Business Development & Strategy Intern (MBA) - Nearby.ai

About NewsBreak

Founded in 2015, NewsBreak is the Content Intelligence platform shaping the future content economy. With over 40 million monthly active users, our flagship platform delivers highly personalized local news and information powered by advanced AI, recommendation systems, and adtech.

Recognized by Fast Company as #32 on the Top Workplaces for Innovators, we're proud to be Great Place to Work® certified and home to a dynamic team of technologists, product innovators, and business leaders who are passionate about solving meaningful challenges at scale.

Together, we reached unicorn status in 2021, and we remain committed to continuing this high-growth trajectory with the right team to fulfill our mission: building the infrastructure layer for content intelligence.

If you’re inspired to dream big, innovate fast, and make a difference, we’d love to hear from you! For more information, visit

About Nearby.ai

Nearby.ai is a home services platform that connects homeowners with trusted local service providers — plumbers, electricians, cleaners, landscapers, HVAC technicians, and more. We're building the merchant network that makes that matching possible, and looking for a motivated intern to help drive that growth through local business outreach and partnership development.

About the Role

We're looking for an MBA-level Business Development & Strategy Intern to own a merchant-acquisition initiative end-to-end — from market research and territory selection, through self-sourced outreach and negotiation, to data-driven analysis and a final recommendation to leadership.

This is not a support role: you'll be measured on real business outcomes — partners signed, pipeline built, and insight generated — not just activity.

What You'll Own, End to End

Market and Territory Research

Independently map the local service-provider landscape in an assigned category or geography (for example, HVAC in a specific metro): merchant density, typical acquisition channels, and competitive platforms (Angi, Thumbtack, Yelp, etc.)

Size the opportunity and prioritize which merchant categories or neighborhoods to target first, using your own scoring framework

Self-Sourced Outreach and Pipeline Development

Build your own target list and reach out directly via phone, email, in-person visits, and social media — no inherited leads

Introduce Nearby.ai and pitch the value proposition to local business owners, handling objections yourself

Build and maintain a pipeline in a CRM or spreadsheet with real discipline: stage, next step, and expected close

Adjust your outreach approach based on the response-rate data you track yourself

Analysis and Business Case Development

Analyze outreach and conversion data to identify what's working and quantify results (contacts made, response rates, conversion rates)

Turn merchant feedback into structured insight that could inform Nearby.ai's value proposition or onboarding process

Build a simple business case (expected partners signed, revenue impact) to justify where to focus next

Solutioning and Partnership Development

Independently draft outreach scripts, pitch decks, and partnership proposals tailored to each merchant type

Lead onboarding conversations through to close

Recommend improvements to the onboarding process based on what you hear from merchants

Reporting and Recommendations

Report weekly on outreach metrics and pipeline, framed as insights and next steps, not just raw counts

Deliver a final presentation to the team: your market analysis, results, and a recommended go-forward strategy for merchant acquisition

Who You Are

Currently pursuing an MBA (or equivalent graduate business program), ideally with prior experience in consulting, sales, BD, or a startup

Comfortable being fully self-directed — you build the plan, not just execute someone else's

Strong quantitative and analytical skills; genuinely comfortable working in spreadsheets and data

Excellent written and verbal communication, with the confidence to cold-call and negotiate with small-business owners

High tolerance for ambiguity and rejection — energized by 0-to-1, hands-on work

Details

Type: Internship, 20–40 hrs/week

Duration: 3–6 months

Location: Remote

Why Join Nearby.ai

Own a real merchant-acquisition initiative from research through close — a rare level of end-to-end ownership for an internship

Learn the full cycle of partnership development at an early-stage company where your work directly impacts growth

Build a portfolio of quantified business impact (partners signed, pipeline built, market analysis delivered) — highly relevant for post-MBA BD, strategy, or general management roles

Potential to convert to a full-time role based on performance

CPRA Privacy Notice for California Candidates

Originally posted on Himalayas