# About Launchpad

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**This Launchpad site is now deprecated.** To see the newest information and learn more about IPFS, Filecoin, and everything else we will add, continue to our new curriculum page at [https://curriculum.pl-launchpad.io/](https://curriculum.pl-launchpad.io/).&#x20;
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Protocol Labs Network (PLN) Launchpad is a six-week onboarding program to train, onboard, and match engineers and startup operators at scale with opportunities across the PL Network.

* See the [Announcement Blog Post](https://protocol.ai/blog/announcing-pl-launchpad/)
* [Apply](https://boards.greenhouse.io/protocollabs/jobs/4305898004?gh_src=8ab0a83a4us) to become a part of the next Launchpad cohort
* See all the [job opportunities available in the Protocol Labs Network](https://protocol.getro.com/companies?page=2)

Launchpad cohorts will onboard a wide funnel of primed talent into PL Network teams - and also grow network engineering culture, strong community bonds, and solid cross-functional knowledge of various parts of the PL Network tools and protocols.

## About the Launchpad Curriculum

This Gitbook Collection contains the Launchpad curriculum of learning materials. It is published from a repository which contains intentionally organized and curated content about the PL Network, IPFS, libp2p, IPLD, Filecoin, and the variety of tools & SDKs that are used across the network. We welcome contributions, but please read and follow the steps in the [**Contributing to Launchpad Curriculum** section in the README](readme), or you can [submit an issue](https://github.com/protocol/launchpad/issues).

This site is published on GitHub pages [On Gitbook](https://app.gitbook.com/o/-L_E2woSLfhpBp2IPz9k/s/dJC0yfHL6n4VMktmNXWq/), and the repo is located at [https://github.com/protocol/launchpad](https://github.com/protocol/launchpad)

## Expectations

This curriculum is designed for those who already have a basic set of software engineering skills. Launchpad Cadets should at a minimum already know:

* How to use Github for source control, including making PRs & suggestions
* How to navigate and troubleshoot an operating system and install dependencies
* Experience with the basic software engineering design lifecycle
* Experience implementing and testing software projects
* The ability to read and write in programming languages (technical participants)

### ⚖️ Launchpad Principles

* **Feedback is a gift.** Please give your feedback on the program and how we can make it better! If someone gives you feedback, it's because they’re trying to help you improve — but understand there are often many ways to do something, so give feedback with curiosity and an open mind.
* **Improve as we go.** Related to the above, when you spot areas of improvement for the program, we want to capture them along the journey rather than hoping to remember them at the end. A retro will happen at the end, but please also post in Filecoin Slack as you see things. Including an emoji like 🤔 can make it easier to harvest these thoughts for the retro.
* **Be respectful**. This whole program falls under the [IPFS Code of Conduct](https://github.com/ipfs/community/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md). Always be kind and welcoming.
* **Collaboration**. Be proactively helpful to everyone you can. Answer questions, offer ideas, share your work and learnings - try to give back to the community and others who are helping you! Understand that many great ideas can blossom in parallel - avoid being competitive, secretive, or ego-ful about your work or ideas.
* **Async first.** We bias toward async comms to support many time zones and schedules. Try to use slack threads, record meetings, and document your questions/learnings so others can benefit.
* **Transparency.** To promote a good OSS environment, we try to make our work open to all - even before we’re ready. Please try to use group channels to post your questions instead of DMs (where others can’t learn from you), and share your answers in public forums wherever possible (ex discourse, Filecoin slack, etc).
