Should I Join an On Deck Program?

I participated in the first On Deck No-Code Fellowship (ODNC1) and chronicled the 10 weeks with key takeaways, noteworthy quotes, and my perspective while building in public. Here is my honest assessment of whether an On Deck program is worth joining.

The Hype is Real

The kickoff event lived up to its billing as the "Best Zoom meeting you've ever been part of." There was music playing in the background, a party-like atmosphere, and genuine excitement from everyone involved.

Once I was accepted, the first thing that hit me was the Slack community. It was absolutely buzzing with excitement. Having a Slack community of 140+ people with a give-first mentality is far better than a Slack community of 60,000+ unengaged folks who only use Slack to dump links.

What Makes On Deck Special

On Deck's version of bringing Silicon Valley to the cloud is the best iteration yet. They had people from all walks of life from 6 continents, with 50% outside of the US. The diversity of backgrounds and perspectives was incredible.

Here is what stood out:

• The community. The give-first mentality means people are genuinely eager to help each other. When you ask for help, there are a lot of people willing to pitch in.
• The network. Access to founders, builders, and operators from around the world. The connections you make during the program last well beyond the fellowship itself.
• The accountability. Being part of a cohort keeps you accountable. You are building alongside others, sharing progress, and getting feedback in real time.
• The resources. Fellows get partner credits and discounts for popular SaaS tools, including AWS credits and Stripe credits, which can be incredibly helpful for bootstrapped projects.

The Cost

On Deck programs are not free. The No-Code Fellowship had a cost associated with it, as do their other programs like ODF (On Deck Founders). At the time, ODF cost $2,990.

While it is not a trivial cost, the value you get -- introductions, specific answers to engineering or business questions, partner credits, and the community -- makes it worthwhile. You avoid mistakes that other fellows have already made, which alone can save you far more than the program fee.

Who Should Join

An On Deck program is right for you if:

• You are building something and want accountability and community around it.
• You value networking with high-quality, motivated people from diverse backgrounds.
• You are willing to be active and engaged -- the more you put in, the more you get out.
• You want access to tactical knowledge from practitioners, not just theory.

It might not be right for you if:

• You are not ready to commit time to being active in the community.
• You are looking for a passive learning experience (take a course instead).
• You are not in a position to invest the program fee.

My Verdict

Joining On Deck was one of the best decisions I made. On Twitter, it was touted as "the next YCombinator" -- a highly successful startup accelerator that did not take equity yet provided a ton of value in return.

The program gave me the community, accountability, and connections I needed to accelerate my building journey. If you are on the fence, I would say go for it -- but be intentional about what you want to get out of it, and show up actively.