On Deck is the first place world-class talent goes to explore what’s next.
Our mission is to help 10x the number of founders building world-changing companies, and 10x the number of angel investors to support them with money and expertise.
Our flagship program is the On Deck Fellowship (ODF). In 12 months since launch, 450 ODF alumni have started 200 startups, and raised over $100M from some of the world’s top investors. The 260 Fellows participating in the fourth cohort are some of our best yet.
We are excited to open applications today for ODF5 (starting in late August) and ODF6 (starting mid-October), and to share more about what’s coming next for the On Deck community.
Applying to ODF — What you need to know:
ODF5 and ODF6 applications are open now!
- Applications deadline for ODF5 is on August 2nd
- We have yet to announce the application deadline for ODF6
ODF5 kickoff is on August 29th
ODF6 kickoff is on October 10th (apply now for early acceptance)
We’re hosting a public Q&A event on Thursday 6th Aug (apply to ODF and you’ll be sent an email with more details)
What is the On Deck Fellowship (ODF)?
ODF is a 10-week program that creates incredible community around a cohort of experienced founders & talented individuals in the formative stages of starting a company.
Every five weeks, we bring together a talented and ambitious group to join our growing community.
During the program, fellows find co-founders, mentors, investors, early hires, and friends for life. With ODF4, we introduced our first core “curriculum” for Fellows, including programming focused on the critical “ideation” and co-founder dating stages, helping talent identify opportunities to build, navigate founder psychology and relationship building, and more.
Whether you are in the “build” or “explore” phase of your journey to figure out what’s next, ODF surrounds you with the most talented and generous startup community you’ll ever know.
What’s new?
Rolling admissions + new cohorts launching every five weeks.
When ODF1 launched in June 2019, we initially planned to run three cohorts per year (once every four months).
Our biggest regret in those early days was seeing many amazing people fall through the cracks, becoming “on deck” in between cohorts, and having to wait months for the next one or missing out entirely.
Fast-forward to mid 2020: our candidate pipeline is brimming with repeat founders, early employees of scaled “unicorns”, experts from tech-adjacent industries, former startup execs, and all sorts of high-potential folks from around the world.
With cohorts launching every five weeks, we don’t have to miss out on giving these amazing people the opportunity to join our community.
The On Deck Fellowship will always have a cohort that fits your timeline.
Overlapping cohorts, and deep alumni engagement
During the second half of the program you’ll become the “senior class” as the “freshman class” is onboarded to the community. As you welcome them to ODF, you’ll meet even more potential collaborators, early teammates, and friends.
Long after the 10 week program finishes, you’ll stay deeply engaged in the community as an alum. You’ll continue to be able to meet future Fellowship cohorts, and have access to a wide array of events, the On Deck Directory and the ability to watch all past and present events in the sessions library.
It can be helpful to think of ODF less as a “10-week finite program” and more as a lifetime community. The 10 week program is your onboarding.
Learn more and apply at beondeck.com
