Not even a YC Startup. Any startup. I interned at a very small startup in college that is pretty well known. I learned a ton. Compared to my other internships I had I accomplished a TON more (and more was expected of me, which is good!).

At my startup internship, I pushed real code to real users on the first day. At my internships with BigCos, I wrote code for 3 months and then I left. I have no idea if the code was ever used. I was never checked on and had to be overly outgoing for guidance. I probably could have sat on HN for 3 months and nobody would have known.

If you are in college or high school, you should be searching HARD for internships. Start early and don't be afraid to email people you don't know asking for help. One of pg's essays say something along the lines of ``take jobs when you are young that are challenging where you will learn the most''. Finding these types of internships can be hard, so the search is difficult.