(Editor’s Note: This is the first of many postings from Rapleaf interns, who will be providing their perspective and regular commentary on startup life and culture here at Rapleaf.)

When our supervisor and Rapleaf co-founder Vivek Sodera asked fellow intern Max and myself to blog about our experiences working at Rapleaf, it seemed like a daunting task. Write a press release? No problem. Run some analytics? Easy. Meet with our CEO to discuss ideas? Sure. But try to explain everything that happens in working for a San Francisco tech startup in the form of a blog? Where to begin?

It’s difficult for me to digest all of the action and excitement that we go through on a daily basis. Working for a startup - especially one with Rapleaf’s trailblazing technology—requires one to iterate and adapt every day. No two days, in fact no two hours, are the same.

And you know you’re working at a startup when…

(Seven Telltale Signs You’re Working at a San Francisco Startup)
1) Your supervisor - barely your senior - picks you up at the airport and immediately suggests that we check out the San Francisco nightlife.
2) Your roommate, a foreign exchange student from India, makes Indian food for all of the interns one night after being out until 3 am.
3) You attend (and survive) not one nor two but three of San Francisco’s largest outdoor festivals -Carnaval, Union Street Fair, and Haight Street Fair - your first two weeks on the job.
4) Trash talk is heating up around a potential intraoffice basketball game.
5) Your supervisor refers to working at a startup as a ’lifestyle’ rather than work.
6) Part of your job is attending networking events with some of the most exciting entrepreneurs in the Bay Area.
7) There is beer in the fridge in the office kitchen.

While some of these things may come off as fun and games, I can vouch that we’re working exceptionally hard here in helping to solve difficult problems. And that’s what’s amazing: It’s work that doesn’t feel like work. With such an incredible team, you really want to hang out together, both inside and outside the office.

As the summer progresses, I will try and keep you apprised of Rapleaf’s happenings and my thoughts. In the meantime, feel free to comment!

Ben will be a senior at Yale, where he is simultaneously pursuing Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in East Asian Studies (China). His research focuses upon information flow and data privacy in new forms of communication, with interest in data privacy and data portability. When he’s not in the classroom or in the office, Ben likes to surf, play volleyball and basketball, and religiously follow the Lakers. You can email Ben at: ben [at] rapleaf [dot] com