Nerdstage

Josh Resnick, General Partner at Open Sky Venture Partners, shares his unconventional journey from building Pandemic Studios (Star Wars: Battlefront) to co-founding luxury candy brand Sugarfina, and now backing consumer and tech startups. Topics include the art of storytelling in pitches, what investors really look for in founders, building lean teams in the age of AI, the power of making customers feel something, and why you might need to be "a little bit nuts" to take the entrepreneurial leap. Josh also discusses how AI and automation are enabling founders to achieve multi-million dollar revenues with exceptionally small teams. This episode of the Nerdstage Podcast was recorded live in Los Angeles in November 2025 at Demo Day LA. The host and interviewer is Zach Sekar, co-founder of Nerdstage.   Video version of this podcast is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GTiF3ZTBIeM

Mike Jones, General Partner at venture studio Science discusses his journey of co-founding a hundred companies, including renowned brands like Liquid Death, Dollar Shave Club, and MeUndies. Topics include the intricate processes of building successful startups, the importance of timing, and the critical role of founder vision. Mike also discusses his exploratory framework, Human Architecture, which aims to leverage AI for personal and mental health insights. This episode of the Nerdstage Podcast was recorded live in Los Angeles in November 2025 at Demo Day LA.   Video version of this podcast is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xHWJe4QGadk