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About Tradecraft

Location: San Francisco

Tradecraft is a full time, 12-week immersive bootcamp in San Francisco, CA. The program was designed by industry experts and is aimed at individuals who want to work in startups.

Tradecraft offers courses in Sales & Business Development, Growth Marketing,... Read More

Tradecraft offers ongoing mentorship and support to their alumni, and graduates will have access to programs and resources until they get a job.

Courses

Business Development & Sales

Cost: $14,000
Duration: 12 weeks
Locations: San Francisco
In-person Only
Course Description:

You will learn from the best in the business.
An unparalleled group of industry leaders and practitioners have signed on to help at Tradecraft. These are people who push the craft forward, establish industry standards and actively mentor the next generation of leaders. Your work at Tradecraft will give you the opportunity to learn from their experience, collaborate on projects, and establish meaningful relationships.

You will do real work for real companies.
There is no substitute for real-world experience. That’s why you will be required to not just work on, but lead, a number of projects for Silicon Valley companies throughout the semester. The projects will reinforce your track-specific development, provide valuable leadership opportunities and help you make more informed decisions once settled into your new job.

You will learn to adapt.
You will experience varying levels of guidance at Tradecraft. Why? Because that’s how it happens in the real world. These are rapidly changing fields, so being able to adapt and evolve is absolutely essential. That’s why our method involves everything from instructors explaining topics in great detail to assignments where you will be expected to research and teach new concepts to the class.

You will have a unique experience.
Our expectation that you can teach yourself the fundamentals allows us to offer a substantial amount of flexibility throughout the program. We will require you to learn those skills that we consider “core” to your field, but where you dive deep will depend on where you’ve been and where you want to go.

Subjects:
Business, Entrepreneurship, Sales

Growth

Cost: $14,000
Duration: 12 weeks
Locations: San Francisco
In-person Only
Course Description:

You will learn from the best in the business.
An unparalleled group of industry leaders and practitioners have signed on to help at Tradecraft. These are people who push the craft forward, establish industry standards and actively mentor the next generation of leaders. Your work at Tradecraft will give you the opportunity to learn from their experience, collaborate on projects, and establish meaningful relationships.

You will do real work for real companies.
There is no substitute for real-world experience. That’s why you will be required to not just work on, but lead, a number of projects for Silicon Valley companies throughout the semester. The projects will reinforce your track-specific development, provide valuable leadership opportunities and help you make more informed decisions once settled into your new job.

You will learn to adapt.
You will experience varying levels of guidance at Tradecraft. Why? Because that’s how it happens in the real world. These are rapidly changing fields, so being able to adapt and evolve is absolutely essential. That’s why our method involves everything from instructors explaining topics in great detail to assignments where you will be expected to research and teach new concepts to the class.

You will have a unique experience.
Our expectation that you can teach yourself the fundamentals allows us to offer a substantial amount of flexibility throughout the program. We will require you to learn those skills that we consider “core” to your field, but where you dive deep will depend on where you’ve been and where you want to go.

Subjects:
SEO, SQL, Algorithms, Digital Marketing

Product Design

Cost: $14,000
Duration: 12 weeks
Locations: San Francisco
In-person Only
Course Description:

You will learn from the best in the business.
An unparalleled group of industry leaders and practitioners have signed on to help at Tradecraft. These are people who push the craft forward, establish industry standards and actively mentor the next generation of leaders. Your work at Tradecraft will give you the opportunity to learn from their experience, collaborate on projects, and establish meaningful relationships.

You will do real work for real companies.
There is no substitute for real-world experience. That’s why you will be required to not just work on, but lead, a number of projects for Silicon Valley companies throughout the semester. The projects will reinforce your track-specific development, provide valuable leadership opportunities and help you make more informed decisions once settled into your new job.

You will learn to adapt.
You will experience varying levels of guidance at Tradecraft. Why? Because that’s how it happens in the real world. These are rapidly changing fields, so being able to adapt and evolve is absolutely essential. That’s why our method involves everything from instructors explaining topics in great detail to assignments where you will be expected to research and teach new concepts to the class.

