Meet Max: Our Super Intern

Please, introduce yourself…

Hello! My name is Max Rausch, I am German and Colombian. Though I am a German citizen, all of my family lives in Colombia, so I would consider myself to be latino. My parents, sister and I left Colombia when I was 4 years old, and we moved to various countries throughout my childhood. The place I lived in the longest, and would consider my second home after Colombia, would be Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which is also where I finished High School. I finished my Bachelor's degree in International Business Administration at the Rotterdam School of Management. I am currently doing my full-time internship as a Business Analyst Intern at Venture IQ. I joined the team at the start of August 2022 and have been involved in a few projects since I began.

How does Venture IQ help you in your future career/what did you learn?

My internship at Venture IQ has been extremely rewarding.  After having finished my bachelor's, I wanted to have more technical experience within the world of business. Though my university education was critical for creating a foundation of knowledge, I needed a place where I could gain expertise and genuinely understand the functionalities of a consulting job. This company has resulted as an excellent fit for this as the length, size, and quantity of projects have allowed me to have a high level of involvement in multiple projects, throughout every stage of the project’s development. This level of interaction with different clients has allowed me to improve both my versatility and my knowledge of mitigating knowledge curves, typical to assisting clients in diverse industries.

What do you do on a daily basis?

A typical day as an intern can vary depending on the stage in which a project is. During the early stages of the project, a regular day includes doing research on the search topic and client industry, in order to familiarize oneself with standard terms and market dynamics. In addition, preliminary searches for top market players or industry sources are needed. In further stages, once the project scope is clear to the team, we would evaluate companies from different queries to find in-scope companies to create a long and shortlist. In later project stages, typical days include finalizing the shortlist, ensuring the best companies are selected and enriched with financial information, and creating a presentation to showcase the findings to the client.

What do you need to be successful in your role?

A key aspect needed to succeed in my role would be communication. As there is a relatively high turnover rate in projects, it is typical for consultants and analysts to work in different teams. In order to be successful, it is vital to understand the different methods of working with different team members and to find a way to maximize the efficiency of different teams. Communication is necessary to understand the best way to collaborate and express concerns or issues one may face along the way.

What do you like most about your job?

The aspect of my job that I most enjoy is the fact that I get to learn about so many topics in different markets. Due to the fact that each client works in a different industry and typically is pursuing a different objective, you constantly understand different technologies and businesses. Within a few months of working at VentureIQ I have already had the opportunity to learn technologies such as electrolyzers, managed service providers, telematics, and energy efficiency systems.

How would you describe VIQ culture?

The culture at Venture IQ is welcoming. Everyone is friendly and more than willing to help and assist you with any questions or concerns you may have.