Nick Virelli

This summer, I had the good fortune to manage Nick directly as a member of my team during the course of his summer internship. Nick, in turn, had the "good fortune" of joining the team during "interesting times" and was able to experience product life in the midst of launching a rapidly-developed and high-visibility feature.

Possessing a natural acumen for this high-intensity environment, Nick was able to dive right in, not merely with the utmost composure, but also with a hunger to learn -- which he did very quickly, easily grasping the nuances and rhythms of Agile/Scrum life. Throughout his tenure, he proved an invaluable asset to myself and the team, writing no less than 70 user stories across nearly a dozen current and upcoming feature-epics. After less than a month, he was filling in for me when I was out, pointing out discrepancies and potential risks that others had missed, and never hesitating to raise new and original ideas in the interest of the team or project, even those that went against the grain.

Nick also displays an instinct for recognizing the prime importance of value and approaching the product space with a value-first mindset. In one particular example, he was able to identify an area of customer support inefficiency generated within our team space, demonstrating that two sprints' worth of development effort might be able to save hundreds of hours of support time annually. (We will be implementing his proposed feature this fall.)

I recommend Nick, in the strongest possible terms, for any Product Ownership or Analysis role. He's an astute student, a strong performer, a natural leader, and an absolute pleasure to work alongside. I look forward to seeing his career develop in the coming years, and I welcome any direct inquiries to discuss this further.

I had the pleasure of mentoring Nick this summer during his internship as a Product Analyst at US Foods, where he contributed to key features within the Moxe app. Throughout the internship, Nick demonstrated impressive growth, a strong intellectual curiosity, and a solid ability to grasp how agile product teams operate in a dynamic environment.

One of his notable contributions was his work on the Pricing Made Easy feature -- an initiative that received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our sales teams. Nick played an integral role in drafting user stories, carefully defining acceptance criteria and aligning business needs with technical execution.

What stood out to me most was how quickly Nick acclimated to the agile lifecycle and Scrum methodology. He required minimal direction and was able to independently take on analyst responsibilities from the start. His strong analytical mindset allowed him to translate complex business challenges into clear, actionable requirements -- an essential skill in product development.

Though early in his career, Nick has already shown the capabilities and mindset of a seasoned analyst. With the combination of academic knowledge and real-world application from this internship, he is well-prepared to excel in future roles. Any organization would be fortunate to have him on their team.