaranteed a student.
Applying With a Student
If you have already identified a student intern, you and the student may apply together. After you have extended an offer to a student, he or she will fill out a student application specifying your position and will reach out to you to complete the employer portion of the application.
- After a student accepts your offer, ask him or her to fill out the student application.
- An email will be sent to your company with a link to the employer portion of the application.