Learn To Earn

By Dr. Hercules Pinkney

The year was 2006. After leaving his previous employer who bought the company he started in 2002, Parthiv Shah was starting a brand new company in a new geographical area where no one knew him. He did know from experience what he was doing; he had money, skills to market and sell himself, but he needed someone to usher him into meaningful relationships in Montgomery County. It was at this time that Parthiv met me, Dr. Hercules Pinkney, then VP & Provost of Montgomery College Germantown Campus. I shared with him the college and my overall vision of the campus “to provide a continuum of life sciences education and training from middle school to postdoctoral levels in an integrated academic, business, and research environment.” He shared with me his vision for his start up company to become a locally grown and nationally prominent data sciences and marketing automation company.  He made a believer out of me and made some introductions to people I knew in Montgomery County. Parthiv tells me that those introductions helped him establish his practice in Maryland as a marketing automation expert and built the foundation of what we know today as Elaunchers.com.  In 2009 Parthiv was accepted as a tenant in the Montgomery County Germantown Innovation Center. He was assigned an office in the incubator, conveniently located on Germantown campus of Montgomery College.Parthiv later told me, “Thank you” could not begin to express the enormous gratitude’ he had for my assistance. “What can a little guy do for a powerful giant like Dr. Pinkney?”  He invited me to lunch and asked, “Dr. Pinkney, what can I do to thank you?” I replied, “If you want to thank me, do something for my students.”

That conversation gave birth to Elaunchers.com’s Learn to Earn internship program.

Several months later in response to my reply, Parthiv launched the “Learn to Earn Internship Program.” He told me that he “modeled his training after Gandhi’s ‘Nai Talim’ or ‘Foundation training’ where you share tools and techniques for vocational training so that someone can organize their strengths from within and apply it to a trade or vocation. In this way they can make enough money to declare financial independence. My students will reach a point in ten weeks that for rest of their lives they will be able to walk in to ANY dentist’s office and ask to become the marketing administrator. And that’s any dentist in any state or English speaking country.  Now that’s financial independence!” Gandhi would be so proud of Parthiv.

He further stated that “My training does not replace formal education. Only higher education and meaningful experience will advance someone’s career in a meaningful way. I just want to make their journey a little easier.”

Additionally, “there is a specific void in the market place. Marketing Administration & Virtual Assistance work is outsourced to countries like India and the Philippines. If this work is systematized enough to be outsourced to another country, then it is systematized enough to be given to an American intern –  an American stay-at-home mom or an American disabled veteran looking for that first civilian job after returning from combat.  If this work stays on our shore, it will help students graduate from college with lower debt, give the stay-at-home moms an opportunity to make a respectful wage without leaving the house or become a stepping stone for a soldier to get settled in civilian life.”

Most of Parthiv’s interns and former interns may be found working in area businesses.  Others are prepared to take their place in the workforce. Parthiv says, “I make a sincere effort in helping my students acquire vocational skills that will help them throughout their lives.  If anyone wants to hire any of my interns, I will cheerfully make the introductions. I teach them how to fly… you can be their sky!”

Elaunchers Partners with the Hillman Entrepreneurs Program

To help students succeed in college and the workplace, the Hillman Entrepreneurs Program has partnered with Elaunchers. The Hillman Entrepreneurs Program is a scholarship and educational program that offers a new model in education. The program is an initiative targeted to students who have an interest in entrepreneurship and an enthusiasm for starting a business venture or leading a company. It is designed to train entrepreneurial leaders who will become the ethical leaders of tomorrow’s local economy. The program is open to all transferable majors starting at Montgomery College and finishing at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Hillman Entrepreneurs Program refers its scholars to elaunchers for training and internship placement. Each semester Elaunchers provides internships to 5-8 Hillman Entrepreneurs Scholars.

Privileged and Thankful

Parthiv Shah feels privileged to receive assistance from Montgomery College, the Hillman Foundation, his fellow direct marketers like Seth Greene, Jimmy Nichols, Dr. Dustin Burleson, Dr. Charles Martin, Dave Vanhoose and others who generously contribute their knowledge, training programs, books, information products resources and time to help his students. “I am grateful to all of these contributors and Ms. Gul Branco for the time and resources they spend on helping me return the favor to Dr. Pinkney,” said Parthiv.

Living the Dream

“I am living the American dream. I have a beautiful office overlooking the top of a small tree. Each year, birds build a nest right outside my window, lay eggs, hatch them, care for the baby birds and teach them how to fly. They are my inspiration. It want to do everything I can within my means to give my students their wings, I am pleased to be part of the team that teaches students how to fly.”  I agree with Parthiv in wanting to see them fiscally independent.

Hercules Pinkney, Ed.D

President Emeritus, Montgomery College

Executive Leadership Advisor, Elaunchers.com

Our Interns

Darpan Shah
Darpan Shah
Lara Martin
Lara Martin
Anthony Rasoamiaramanana
Anthony Rasoamiaramanana
Amanda Hishmeh
Amanda Hishmeh
Victoria Cheng
Victoria Cheng

How To Apply for Our Internship


  • If you are a student at Montgomery College or University of Maryland, kindly contact your Hillman program coordinator. If you are not participating in Hillman program but want to apply for internship directly, please contact dshah@elaunchers.com with your current resume and an essay on how an internship with eLaunchers.com can help you. Only Hillman interns are eligible for a paid internship
  • If you are a student at Northwest High or Clarksburg High, please contact your academy or internship coordinator. Send email to dshah@elaunchers.com with a request and we will get back to you with further instructions
  • If you are an adult child of a certified Infusionsoft partner, Digital Marketer certified partner or GKIC Business Advisor, please have your parent(s) contact pshah@elaunchers.com. We will arrange for an internship at your parent’s business and we will provide them with all the training material
  • If you are an adult child of a business owner with $500K to $2.5M in revenue, please have your parent contact us. We will arrange for an internship for you at your parent’s company or a company owned by a friend of your parents and we will provide your employer with internship training material and mind maps. You will be invited to visit eLaunchers campus (well two buildings, our home and our office… but since it is TWO separate buildings it is technically a campus) to come hang out with us for a few days. Your parents must provide a PAID internship to at least one intern from their local college if they want me to help their adult child
  • If you are not a current college student but you want to shadow Parthiv Shah, either in person or remotely, please submit your request to dshah@elaunchers.com. Any serious student of direct response marketing and technology that enable marketing automation is welcome to join my study group. Even competitors and their employees are welcome
  • If you are a US military veteran living in USA, a retired Indian Air Force officer or an airman, a child or a spouse of current or retired Indian Air Force officer or an airman, schedule an appointment to talk to Parthiv Shah. We will give you front of the line pass and make every effort to accommodate you immediately.