You will have a unique experience.
Our expectation that you can teach yourself the fundamentals allows us to offer a substantial amount of flexibility throughout the program. We will require you to learn those skills that we consider “core” to your field, but where you dive deep will depend on where you’ve been and where you want to go.

Subjects:
Design Principles, CSS, HTML, UI Design, UX, UX Design

Tradecraft Reviews

Average Ratings (All Programs)

Tradecraft logo

5.0/5 (16 reviews)

Mario
Graduated: 2018

10/24/2019

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Great Experience"

A great option if you want to improve your skills and to get a good job with all the confidence. I have felt very comfortable studying with all the people, and i will repeat in a future. The staff is always at your side resolving any problem. A perfect... Read More

James Stephens
Product Designer | Graduated: 2017

1/22/2019

Course
Product Design

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"These people have your back."

In addition to getting a job and making the transition from graphic to product design, Tradecraft was the catalyst for a great deal of personal change that I'm still benefiting from (and working through.)

The nature of the environment is one where you're... Read More

The last point is something I found particularly wonderful. Tradecraft forces you to take a step back and look at things about yourself that you may have not considered before.

What is your relationship with other people, and why might that have led you to where you are now?
How can you begin to approach something like "networking" in a way that doesn't make you both want to use a bleach wipe on your brain?
What are you projecting in interviews and how might that affect how others evaluate you?
How can you understand what other people want, and give it to them in ways that benefit you both?
These are but a few things that I learned about in the program (in addition to all the design stuff :) and it may be totally different for you. The one thing I can guarantee though, is that it'll be impactful for you as a person – for where you are in life. See Christine and Jasmine Rosen's reviews (two of my colleagues) for a better overall analysis, they were always better at this stuff than me.

While we're on the subject of friends/colleagues: the concentrated timespan of the program will help you develop surprisingly strong, genuine friendships during your time there. I've shared a pretty large spectrum of human emotion with peers + the staff. As for the staff, every damn one of them has gone above and beyond for me, at various times and in various ways, and probably in many that I'm not aware of. I want to emphasize that, because I something still look back at it and am baffled at how much everyone gives a shit about you.

Something you'll commonly hear is that you'll get out of Tradecraft what you put in. This is not an easy program, and it isn't designed to be. If you truly dedicate yourself then what everyone else is saying is absolutely true – the rewards are vastly greater than any time, money, and energy you'll put in.

Wenting
Product Researcher | Graduated: 2017

10/9/2018

Course
Product Design

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Help you get grounded"

Tradecraft helped me change to the UX field in a fantastic company! If you want to change your career path to product design/research, Tradecraft would be a top choice. 2 reasons:

1) Real projects

Real project experience is very important to start a career... Read More

2) A long-term Relationship with Tradecraft

Career transition can be a process taking from months to 1 year. My relationship with TC continues after my graduation. In other words, you can keep getting career development support and keep doing real projects there after you graduate. This can be very cheerful for 3 reasons: you have a constant access to keep getting more experience; an easy access to career consulting services; you can keep building your network while you are job-hunting.

Kimberly Le
Product Designer at Scoot | Graduated: 2018

10/6/2018

Course
Product Design

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Learn to get out of your comfort zone"

If I had to sum up the major things I gained from my time at Tradecraft, it would fall into 3 buckets: 1) The community, 2) getting pushed out of my comfort zone with networking, and 3) access to a physical/virtual space that encourages constant learning... Read More

(1) The peers that you start with are one of your biggest assets (but only if you make the effort to invest time and energy into these relationships). I’ve met some amazing people and built friendships and connections with those in my cohort/class and even to this day, we stay in constant touch and share advice, support, and design events with each other. The more you all support each other (either through collaboration, emotional, or mental support) the more you all grow and benefit during your time here.

