As each new school year begins, we are eager to hear how students and young alumni spent their summer months. Often from recent grads we hear about days spent exploring intellectual interests and possible career paths, as well as time catching up with RL friends. This summer, five young alumni were able to do both simultaneously, as they worked together at a technology incubator in Cambridge. Robert Cunningham ’18, Cole Englert ’18, Zander Keough ’18, Kalyan Palepu ’19, and Harry Weitzel ’18 were brought together by Class II parent John Werner for a summer internship at Cogo Labs. John serves as a Managing Director at Link Ventures and the Chief Network Officer/SVP of Corporate Development of Cogo Labs.
Each of the five RL alumni made valuable contributions to a number of different ventures at the company. While Kalyan developed a tool to more efficiently store data, Zander helped organize events and managed multiple social media platforms. Cole was given the opportunity to present his research on positioning Cogo Labs in the crowded incubator space to the entire company of 100 people. Robert was tasked with developing communication infrastructure using a number of programming languages, and Harry got a front row seat as Link Ventures closed a $100 million fund.
Each of the five alumni found the summer valuable, as they consider life after college. They highlighted learning about everything from big data to startup incubator culture, improving their writing and research skills, and networking with a wide variety of professionals in the technology space. “Working in a tech incubator was a great learning opportunity for me because I was able to see so many different companies at various stages of development,” said Cole. Robert was similarly grateful for the learning experience: “I was able to observe investor meetings, pick the brains of interesting people, and learn about the efficient organization and management of software companies,” he said.
Working alongside different ventures at various stages gives a clearer picture of what it takes to move from concept to execution, where collaboration, adaptability, and structured thinking all play a role. Observing how teams communicate, organize data, and refine their approaches reinforces the idea that progress is rarely accidental—it is built through systems that support both creativity and precision. As these young professionals discovered, the value of such environments lies not just in what is learned, but in how those lessons are applied in real-world scenarios.
As ventures evolve beyond early-stage exploration, the spaces in which they operate begin to matter just as much as the ideas themselves. Specialized workspaces—whether designed for research, testing, or technical development—must be carefully planned to accommodate complex workflows and equipment while maintaining efficiency and safety. This is where the expertise of a lab fit out company becomes essential, ensuring that every element of the environment aligns with the demands of the work being carried out.
From structured layouts that support collaboration to controlled settings that enable precise experimentation, these environments quietly underpin the innovation process, turning ambitious concepts into tangible outcomes through thoughtful design and execution.
Though each of the young men filled very different roles over the six weeks, John Werner stressed their ability to work well as a team. In fact, their desks were next to each other—only fitting, John said, after all their time together at RL. “[These young men] didn’t have to learn to work together,” John said, “because they had for so many years at Roxbury Latin.” This kind of teamwork will serve them well in whatever future career they choose, just as it did this summer at Cogo Labs.
Read an example of a newsletter that the team developed during their work this summer.
View photos of the young grads on the job, taken by John Werner.
