What’s It Really Like to Intern at Canopy Community? An Inside Look at the Lisbon Summer of Startups

Interview conducted by Nolani Lloyd, Marketing & Business Development Intern, Canopy Community

If you’re considering a Canopy Community internship, you’ve probably got questions: What does the work actually look like? Do you need a business background? Is it worth it?

To find out, I sat down with Chelsea Guardiola, a Program Operations and Marketing intern on my team here in Lisbon. Canopy Community is a startup accelerator running its 2026 Summer of Startups Program, designed to help first time founders launch their idea in just six weeks. Interns this summer have overseen the launch and promotion of this program. Here’s what Chelsea had to say about her experience so far.

Why She Chose Canopy

Chelsea applied through her school’s partnership hub after interviewing at several other companies. What set Canopy apart, she said, wasn’t the internship title — it was alignment. 

“I found that Canopy’s values aligned most with what I plan to do in the future, and my personal interest in just helping people,” she said.

During the process, the accelerator project itself matched exactly what she wanted to do: support people getting their idea off the ground.

The Work: Building Up a Program 

As a Program Operations and Marketing intern, Chelsea’s day-to-day has centered on shaping the Summer of Startups program itself — not just running it, but rebuilding it. Her team started with an existing model from Canopy’s previous editions run with UNiDAYs, reworked it multiple times, and handled the networking needed to bring more founders into the cohort.

That hands-on, iterative work turned out to be one of her favorite parts of the internship: watching a program go from a simple framework to something that came to fruition.

An Unexpected Career Connection

Chelsea didn’t graduate with a business degree — her background is in law, a path she still plans to pursue. So why an internship with a startup accelerator? 

“Any field has a business side to it,” Chelsea said. “There’s always logistics that a lot of people overlook.” She wanted to see the operations side of running something from scratch, in case she ever builds her own firm one day. 

The internship, she added, sharpened a skill she didn’t expect to need in law school: persistence in the face of setbacks that have nothing to do with personal failure.

The Biggest Lesson: Resilience Over Perfection

Ask Chelsea about the most valuable part of her summer, and she doesn’t point to a deliverable — she points to the weekly networking events. Talking to founders whose businesses failed, pivoted, or nearly took off taught her something she says most young professionals struggle with: you’re not supposed to have it all figured out.

“A lot of these founders aren’t young,” she noted. “This is their second or third career.” Watching people have the ability to restart, at any age, reframed how she thinks about failure — not as something personal, but as simply part of the process.

Chelsea was surprised by this. Going in, she expected the hard parts of a startup to be administrative — taxes, paperwork, etc. Instead, she learned from Canopy’s co-founder that the real challenge is inconsistency. Some days demand 150% effort, some only 70%. Knowing the difference day to day is the actual skill.

Do You Need Startup Experience to Intern Here?

Not according to Chelsea. “I really don’t think you have to have a previous interest in startups,” she said. “You just have to be interested in the people doing the startups.” She pointed out that interning at an small company is itself a kind of crash course — you’re learning and figuring things out in real time, right alongside the founders.

Her Advice for Future Applicants

Chelsea’s tip for anyone considering a Canopy Community internship: leave your expectations at the door.

“Sometimes expectations can lead you astray,” she said, “especially working with startups, where there are so many unknown factors.” Her advice is to bring dedication, flexibility, and empathy — since the founders you’re supporting are, by definition, still figuring things out too.

Considering a Canopy Community Internship?

If Chelsea’s experience sounds like something you’d want for yourself — hands-on program building, real founder relationships, and a crash course in resilience — Canopy Community could be the place to start. We’d love to see you in Lisbon or London in our next cohort!

Connect with Chelsea - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-guardiola/

Connect with Nolani - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolani-lloyd-/