Learn, connect, and level up with the best designers in tech

Since there are 3 career tracks now available, to be a good fit for ODD, you are probably:

• Recently moved into management or actively exploring a path to Design Management (senior and above designers, new Design Managers or experienced managers looking to amplify their impact as people leaders.)
• A Senior, Lead, Principal or Staff level designer. You are exploring a path to management & leadership, and looking for a safe space to do so.
• First Designer at a startup or exploring this as a career path.
• A senior designer or manager/leader exploring the Senior IC path (Staff/Principal)
• Eager to be an active participant and contributor in a growing community, as much of the value of On Deck comes from the network and peer-to-peer connections.
• Excited about the opportunity to collaborate with other fellowships like founders, no-code, climate tech, writers and others.
• The community is not exclusively for people managers and leaders, our members are also first designers at early-stage companies, staff, principal and lead level designers.
• It is a highly curated group of some of the most talented and giving people from all parts of the design community coming together to meet, learn from, and work alongside each other. We want and will proactively build this community to be diverse across race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, national origin, professional background, age, viewpoint, subject matter expertise, and more.

ODD is an annual membership that costs $4990/year. After acceptance, we’ll work with your team to expense some or all of the cost through L&D. Payment options are available.

After the onboarding, ODD will be there for you for as much (or as little) as you need it. This is how a random week could look like, a month or 2 years from now:

• On Monday, there's a session on using narratives to build human-centric brands. You are busy so you attend while you respond to emails but you're not super concerned because the session is recorded anyway and will be in the Library for whenever you need it.
• On Tuesday, you meet for 60 minutes with your core Mastermind group. You've been meeting twice a month for the past quarter, and your intimate conversations have been tremendously helpful as you’re growing your team.
• On Wednesdays there's no official programming but you are looking to bring on a couple of senior designers to your team so you set up a couple 1:1s with people in the community to help you in your search. Maybe you end up hiring someone, who knows.
• On Thursday, a couple of Fellows scheduled sessions on executive presentations. That looks great but you gave a talk to the community on strategic thinking last week so you decide to take it easy this Thursday and focus on unblocking that big project at work.
• On Friday there's another Community Session on hiring but you decide to skip that one as well. You want to attend the social event that happens every Friday afternoon then relax for the weekend. You're starting the Design Management module next Wednesday and it'll be a bit more intense for the next few weeks.

Whatever challenge you are facing, ODD will be there, even if you're extremely swamped at work and you just need to decompress.

• We don't expect you to go to everything. We pack a lot into the membership. There are a number of different formats that might peak your interest, some being more interactive than others. It's a lot to take in at once, but we recommend that you prioritize from the get-go to avoid becoming overwhelmed!
• We are big on peer-to-peer learning. A lot of the value of this program comes from other Fellows! Whether this is through the resources shared on Slack, the community hosted sessions, or from advice and support given during your recurring small group meetings, there are a ton of ways to learn — not just through official programming.

Between attending sessions, meeting other fellows 1:1, and curated mastermind groups you can expect to spend ~2-5 hours per week engaging with the program. We recognize that everyone in the program is working full time with busy schedules and a lot of personal commitments so engagement may vary week to week and that’s ok.

We have purposefully structured the program with your busy schedules in mind, allowing for structured content, a speaker series, and more curated small group sessions pairing those with challenges to those who have solved them before. We will also record and share sessions and engage asynchronously on Slack. This structure will continue throughout the annual membership.

Yes. ODD will be run entirely remotely. 

‍Post-COVID, we’ll return to organizing offline programming like dinners, small gatherings, and retreats, but the core Membership will remain a remote-first experience.

Yes. ODD will be entirely remote. This enables participation from all corners of the world. We’ve spent multiple ODD cohorts mastering the playbook for building remote communities and relationship building online, and will apply the same approach here.

Post-COVID, we’ll return to organizing offline programming like dinners, small gatherings, and retreats, but the core Membership will remain a remote-first experience.

You'll initially select a track during your application process and we’ll help you assess which track is most suitable for you via the interview process and onboarding, goal setting and pathfinding sessions if accepted to the program. This will help you clarify what is most suitable and therefore get the most value out of the track.
However, the program is designed to be as flexible and non-linear as your career. Chances are, you'll change paths and encounter new challenges - ODD is here to support that. As an example, you may join ODD3 as a First Designer and pick this as your track but in a few months you move into a management position - as a member, you'll have access to a Design Management track and a relevant group of peers in a similar stage to learn with and from.

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You will initially pick one track to join when applying for ODD. However, the program is designed to be as flexible and non-linear as your career. Chances are, you'll change paths and encounter new challenges - ODD is here to support that.
As an example, you may join ODD3 as a First Designer and pick this as your track but in a few months you move into a management position - as a member, you'll have access to a Design Management track and a relevant group of peers in a similar stage to learn with and from.
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‍Tracks available for ODD3:

Design Management
A deep dive into the fundamentals of design management. Understand what it takes to become a great design manager and meaningfully impact your team and the business.

• Operating your team
• Defining strategy
• Performance management
• Recruiting & hiring
• Building your management portfolio

First Designer
As an early hire, this track helps you understand what it takes to navigate the challenges of being the first designer at a startup: how to balance IC vs strategic work, and all the things in between, while building the design practice from the ground up and how it evolves as the startup scales.

• Picking the right startup to join
• Design during th product-market fit
• Building the team beyond Series A
• Influencing strategy

Beyond Senior Designer
Helping senior designers grow in their path as an individual contributor role. Understand what skills are necessary, influencing without directly managing, and delivering impact by doing in order to grow into a staff or principal designer.

• Building up your speciality skills
• Leadership without direct management
• Strategic communication
• Mentoring other designers

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After one year of membership, you will have the opportunity to renew your membership. If you choose not to renew your membership, you will lose access to all On Deck platforms, networks, and content.