(2) Networking is scary for some people and for others, it feels contrived. One of the biggest things I gained from my experience at Tradecraft was getting comfortable with reaching out to people completely cold, and a big part of that was reframing what networking meant to me. Everyone approaches it with a different mindset based on their personalities and goals, and while for some it’s about building relationships, for others it can purely be about exchanging knowledge and learning. What really helps is to be surrounded by peers that can empathize with how difficult it is at first, and that in a way makes it easier for you to get out of your comfort zone. Everyone is doing it together. 


(3) The skills you gain from Tradecraft are largely based on what you make of the experience there. You have constant access to a virtual community on slack that is always sharing resources related to design/growth/career development/etc, and people ask each other questions and give advice. The physical space also hosts events and bring in speakers nearly every other week or so. You’re always encouraged to come back into the space even after you graduate and take advantage of these learning opportunities. It's a great space that breeds and encourages learning throughout your career, but you gotta take advantage of it.


Tradecraft is by no means a perfect program. Things can feel messy and unstructured, and sometimes it feels like there could be a lot more transparency between staff and students. The lack of structure might be by design and one could argue that working in tech is messy too. People seem to be across the board in how they feel about the structure at Tradecraft. Some have strong expectations of structure and demand it, and some just work around it. I think it’s important to keep yourself in the middle and give feedback where you see room for improvement, but also understand that Tradecraft in a way a startup too and you sometimes just have to work with what you have. Push for improvement, but do your best to manage your frustrations and be constructive with your feedback. 

Having graduated from the program about 5 months ago, I will say this. I’m *really* glad I went with Tradecraft instead of the other competing alternatives. I got to practice skills in design yes, but I wouldn’t trade the friendships/connections I made and getting pushed out of my comfort zone for anything. 

Tiffany
Product Designer | Graduated: 2017

3/14/2018

Course
Product Design

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"The best decision I’ve ever made"

Joining Tradecraft was the best decision I ever made for myself. I graduated TC in September 2017 and landed a job as a product designer a couple months later. I am 100% sure I could not have done it without the help and support of TC. What sets Tradecraft... Read More

As many other reviewers have mentioned, you really get what you put into it. TC provides the environment and tools to help you succeed but it’s up to you to do as little or as much as you want with it. The real learning curve starts in your new job but TC gave me the foundations to build upon. I am an extremely shy and introverted person but with the help and guidance of TC, I learned to send cold emails, ask strangers out for coffee, and became comfortable with design interviews; things I never thought I was capable of doing. If you told me a year ago I’d become a design consultant at the company I’m now at, I would have laughed (and then cried) in your face. TC literally changed my life.

The BEST part about TC is the people you’ll meet. It’s amazing to be surrounded by people in the same boat as you, with similar interests and all trying to achieve similar goals. When you go through the highs and lows of learning a new skill and job searching together, it’s hard not to become close. I’ve learned so much from my peers and remain close with them. I took a job in my home state but still go back to SF every few weeks to visit the friends I met in the program.

Anonymous
Graduated: 2017

3/1/2018

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"I was looking for a place to learn skills and I found community"

Tradecraft is not for everyone. If you want to just show up for a few hours a day, learn a functional skill and leave - then stop reading.

If you want to grow as a person, as a professional and find yourself amongst a community of wonderful people, then... Read More

I found that this helped me understand my potential, helped me focus my learning on the relevant skills and gave me a context to create some of my closest relationships.

Jonathan
Product Designer | Graduated: 2016

7/28/2017

Course
Product Design

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"One of the best decisions you'll make"

I can't speak highly enough about this program. I first learned about Tradecraft from Course Report. Based on all of the great reviews I decided to apply. So I'm happy to come back to Course report and confirm that Tradecraft truly is that good.

A few... Read More

My background was a little different than most. Coming from a lot of startup experience, I wasn't looking to switch carriers as much as refine my process and work with a variety of great companies. The program was great for this.

I couldn't have asked for better teachers. I learned a ton from Zac and Jake on the design side. They are super patient, insightful and awesome people. Also, Misha on the sales side...he makes you teach the classes, and it really was the best way to learn. Although I didn't take marketing from Thomas, I did sit in on his financial talk and rapped with him about marketing, investing, etc on the side and good lord these are all some top level thinkers.

