My SureSwift Internship Wasn’t What I Expected

When I was first asked if I wanted to write a blog about my internship experience at Sureswift, I immediately gave an enthusiastic YES. Partly because my boss asked me to, but more importantly, because I genuinely wanted to share how rewarding this experience has been.

I’m Lucas Quon, an incoming sophomore at Western University heading into the Ivey Business School. Before SureSwift, I spent my freshman year working remotely at a search fund, where most of my job involved sourcing companies and contact information. It got pretty repetitive fast. Alongside finance, I also get excited about tech and AI, so I spent a day creating automations using different APIs, which cut the sourcing processes to a click. That allowed me to focus on industry research and analyzing different business models, which I enjoyed more. 

That’s when I discovered SureSwift. I was already curious about the work they do with tech businesses then learning they were based in my hometown of Victoria made reaching out feel like the obvious next step. I read through their blogs and podcasts, and then fired off a few cold emails to the CEO, James DeGreef. The first three were airballs, but as Wayne Gretzky once said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” so I sent a fourth email, titled “Straight to the point,” where I laid out my goals and asked for an internship.

A few interviews later and some reference checking, and I was in.

Today, I’ll share what my internship at SureSwift was really like. From day-to-day work with the team, the research I led, the tools I picked up, and how I got to play a real part in shaping where the company is headed next.

Table of Contents

• Working cross-functionally at SureSwift
• Getting exposure to real M&A work
• What’s next for me?

Working cross-functionally at SureSwift

The internship surprised me in the best way possible. On my very first day, the Victoria office took me to the VIATEC Awards, a celebration of local tech companies. It set the tone for what the rest of the summer would be like: high-energy, people-first, and being challenged every day. What I loved was that it wasn’t all desk work. One day I’d be meeting business experts or conducting interviews, the next I’d be deep in research. That variety pushed my learning faster than any single type of work could.

What really elevated my experience was the dedicated support for my learning. Whether this came in the form of monthly finance book reports, special projects, or a seat in the room for company meetings, it made the internship more fulfilling, and I got more out of every week. 

The hybrid schedule was another big plus. It gave me the flexibility to manage my time, while the in-office days made it easy to catch up and collaborate face-to-face. Day to day, the team stayed connected through Slack, with tasks tracked and organized in Notion. Weekly status updates and team meetings kept everyone moving in the same direction. I also got a closer look at how COO, John Austin and VP of People & Operations, Amanda McKay support the business leaders across our portfolio. These weren’t just check-ins. They were strategic conversations tackling real business challenges and helping each company move forward.

But what made the biggest impact was the team itself. Everyone here truly lives out SureSwift’s core values, especially win together. The culture is welcoming and tight-knit, with a balance of playing hard and working even harder. Whether it was VR zombie battles, office karaoke, or impromptu pickleball tournaments, the atmosphere kept energy high. “Winning together” created an environment where I felt comfortable asking questions and sharing ideas. The executive team made time for regular check-ins, no matter how busy things got. Even the CEO, James, made time for weekly walks downtown to check in, give status updates, and discuss future projects. Having that kind of access made me feel like my work mattered, and it pushed me to raise the bar. 

Getting exposure to real M&A work

I joined SureSwift during a transitional period. With AI rapidly changing the landscape and SaaS becoming more competitive, the company made a strategic decision to expand beyond strictly SaaS acquisitions and focus on more durable, tech-enabled businesses. Because of that shift, I was handed exciting and meaningful work from the start. I played a key role in the prep leading up to the company’s first platform acquisition under this new strategy. 

My work consisted of continuously evolving lists of 7-8 projects ranging from building and presenting leveraged buyout models to analyzing our competitors. One highlight was working with our CFO, Julien Francois, on a financial model where I got to witness his spreadsheet wizardry first-hand (strictly using keyboard shortcuts and no mouse). Watching his approach and then applying it myself proved to be one of the fastest ways I accelerated my learning.

My main focus, though, was industry research. I started with a list of 20 sectors and delivered weekly presentations to the executive team, diving deeper each time until we narrowed it down to three promising sectors for SureSwift’s evolving thesis. 

Being data-driven is another one of SureSwift’s core values, and it shaped every stage of my work from the research I gathered to the recommendations I delivered. Along with comprehensive presentations, I combined industry reports, trade journals, filings, and founder interviews into a scorecard that rated each sector on demand, fragmentation, revenue quality, margins, labour intensity, tech-enablement, PE competition, and regulatory factors.

Once an industry made the shortlist, I shifted focus to finding real targets. I wrote scripts to identify relevant brokers and boutique banks, then set up automated outreach pipelines in HubSpot to keep things organized and continuously moving. I also built automations to source all possible target companies in a given sector and then spent time cleaning and enriching the data.

Everything flowed into HubSpot. Here, I worked closely with Paige Scholes, my teammate and SureSwift’s Marketing Specialist, to build workflows for broker outreach, investor updates, and deal tracking. This kept notes, reminders, and pipeline stages accurate without the need for constant babysitting. It helps ensure we are prioritizing investor relations. With this system in place, we can manage deals, conversations, and updates far more efficiently. It also frees up Natalie Arseneau, our Director of Investor Relations, to focus on building strong relationships with investors through thoughtful updates and ongoing support.

The final output was simple but powerful: a shortlist of three vetted industries, a live set of acquisition targets, and a scalable process to move from research to execution.

What’s next for me?

Next summer, I’ll be back. Only this time, I’ll go from researching industries to helping buy and operate SureSwift’s first platform business. I’ll get to take part in the whole M&A process, which is a rare opportunity at this stage in my career and one I’m incredibly excited about. 

I’m very grateful to work at a place where I genuinely look forward to coming into the office. It’s a place where I’m surrounded by people who make me burst out laughing, give me space to contribute, and challenge me to grow every day. 

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