This week, On Deck’s 7th Founder Fellowship came to a close. A lot has changed since I joined at the beginning of December 2020, hopeful yet unsure about what I might get out of it.
After founding a company in 2018, I knew it’d only be a matter of time before I came back to the exciting and messy process of doing so again. Except this time, I planned to use my 10 weeks at On Deck as a forcing-function, sandbox and launchpad.
When I joined, I was in explore mode: considering a range of ideas and thinking about which one to bring one to life. So, as part of the onboarding process, I shared three goals with the ~275 talented folks in my cohort:
Expand my network, especially in the US
Develop & launch an MVP + get conviction on an idea
Upskill so that I could do more with less
I’m pleased to report that I have had over 150 one-to-ones, made some awesome new friends from around the world, whittled down ideas, run 40 or so customer interviews, built and launched a working MVP that received money from customers, and built a product in no-code at Build Weekend. Most importantly of all, I’ve learnt so much about myself, which idea I want to work on, how I want to work on it.
After a handful of conversations with prospective fellows, I thought I’d document and share some of the tips I recently gave to new explorers at On Deck publicly, in the hope that the experience can be as transformational for you as it has been for me.
Five tips for On Deck explorers:
Get your directory profile straight & keep your introduction up to date. The number of people in the On Deck ecosystem is rapidly expanding, with the Founder Fellowship sitting alongside 15 other fellowships. Doing the work needed for others to understand your context - especially as an explorer, where you might be at the intersection of different verticals - will lead to higher value conversations.
Land fast and use your work to bat signal your interests. Be willing to share your ideas and projects, and invite comment, discussion and feedback. Some of the richest conversations I’ve had at On Deck have been about problem statements / ideas I’ve shared with the community. These (often long and late!) calls have helped me 10x the speed at which my thinking has evolved.
Utilise your cohort within a cohort. Work out where you are in the process of founding and direct your focus accordingly. Are you formulating an insight and doing early customer research, trying to build an MVP, or raising? You’ll find sessions and content on ideation, building, finding a co-founder and fundraising, but perhaps even more helpfully, you’ll find folks in the same boat as you. I set up a group that got together for weekly standups on our MVPs, and learnt loads / made some great friends as a result.
Be specific, even if it means being vulnerable. On Deck does not have a ‘directed syllabus’, but is more akin to the experience of being a founder, where you have to work out the questions to ask and then how to answer them! For any question, you’ll get a thoughtful answer, but you have to kill vagueness (and concerns about vulnerability) to get the most help. This extends to your experience lead, who is a brilliant person to chat to if you need help working out which resources to tap / people to reach out to.
Be willing to be helpful. Like actually helpful, with no expectation of something in return. This could be responding to specific asks people have, hosting community sessions, pointing people in the direction of others that are in their wheelhouse or reaching out to someone with the context they need to help you without taking up too much of their time. On Deck’s spirit of service is what makes those in the community a rare combination of super smart and actively kind; this is precious!
If you’re thinking of joining On Deck and want to chat, please reach out. In the meantime, thank you to the entire On Deck team, from Erik and David at the helm through to Trish, Sara, Rishi, Barry, Visha, Jeremy, Eliza, Shriya, Erika, Jeremy, Nate and the awesome Joanna, as well as each and every fellow that made the experience so special.