Nick, Arianne, Kris and Russ are all super supportive and helpful. I am SO grateful!

Getting a chance to work on projects with a team made up of peers was challenging but in the best ways. You will really get a taste for working quickly, collaboratively, pulling late nights and weekends, attempting to churn out your best work. But the amount of work you take on is really up to you...so this may not have been true for everyone. I probably took on too many projects but I enjoyed it.

The mentors they bring in are also excellent. So I highly recommend attending the talks even if it's not in the area of expertise that you're in.

I've been working full-time ever since as a contractor for several startups and now for one of the biggest, most innovative companies in the valley. In large part thanks to TC. I feel like I'm part of the Tradecraft family now and plan on continuing to build on these new-found mentorships and friendships. I hope I can help others going through the program like many of peeps helped me. So yeah, I say, do it already!!

Chris Conrad
Growth Marketer | Graduated: 2017

7/18/2017

Course
Growth

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"The perfect blueprint for success in start-ups"

I am soooo beyond thrilled that I decided to enroll in the Tradecraft program!

I graduated from the TC growth track a few months back after starting my career in sales. I knew I wanted to shift from being on the phone all day to the more analytical strategy... Read More

Investing in my future with Tradecraft was not a decision I made lightly, but it ended up as one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I would highly recommend the program to anyone who is serious about wanting to shift their career to a related field in start-ups and motivated to put in the work to enable their success.

As a career switcher looking to prepare myself for the new direction I was heading was, I mainly decided to enroll because I wanted to gain consultative experience working with real start ups on growth projects. My goal was to gain real world experience and credibility when speaking as to why companies should entertain the idea of hiring me for an analytics based growth role. The projects that original fueled my interest were great but merely a sliver of the amazing program TC has to offer. TC teaches you to navigate stressful schedules on short notice, to network and publish effectively to enhance your career profile, to learn what you need quickly and to iterate on your learning even quicker, to work effectively and efficiently in diverse groups and much, much more. At Tradecraft, you learn the tools and skills and gain the support to be successful in all aspects of life.

Tradecraft's goal is to prepare each and every student for the next step in their particular career journey in order to get them on the right foot for where you want to be 5-10 years from now. I can confidently say TC set me up to succeed in my goals and accelerated my timeline to have me on track to get where I want to be faster than I had even hoped.

The TC community is one of the most amazing groups I have ever been a part of. Other Tradecrafters are spread throughout the tech world and are always quick to jump at the opportunity to help others involved. Everything at TC is taught to you in terms of value and everyone works hard to create the most value possible for the collaborative network. From your cohort members to other students attending at the same time as you to all graduates and the whole TC staff, everyone is there to enable each other's success and continuously take the network to the next level.

Because of the TC network, I was connected to and able to land the best opportunity I could have imagined after graduation in a role that I am excited to show up for on a daily basis. I couldn't be happier or more grateful for what the program has done for me and my career.

Special shout outs to Misha, Russ, Thomas, Nick, Ariane and the rest of the TC crew for creating such a special place that has meant so much to so many :)

Abby
Product Designer | Graduated: 2017

6/13/2017

Course
Product Design

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Best career decision I've made"

Tradecraft changed my world. I finished TC a few months ago and couldn't have been happier with the experience. I'm now working as a full-time product designer in the Bay Area.

A year ago I was working in a job that wasn't fulfilling and I honestly felt... Read More

Then I finally met some people in the TC community. After hearing (honestly pretty similar) stories to my own, I signed up and started two weeks later. A few spark notes:

1. The TC Mindset

Tradecraft sets you up for success in a way that is different than other bootcamps and traditional school settings. They basically give you a platter of skills and say choose and master the ones that will make you the most valuable doing something you love (emphasis on the latter). All of the instructors and staff want TCers to be successful and will support you as much as they can, but they do it in a way that allows students to tailor the experience to what they are looking for. This means a few things:

- A robust curriculum with the fundamentals to practice and learn skills in any track. But no strict weekly schedule and definitely no grading, just awesome feedback from wicked smart instructors.
- Project focused work with real companies
- The option to do multiple tracks (or to just learn certain subjects). In the startup world skills are what matter, not necessarily job titles. So having knowledge about growth/sales as a designer is useful and vice versa.
- A community: You get the TC community (student, instructors, staff, founders), but you also get to meet super successful mentors that come in and give talks, all past students, and access to a super valuable network in the valley.

