Plentify is a clean tech energy startup aimed at providing reliable and sustainable utility services in South Africa. This summer I had the pleasure of working for the company as a product management intern. One of my core projects surrounded developing a quality assurance tracker to detect and diagnose issues with the company’s smart water heater product. Over the course of the project I had a chance to interview the hardware and data science teams to design metrics that would track their needs. From the interview stage I then constructed the tracker, building out the wireframes and user flows based on input from the internal teams. Finally, I met with dashboard specialists to map out feasibility of the project in our selected tool, organized the priority of an MVP solution, and began to see the dashboard through implementation. As a mission-driven organization, this project directly helped Plentify gear up for the upcoming launch of their new product, while ensuring a smooth, error-free customer experience.

During my first two semesters at Columbia Business School, I took classes on strategy formulation and database architecture. These two classes turned out to be incredibly helpful during my time at Plentify. From my strategy class I learned the aspects of a company that give it a competitive advantage in a market, and I used those learnings to build upon Plentify’s reputation for easy, tech-forward, and reliable products. Moreover, my strategy formulation class at Columbia gave me a unique perspective on working with global vendors, which came into play as I started meeting with specialists for the implementation phase of the project. On a more technical side, my Introduction to Databases class was directly applicable to my internship during implementation. In order to make the quality assurance tracker generate an output, the script would need to run off a database that stored information. Learning how SQL databases are organized turned out to be infinitely valuable as we turned this project from an idea into action.

My internship at Plentify was the first time I had the chance to do hands-on product management work. Though I’ve taken classes to try and prepare myself, read articles, and researched the industry, product management is a job that really requires first-hand experience. As I stepped into the role, I faced real challenges – as trivial as managing the time difference behind working East Coast hours for a South African startup, to as difficult as truly understanding complex calculations and technical components of a hot water heater from the engineering team. However, I am so grateful to Plentify for providing me with a plethora of guidance and support throughout the course of my internship. I was given the freedom to attempt problems on my own, provide solutions, and give feedback from experienced professionals, who were always willing to explain their ways of thinking or industry knowledge. Moreover, I was given a wide array of projects over the summer that were highly stimulating but greatly rewarding as I had the opportunity to see the direct impact of their results, and how they’d contribute to the organization.

I am truly grateful for my experience as a summer fellow with Plentify this summer. Not only was I able to achieve functional experience in PM, but I was able to work at a company that is making meaningful and impactful strides to provide affordable, reliable, and clean energy in South Africa. As someone who has always worked in a corporate office, I was humbled by the great lengths to which Plentify went to, to provide me with an amazing virtual summer experience. Not only was I challenged, given impactful and stimulating projects, but I was provided with incredible exposure and help from senior leaders at the company. Moreover, Plentify went above and beyond to make the entire internship cohort truly feel a part of the company through team bonding events and weekly meetings. I walk away from this summer having hit each of the goals I outlined over the course of the internship – to gain functional experience in product management, to be challenged, to learn a new industry, and to help make a meaningful impact on the world.