Ted Williams is the founder of Groupereye, a platform that facilitates real time case competitions online. The goal of GrouperEye is to match remarkable students with remarkable companies. Recently, Ted also launched internshipking.com which just gave the “The People’s Choice Award for America’s Best Internship Program” to Intuit, after the company won the most votes out of the 125,000+ cast.   However, we wanted to talk to Ted Williams for another reason.  Within two years of his internship at Network Solutions he started his  own company. Ted definitely went from intern to incharge rather quickly! We wanted to find out what he did while interning and what he learned that allowed him to make this leap. So, we did.  Here are  his answers:

The InternView Team: How did you get the internship position at Network Solutions and what kind of projects did you work on?

Ted: I started a successful content website at school and I was trying to find a way to sell t-shirts online. I went to my e-commerce professor’s office after class and he gave me the phone number of an alumni that had started a online shopping cart company. I gave the alumni a call that afternoon and we got to talking over the next couple weeks and he said, “Hey Ted, come intern for us this summer.” I said, “Sounds great!” The technology company was acquired by Network Solutions a couple months before my internship program began. There were 5 interns that summer. The technology company was interested in creating a social element to their shopping cart software. As interns, the 5 of us, worked as an independent team over 8 weeks and presented a social network business plan. It was incredibly fun and rewarding. I learned a ton that summer, made some money, and we presented a valuable plan to the company. It’s was one of those rare win, win situations.

The InternView Team: What did you learn from your fellow interns?

Ted: Geez, I learned a ton. Where do I start? There is limit to the amount you can learn about business within a classroom. The classroom to internship transition was challenging, fascinating, and very rewarding. I immediately learned that business is all about your team. In the business world, everything is a group project – you need the help of many people to create great stuff. 

The InternView Team: An interview you did with GradtoGreat explains how you came up with the concept for GrouperEye. However, was there a certain moment at Network Solutions when you knew that you could take the experience gained and start a business of your own?

Ted: I was lucky enough to have an internship in which I was able to attack complex problems with really smart people. At the end of the summer, I absolutely had roadmap to start any business – work on something that gets you excited and attract the very best people to work with you. It was so enjoyable to wake up each morning of the internship and be excited to go to my internship – I haven’t been able to view work the same since.

The InternView Team: Is there a certain kind of company that would give a student the same experience you had?Why?

Ted: Entrepreneurial companies give students the very best opportunities because they understand the impact that student entrepreneurs have have on their business. Entrepreneurial companies can range from Fortune 50 to startup and finance to advertising – the two things they have in common is that they love hiring great employees and they love giving freedom to these employees.

The InternView Team:What are some challenges you have encountered while making the transition from intern to incharge? How have you overcome them?

Ted: The difference between intern and manager wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. You are still trying to solve business problems. You are still trying to create the best solutions you can. You are still trying to get the smartest people you know working with you.

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Follow Ted:@Ted_Williams, @Groupereye, @InternshipKing

Visit His Websites:  GrouperEye.com,  Internshipking.com

Have you thought about using your internship experiences to start a business instead of getting a job? Why and what kind of business? Let’s start the dialogue below!