2. Real world projects

TC whisks you off into the real world right away. The bootcamp experience is already really surreal, but TC does an amazing job of incorporating the startup world into your 12 weeks so you finish with hard skills. TC students & instructors connect with companies that need projects done (pro bono) and work on those while using the skills you learn in the curriculum. This not only gets you real world experience & portfolio work, but it makes the transition from you old career to your new career feel more fluid.

3. Career Development & Job Search Help

You'll get 12 weeks of super valuable career focus, planning, salary, & mental tips/tricks that help you land a job. Arianne, the Career Development Lead, is a master at helping people figure out their goals and planning out actionably how to get you there. A lot of people got jobs during the program and others after. This is where the Silicon Valley network is super valuable. TC founders/staff will extend their network to you which should give you a leg up in the first-job-out-of-a-bootcamp market. This is how I landed my gig!

Definitely, talk to Nick if it's something you're interested in. I highly recommend!

Annie
Product Designer | Graduated: 2017

5/8/2017

Course
Product Design

Overall

Curriculum

Job Support

"Awesome Product Design Program!!"

Tradecraft's product design program was an amazing 3 months that helped me make a career switch into UX. I was in the program from November 2016 - February 2017, and prior to that, I was a customer success manager for a year and a consultant/IT auditor... Read More

When I first decided I wanted to be a product designer, I was looking into General Assembly and Tradecraft like you probably are. Both design programs seemed great, but after talking to a friend who graduated from TC, TC sounded more intense, which I thought would better equip me with the skills I need to land a UX/product design role. After going through the TC program and talking to a few people who did the GA program, I'm glad I chose TC.

#1 value - real client projects

As a product designer, you're going to need a few projects in your portfolio to land a job. Personal projects are great, but at Tradecraft, I had the opportunity to work with 5 startups throughout my 3 months on various design projects ranging from app design to landing page design. This experience was invaluable and something I don't think you get at GA. On these projects, I took opportunities to lead and present to our clients, who were primarily co-founders of these startups. Having these projects gave me a lot to talk about in my job interviews. Most of your time at TC will be spent working on client projects.

#2 value - curriculum

The instructors, Zac and Jake, are nice, helpful, and good at what they do. During curriculum, they'll teach you the basics of what you need to know from research to HTML/CSS, but you're going to have to read and learn on your own too. You can also schedule 1:1 time with them.

# 3 value - career development

We had weekly career development sessions learning how to craft our story, write cold emails, approach the job hunt, etc. It's hard to break into a new field on your own, and these weekly sessions motivated me to work hard and network, and taught me not to take the job hunt personally because it is in part a numbers game. Our head of careers, Ariane, helped us think through our career goals, what we want, and how to present ourselves to achieve those goals.

#4 value - the people

I spent a lot of time at TC, so thank god everyone there, including the alumni, are amazing people. There are about 3 active cohorts at a time, so you'll be surrounded by people who are just a motivated and ambitious as you are. I loved it. The people around you motivate you to work hard and do well. The TC staff are great. The alumni are helpful. When you join TC, you're forever a part of a community that will always welcome you.

#5 value - mentor talks

We have multiple mentor talks a week where product managers, designers, marketers, etc. from startups and established tech companies come in for an hour to talk to us and answer our questions. This was a great way to learn about the tech industry, different companies, and how design/product dev is like at other places.

You get a lot of value from Tradecraft. I feel like there's so much more to Tradecraft than what you can learn from their website or reading all the reviews, so definitely reach out to people who've done the program or are currently in the program. Everyone has a different experience. Mine was great!

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