Luminovo Alumni - Being a Marketing and Growth Hacker Intern at Luminovo

I was looking for an internship where much autonomy would be given and that was what I received, and much more.  With an immense amount of autonomy for interns, Luminovo is operating on the basis of trust and accountability, which I highly valued throughout my time there. But let’s go back to the beginning.

I remember having my initial interview with Erin where she went into further details with regards to the job role. I recall her mentioning that the Marketing team would be “extremely lean” as this was one of the first times they were looking for an Intern to solely focus on Marketing and Growth. As the Marketing team sounded fresh and new, I was excited and thought it would be a great challenge to undertake.

My final interview with Sebastian was actually done in Paris, in a small cafe - which was a little unusual, but due to circumstances it was the next best thing. That interview was definitely one of the more rigorous and at the same time highly enlightening and value-adding interviews I have ever had. Just in that short time frame, I learned a lot from Sebastian and could also see the direction that he and Timon have set Luminovo on, as well as the company culture that they’ve established. At that point, I already got the feeling it was going to be different and an opportunity of a lifetime.

Building Great Things

Basically I was in charge of Luminovo’s entire Marketing Strategy as well as the configuration of the Website. One of my very first tasks was to develop a long-term Marketing Strategy that consists of both visibility on Search Engines as well as various Social Media Platforms. My time was then divided on spearheading various Social Media campaigns, optimizing the website on specific keywords and also revamping it occasionally to cater to our company’s offerings. 

I had close to full autonomy, while also working alongside Dr. Angelo Canzaneillo, who was my mentor and Growth Head. There was a lot of freedom to explore different alternatives and also to really think outside the box. Every week, there would be brainstorming sessions where we would sit down together and go through which would be the next best step to take and evaluate what wasn’t working well.

Having so much autonomy brings accountability with it, which means that you have to be able to substantiate your point of view in these brainstorming sessions with data driven evidence. Making decisions more analytically is definitely a skill I honed at Luminovo, which just goes to show their culture of ever-learning.

This lean structure made me even more productive and having little to no red tape means plans can be executed quickly. The flat hierarchy of Luminovo also eliminated any barriers an intern might face with a full-timer or senior employee - making communication easier and more fluid. I have experienced that the lean structure encourages discussion and collaboration between teams. It was great to meet many diverse specialists, who all taught me a little bit of knowledge in their area that I will take with me to the next place. They were all incredibly driven, tenacious and so confidently vocal.

Putting People First 

One might think that great autonomy also means little to no mentorship. Conversely, Luminovo operates on a structure where feedback is given regularly and is always encouraged. There are also bi-weekly catch-ups with your mentor to make sure that all is well in both of your professional and personal lives.

All of this just makes it easier to grow together and create a strong bond - one that outlasts the actual period of the internship. I recently had dinner and game night with two working students, who started the same time as me and we definitely want to keep it as a recurring event. Now that I’ll be going back to Singapore to finish my studies, game nights will have to be moved to the virtual space, and I am getting even more excited regarding rumours about a potential Luminovo Interns reunion in the future ;)  Can’t wait to see those Luminerds again - in Munich, Singapore or anywhere else…

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‍“If you’re someone who loves to learn continuously, Luminovo is definitely a place where you’ll pick up life skills both professionally and personally. You’ll be surrounded by brilliant people with a wicked sense of humor and a pantry that is always stocked with goodies! The relationships you build here can also be ones that you carry with you into your future!“

- Nicole Wong

*Note: This article was pieced together by Ronja but content was given and approved by Nicole Wong.

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