The On Deck Fellowship - An 8-week program for 100 of the best early-stage founders

I went through the first ODF batch and highly recommend if you are starting something! Reasons why: 1) Community. Surround yourself with folks also starting something. Leads to momentum on your own startup, and more importantly, friendships. 2) Advice. Regular discussions on top of mind topics at work days and dinners provided advice that can be hard to find elsewhere 3) Opportunity. Those I knew in my batch benefitted from asymmetric upside by being in the program. Many met co-founders from the program, got intros to relevant co-founders, or worst case, accelerated the vetting of their idea and product development.

Hi everyone! David here, one of the founding team at On Deck. We're excited to be launching the second edition of the On Deck Fellowship today! We've just wrapped up our first cohort of ~100 people, and published a post on medium unpacking it all. On Deck's ultimate goal is to be the "first place the best people look when thinking about starting or joining a new venture." Being “on deck” — the state of being between things or thinking of moving on — can be a time filled with uncertainty. Especially if searching in secret, it’s not always clear where to turn first. How do I find co-founders? How do I evaluate whether my idea is any good? How will I get people to try it? We want to help more people build better companies, through forming stronger, better aligned teams; fast-tracking early hires; and helping founders construct a community around them at the very earliest stages. There are only two rules — the same rules On Deck started with in 2016: 1) Everything is confidential — the identities of participants are held in confidence among the group, creating a secure and supportive environment for those who haven’t yet made the leap to move on from current roles/companies 2) Come with a spirit of service — think about how you can give value to others without expecting anything in return. There's a small fee to help cover the costs of providing the program — we're a startup too! we don't invest or take any equity. @brandon_taleisnik @eriktorenberg, @julianweisser and I will be around all day to answer questions! Looking forward to hearing from you

Hey y'all! 👋 Brandon here - On Deck's Head of Ops. It was just a few short weeks ago that we wrapped the first On Deck Fellowship cohort, and it was amazing to watch unfold. I look forward to seeing your applications, and having you aboard the October cohort! I'll be around all day answering questions – give me a shout! 🗣

10/10 would fellow again!

I echo everything my team here said. I can't wait to meet the next On Deck cohort! We have a lot of special things planned. :-)

I went through the first fellowship -- I met dozens of phenomenal people with a range of backgrounds (eng, product, ops, BD, VC) and interests (devops, future of work, logistics, services, etc.). I also met several strong candidates who'd be potential cofounders / founding team members (I got lucky, but still, it tells you how high-caliber the people there are!). Here's what to expect: - Coworking days + dinners with lots of really smart, passionate folks - A sense of community and helpfulness across the board - Lots of serendipitous connections, intros, and benefits - Fascinating group discussions and expert-led sessions to explore dozens of topics you might be curious about - A very friendly and thoughtful team at Ondeck to help make it all happen! I recommend it very highly :)

I have a colleague who participated in the last cohort of On Deck. His main goal was to find a co-founder, and On Deck delivered. On Deck is run really well, and the caliber of applicants + participants is quite high.

This looks great guys, I'm thinking to apply. Do you accept international founders if they are willing to relocate to SF/NY for the duration of the program?

A close friend of mine participated in the last OnDeck Cohort. He had a phenomenal experience and grew tremendously.

Congrats! Looks awesome!

This is really great, a lot of talented folks in this cohort.

Dope! Sounds like an awesome opportunity. 👋🏾 @julianweisser

Sounds good.

Can people apply as teams (co-founders) or will each person be evaluated separately?

@beondeck @brandon_taleisnik @eriktorenberg @julianweisser @daveboothy Congrats on the new cohort! 👍🚀