Why Smart Startups Invest in Interns

For early-stage startups, every decision hinges on impact. Learn more about a high-return opportunity often overlooked: hiring interns.

This summer, Josh, our CEO, had the opportunity to speak at Lehigh University’s summer Startup Academy. About a dozen brilliant college students were interning in startups around the Bay Area. After their excellent questions about entrepreneurism, Josh thought about how lucky their host companies were to have them over the summer. He asked Lehigh to create this guest post about how and why startups should bring on interns. Enjoy!

For early-stage startups, every decision comes down to impact. With lean teams, limited resources, and ambitious goals, the question isn’t whether you should invest in growth—it’s where that investment will drive the most value. One of the most overlooked, high-return opportunities for startups is bringing on interns.

Interns Expand Your Bandwidth Without Breaking the Bank

Startups often run on skeleton crews, which means important but non-urgent projects get pushed aside. Interns can take on market research, competitor analysis, social media, customer discovery, or data projects that could shape your next pivot or investment conversation. With the right structure, interns can add significant capacity at a fraction of the cost of full-time hires.

Fresh Eyes Lead to Sharper Insights

Interns aren’t bogged down by legacy assumptions or industry tunnel vision. They’ll ask questions your team stopped asking, challenge outdated processes, and bring ideas from the latest tools, technologies, and consumer trends. That outside perspective can help startups avoid blind spots and discover opportunities faster.

Build Your Future Hiring Pipeline

Finding talent that’s both capable and aligned with your startup’s mission is hard—and expensive. Internships allow you to test-drive potential hires in real projects before making long-term commitments. Companies that invest in interns now often find their best future employees already “in house,” trained, and bought into the vision.

Strengthen Your Company’s Brand and Network

Every intern who works with your company becomes a storyteller for your brand. They’ll share their experience with peers, professors, and professional networks. A strong internship program not only helps you recruit top talent in the future but also positions your company as a player in the broader ecosystem—something investors, partners, and customers notice.

Leadership Development for Your Team

Delegating work to interns isn’t just about getting projects done—it’s about growing your team’s leadership skills. Mentoring interns forces managers and founders to clarify their expectations, communicate effectively, and lead with purpose. Those skills pay dividends across every aspect of your startup.

High ROI with Long-Term Upside

Yes, interns require onboarding and oversight. But that short-term investment creates a long-term multiplier effect: your team gains bandwidth, your brand gains visibility, and your pipeline gains talent. In the startup world where every edge matters, interns are not a cost center—they’re a growth strategy.

About Lehigh University’s Startup Internship Programs

At Lehigh University, we’ve seen these benefits play out again and again—not just in theory, but in practice. Through our flagship experiential learning programs, such as Startup Academy and the Innovation Internship, we partner directly with startups and innovation focused companies to create meaningful internship opportunities that deliver value on both sides. Built at the intersection of academia and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, these programs give students the rare opportunity to work directly with innovative companies while engaging in a 3-credit academic course. Through real-world projects, entrepreneurship and business strategy workshops, and conversations with Silicon Valley leaders, students don’t just complete internships—they immerse themselves in the entrepreneurial mindset and gain career-ready skills that last far beyond the program.

Final Takeaway: Smart startups don’t see interns as “extra work.” They see them as a strategic investment—one that expands capacity, sharpens insights, grows leadership, and builds a talent pipeline that keeps pace with the company’s ambitions.

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Dr. Sarah Leedberg is the Assistant Director of Innovation Programs at Lehigh University’s Western Regional Office.