About ODF

‍ODF (previously On Deck) helps ambitious founders start companies through online bootcamps. Founders from 1,000+ startups, including Traba, Cal.com, and Luma, launched their ventures through ODF, collectively raising $2B from top VCs.

System Mapping

We focus here on ODF’s application management system (excluding bootcamp operations).

System Overview:

• Leads apply via Fillout forms, synced with Airtable via Zapier.
• Data from Luma events flows into Airtable.
• Airtable is the central hub, managing 80,000+ records for applications, screening, and reporting.
• Zapier automates connections between Airtable, Slack, Stripe, and Customer.io.
• Trigger.dev powers a custom Slack bot.
• Clay enriches Airtable data and simplifies screening via AI.

Before vs. After

Data restructuring

Goal: Save time
Impact: Estimated $40K/year saved in reduced setup overhead.

Airtable data structuring (one to 3 separate tables):

• Eliminated Zap duplication for program setup.
• Enabled automation that wasn’t possible before.

Zapier updates

Goal: Save time
Impact: Reduced setup time from 1 week to 1 day per program, saving $40K/year.

Replaced standard Zaps with webhooks & custom scripts:

• One URL to do setup instead of manual work.
• Switched triggers from view-based (unreliable) to button-based (predictable, interactive UX, rich error tracking).

Email params

Goal: Save time & increase conversion
Impact: Increased lead conversion rate by 5%, adding $375K/year (assuming 100 people/program, 25 programs, $3,000 per lead).

Transition from Gmail to Customer.io:

• Dates as variables for automated follow-ups & copy changes in emails before, after and during cohorts.
• Implemented event-based email tracking → Conversion-focused analytics.
• Added UTM-tracked unique links → No more mismatched email-to-contact issues.

KPI tracking

Goal: Increase conversion
Impact: Improved funnel optimization, adding $250K/year in revenue by identifying and reducing drop-offs.

Analytics are the most complete analytics you can dream of for a cohort-based system and are 100% automated:

• KPI tracking table updates every Monday.
• Weekly cohort-based performance dashboard.
• Funnel cycle comparisons to optimize conversions.

Custom interfaces

Goal: Reduce training & screening time
Impact: From 1 month of training → 0 training needed for 2 operators, saving $10K/year in onboarding costs

Custom interfaces for application screening instead of raw Airtable DB that required tons of team training:

• Automated team allocation for lead screening.
• Multi-step screening.
• Queues for decision submission emails to save button clicks & loading time (-90%) decreasing application review by 15%.

Top-of-the-funnel

Goal: Increase conversion & generate leads
Impact: Minimum +5% lead conversion & tracking accuracy, adding at $375K/year in lead revenue.

• Automated referral system (4 referral methods tracked), resulting in +10% referral conversion while referral represented 50% of customers.
• Luma event-attendee mapping → Application completion impact analysis.
• Automated Stripe payment follow-ups.
• Clay enrichment → Fetches Fillout API data even for incomplete forms.

Custom Slack bot

Goal: Save time
Impact: Reduced manual screening coordination by 20% ($15K/year saved in operational costs).

Deep integration with Slack for notifications but also actions via a custom Slack bot we built to:

• Extracts email data and suggests actions directly in Slack.
• Auto-creates screening threads for interview feedback.

AI implementation

Goal: Save time
Impact: 80% faster application screening, saving $100K/year in manual labor costs.

AI research agent:

• AI scores applications based on LinkedIn & application signals.
• Tracks job changes on LinkedIn to measure bootcamp impact.
• Slack-integrated AI bots extract & process email data for faster decisions.
• Clay enrichment for people who don’t submit their apps.
• Fetch partial application submission data even when they start but don’t submit.

Highlights

Impact

With this OS, ODF achieved remarkable results:

• 15,000 applications are screened annually by one part-time person.
• $1.2M per year in estimated added value through cost savings & revenue generation.

Features

The system's greatest strengths include:

• Simplicity: Centralized system in Airtable, pushing it to its limits resulting in an extremely simple OS for an organisation with such operational complexity
• Data viz: Complete, automated data visualization giving in-depth insights into performance and conversion to optimize sales, marketing & ops decision-making
• Customization: Completely custom on Airtable, with no noticeable limitations
• Centralized Data: Clean, accurate and accessible information in Airtable
• Team Adoption: Simple custom interfaces and actions from Slack