Interning at a cool, sexy social media startup has been an eye-opening experience. So, what have I learnt so far, both about the startup world and myself?  

Well, without going all TouchyFeely on you, here are some initial thoughts that I hope to add to at the end of the summer:

1. I love living and working in California - the sunshine, farmer’s markets, organic food, hipsters, bbqs and picnics, oyster shucking on the beach, shopping in Union Square, driving a convertible, wine tasting in Napa/Sonoma
2. The startup bug is really addictive.  Nothing like planning to change the world to get your blood pumping
3. I love selling ideas and drumming up new business.  I love getting people to buy into my vision and then converting the ‘sale’.  I love thinking strategically about a business and working back from the long term dream in order to make it a reality.  I love executing projects and plans.  I love brainstorming ideas and thinking outside the box.  I need variety of tasks and more big picture than small detail (although I get the devil is in the detail).
4. I am an ENFP (low P) which explains a lot
5. I like the routine of the working life and being able to hear about all the interesting things my GSB friends are doing
6. There are a lot of homeless people in SF and people need to clean up after their pets
7. I love walking up and down the SF hills to and from work
8. Working out or running in the morning makes me feel better - I prefer to start work at 9.30am (I have starting work at 8am)
9. Twitter is the only way to know what is going on in the world
10. Fatboys are essential office furniture
11. I am really bad at keeping in touch with my friends and family.  I view the phone as a work tool.
12. Email dominates life.  3 different email addresses means > 300 emails a day sometimes.  #switchitoff
13. Loving cup on Polk definitely makes the best frozen yogurt
14. Hiring developers in Silicon Valley is like trying to find gold….challenging and frustrating
15. There are a lot of people out there who are a whole lot smarter than me
16. Balancing priorities is always going to be challenging and I need to accept that and living in the moment.  
17. The world is shades of grey, not black and white like I try and make it
18. Food makes me happy.  Particularly food cooked with love.
19. I am never living on a noisy street again.  I need my sleep.
20. Discovering cool, new companies with gamechanging ideas gets me so excited.
21. Coffee is not a crutch
22. Every gym should be like the Crunch Gym on Polk
23. The kid who plays the trumpet on Union Square really needs to learn some new songs
24. I am obsessed with social media
25. Planning travel adventures is one of my greatest pleasures
26. Manipedis can make everything better (particularly if you get a massage chair too)
27. Part of me misses London
28. VCs should be more actively involved in helping their portfolio companies to succeed
29. Some companies have more money than sense (or direction)
30. Things feel bubbly right now

If you haven’t checked out Memolane yet, then you really are missing out.  

Memolane is a super cool startup that pulls all your social feeds into a timeline.  With it’s gorgeous UI, it allows you to SEE all your social history from facebook, twitter, your blogs, picasa, lastfm, tripit, foursquare……etc etc.  and then SEARCH within that timeline or ‘lane’ for special moments you never want to forget.  Additionally you can relive joint memories with friends by creating a lane together of a trip, a college graduation, a wedding or just your friendship.  

Did I mention how cool the user interface is?  How clean and clear it is?  How awesome and creative the development team are?

But that’s not all….

What is really clever is the new embedded Memolane product they just launched.  I just read the how-to guide and am going to try to put my very own Memolane up on my blog.

I’m so excited to be working with the team this summer to make Memolane even better than it already is.  We have lots of plans to take the user experience to another level and make it even more engaging.  I’d love to hear any thoughts or feedback you have!

So, what are you waiting for?  Go sign up now and see your own Memolane come to life!