Otto in-person event

Otto is running its first in-person event in San Francisco on October 14–16. We’ll admit 10 to 15 candidates. Over two days you’ll solve a problem for a local business, receive feedback, meet peers and present your work to companies within our network (Clipboard and Unusual AI are confirmed attendees). If they think you could be a fit for their open roles, you’ll be fast-tracked to an interview. Select candidates will have their work shared with the broader Otto network (including a healthcare company in stealth mode, Footprint and more).

We review applications as they come in and close admissions once the cohort is full.

The event starts at 6:30pm on Wednesday, October 14 and ends at 3pm on Friday, October 16.

Who is this for?

We look for a handful of traits that are shared across early-stage generalist roles:

• Curiosity: You ask a lot of questions. You notice non-obvious clues.
• Strong written communication: You can get your point across concisely (and precisely). Without AI.
• Ambiguity-squashing: You can hold an objective in your head and collapse ambiguity into a specific direction.
• Stakeholder management: You can put yourself in someone else’s shoes, figure out what they want, and deliver it.
• Judgment: You make the right decision, often the first time, and you spend your time on what’s most important.
• Agency: You survey → notice a problem → fix it, without being asked.
• Execution: You ship with few enough mistakes that we can actually trust the learnings.

We are filtering applicants on:

• 1–6 years of experience
• Either live in SF or willing to relocate to SF
• Authorized to work in the US

What’s the schedule?

The event kicks off Wednesday, October 14th at 6:30pm. Participating companies will pitch themselves and then we will head to dinner. This is a chance to learn more about the attending companies and meet your peers.

Thursday will be an all-day working session.

On Friday, the morning will be a working session and we will start presentations to participating companies at 12pm. We’ll close with a late lunch where you can continue chatting with participating companies. We will be done by 3pm on Friday at the latest.

If a company at the event wants to interview you, that interview happens early the following week. Candidates will receive feedback, alongside whether your work product will be shared with hiring managers across the broader Otto network.

Does this cost anything?

No, this is free to attend and we will cover all meals. If you are currently working, you’ll likely need 1.5 days of PTO. If you are not based in the Bay Area and cost is the thing stopping you, ask us.