I worked as an intern at YugaByte, a startup that offers a distributed database product called YugabyteDB. I was drawn to the company due to its recent funding round and the fact that it targeted the enterprise database space. The application and interview process were smooth, with two 45-minute interviews that convinced me to take the opportunity despite my initial skepticism about startups. Upon starting work, I found a well-organized development cycle with minimal testing and documentation, but extensive onboarding documentation and support from coworkers helped me get settled quickly. My first substantial task was fixing an issue with node blacklisting, which left me responsible for solving the problem, unlike in my previous internships where I was usually told how to go about it. Throughout my 4-month internship, I worked across the entire stack, contributing to various projects such as improving the timestamp datatype and adding features to the full-stack management platform. I also learned about distributed systems and considered CDC a potential future career path. The experience helped me gain technical skills, but also taught me valuable lessons about entrepreneurship, investing, and personal development.