As Program Director at On Deck and now founder of Next Careers, Anthony Nardini has helped 1000+ senior operators navigate career transitions.
In this episode, he shares his playbook at Next Careers, where senior execs pay $2k to join a community that helps them land their next jobs — and 60% of them refer their most talented friends. With 700+ applications for 100 spots per cohort, his secret is extreme curation and high-touch service.
This is a must-watch for anyone building high-end communities or cohort-based programs.
If you enjoyed this episode, you should sign up for Beginner Maps to get the "magic sauce" of top creators like Carrie - https://beginnermaps.com/
Resources:
• Curated Connections, the automated matchmaking platform that Anthony uses - https://curatedconnections.io/
• Next Careers - https://nextcareers.co/
• Anthony's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonynardini/
• Nityesh's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nityeshaga/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
03:05 What's Next Careers
04:46 Creating a supportive environment
07:07 Onboarding and Core Values
08:34 Anthony's journey to Next
13:15 Selection Process and Criteria
16:54 Interview Logistics and Alumni Involvement
19:19 Structure of a 30-min interview
26:43 Having confidence in your offering
30:28 Volunteer program
35:24 8-week cohort to evergreen model
40:49 Connection and Mastermind Groups
41:00 Quick Asks Session
42:06 Structure of Practice Sessions
44:53 How to ensure Quality Feedback in breakouts
47:13 High Production Value Community
48:39 Big Asks Session Structure
52:26 Experimenting with Community Formats
56:27 Automations behind the scenes
01:02:49 Team Structure and Operations
01:05:14 Referral Strategies
01:09:10 Forwardable Emails and Referrals
01:12:15 Final Thoughts
