Stripe

Stripe is solving some very interesting problems in the fintech space. The products are innovative, and you get to work on meaningful projects that make an impact.

The structure of the internship program heavily depends on the mentor assigned to you (Stripe calls them "intern managers"). Interns are somewhat isolated from the broader team, and mentors might not always be experienced. In my case, my mentor was unhelpful, created a toxic environment, and implied that I needed to work overtime. I felt they downplayed my contributions in the review process and framed me negatively to cover their own mistakes. Despite having great peer reviews, the final evaluation leaned heavily on the mentor's feedback, which seemed biased.

Improve mentor training and provide better oversight of the internship program.

Mentors, especially those with limited experience managing others, should be given support and guidance to ensure they don’t misuse their influence.

The review process should also be more balanced, considering peer feedback fairly to avoid unreliable narratives from a single source.