Interning in the tropics doesn’t mean that Sundays were always free. I was a busy day working on my idea which was nicely taking shape. Having finished mapping the features out and re-assessing the idea, it was time I finished the prototype and got on with the implementation. I made good progress while and was able to fully visualise the end product. This hard work was rewarded by an evening at Naughty Nuris, a famous BBQ restaurant which is rumoured to serve the best ribs in Indonesia and the best martini outside New York.
Having tried both, I definitely agree with both of those claims and recommend anyone coming to Ubud to try it out.
Both Tuesday and Wednesday were dedicated to working on the new marketing strategy for the startup I’m working with. Marketing funnels, which I was introduced to last week, proved to be far more complex than I previously thought. This was because the end goal was to make the marketing operation scalable, therefore each message sent to customers had to be fully automated and customised.
For this, you use a system of ‘tags’ and ‘automations’ to maximize. To tackle this, I arranged a funnel masterclass with one of my mentors who kindly agreed to help guide me through ConvertKit, the software we are using for funnels. I made big steps in my understanding of not only funnels, but also marketing strategy.
After being connected through another Hubud member, I set up a Skype call with a developer called Jef to discuss my rebranded idea. Jef was previously a senior software engineer at Facebook, who led the development of the iOS Facebook app. He is now a founder of his own app development company. We discussed the idea and features in depth and I gained a huge amount of valuable insights, from how to design dropdown lists effectively to which platform to code on. It was amazing to be having a conversation about my idea with someone of that experience.
Encouraged by my chat with Jef, I set about creating the new strategy for TX and defining timelines for key goals. This was helpful as it broke down the huge amount of things to do into manageable chunks. Another week finished and so much has been done. I’ve made so many new connections and had some really interesting discussions with all sorts of people. I’ve made amazing progress with my own startup and the one I am interning for.
A new intern, Tim, who is joining Mastly for one month, arrived late Friday night. As per the Start Me Up initiation for new interns we had an action-packed weekend lined up. Myself and 10 other interns all working for different companies in both Hubud and Outpost (the other coworking space in Ubud) travelled to Canguu. After a one hour journey through incredible scenery, we arrived at our hostel we had booked for the night.
Having dropped off our bags, we made it to the beach in time for lunch. 10 mie gorengs (stir fried chicken and vegetable noodles) later we were all surfing, sleeping, sunbathing or reading. There was a Red Bull Night Riders surf competition with nine pro surfers which took place after dark on the same beach. We joined the Red Bull after party, met a few of the surfers, and then traveled to another bar which contained a skatepark and looked like something out of a movie. We then finished our night at a club on the beach called Sand Bar.
On Sunday, we treated ourselves to a big breakfast at one of Canggu’s famous breakfast places. After this, some of us went back to the beach and others went to visit a famous temple called Tanah Lot. The fascinating temple is perched on a rock in the sea only accessible when the tide is low. After wandering around the temple we looked around an incredible golf course by the sea overlooking Tanah Lot. Having blagged our way into the 5* hotel we ended up spending the day lounging by the pool, bombing down the slides, eating good food and enjoying the sun! We made our way back to Ubud just before sunset, so were able to enjoy the very best scenery and landscapes Bali has to offer.