(2021-03-25) On Deck Origins And Next Chapter

On Deck: Origins and Next Chapter. ...build a modern education institution for the future of work.

dinner series for people who were also in between things, unsure what they wanted to do next.

whether they thought they may start or join something in the next few months, or even year

A lot more people were On Deck than I thought

The On Deck state, or when one is in between things or thinking of leaving, can be a fraught time. Especially if searching in secret, it’s not clear where one should go, and that uncertainty often leads to complacency. How do I find co-founders? How do I evaluate whether my idea is any good?

We’ve found that as people have “graduated” and moved onto the next opportunity, they’ve wanted to give back and help others. It’s a special type of person who wants to be of service to talented people at a career crossroads, and it’s those people that comprise On Deck.

17 fellowships, over 90 employees, and over 3000 fellows from around the world

worldwide network & community of the most ambitious people around the globe.

We soon realized that if we expanded horizontally into other categories, we could help founders not only find their first hire but also their first 50 hires, their first customers, their first investors, and their first distribution channels

So now we’re building programs across the ‘stacks’ that make up much of modern economic growth - the founder stack, investor stack, creator stack, all positions one would hire for, all major sectors-- And then we’ll build more communities and products on top of those communities.

We’re motivated by putting people in business, and giving people the skills, network that catalyzes their career.

On Deck wants to be Stanford for the internet. Or, more precisely, we want to be to life-long education what Twitter is to the media.

On Deck aims to take the “university bundle”—network, community, credentials, education, etc—and apply it to the entire lifecycle of a person’s career.

Like the university, On Deck aims to be a place where people explore what they want to do, gain skills & expertise, and make the most meaningful relationships of their lives.