The Stanza

Gaetano Guarducci Apr 16, 2025

Today's guest is Gaetano Guarducci of Sant Ambroeus Hospitality Group. Gaetano grew up in the restaurant business that his father, Gherardo Guarducci, co-founded in 2003, and has been working for the family business since graduating from university. The New York-based group comprises 29 restaurants across 3 brands - Sant Ambroeus, Felice, and Casa Lever - and is opening 3 to 4 restaurants per year with the backing of Italian British private equity fund Three Hills Capital. Sant Ambroeus, in particular, is unique in the way they combine Milanese tradition while embracing fashion & culture trends. They've done creative collaborations with brands such as Saint Laurent, The Attico, Alaia, Le Labo, and several others. It's part of their approach to maintaining longevity and desire throughout several market cycles, along with prioritizing consistency in the customer experience and the food.

Thank you Peoplevine for sponsoring this episode. Peoplevine is trusted by the best brands in the members club business. Book a free demo to see why at ⁠peoplevine.com.⁠

This episode was recorded at NeueHouse Madison Square. NeueHouse is the premier work space in NYC and LA for those in the creative industries. Use code THESTANZA for a special offer when applying for your membership.

Learn more about Sant Ambroeus Hospitality Group here

Follow Sant Ambroeus on Instagram

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Interview Highlights:

Longevity in the restaurant sector
Growing up in the hospitality business
Insights from the pandemic era
Why does Sant Ambroeus have a creative director?
Collaborating with fashion brands
The origin story of Sant Ambroeus as a Milanese pastry shop
"Selling pasta to Italians" & doing business in Europe as an American company
Key details considered in restaurant design & operations
Operating seasonal locations in Aspen & East Hampton
Raising capital from private equity
Balancing brand preservation and private equity expectations
Why haven't they expanded into members clubs?
Gaetano's vision for SAHG as the next gen leadership

Gary Vee & David Rodolitz Mar 18, 2025

Thank you Peoplevine for sponsoring this episode. Peoplevine is trusted by the best brands in the members club business. Book a free demo to see why at peoplevine.com.

Today's guests are David Rodolitz and Gary Vaynerchuk, co-founders of VCR Group, a hospitality company operating concepts such as Flyfish Club, Ito, and Little Maven in New York and Las Vegas. Flyfish Club, which opened in September 2024, is the world's first blockchain-based members club focused on fine dining. In this conversation, we dove into the details of what it's like to build a hospitality group in one of the most competitive markets in the world (NYC). What I enjoyed most about this conversation is their forward-thinking perspectives when it comes to hospitality, especially in the fine dining space. We also talked in depth about the private members club landscape in New York and entering the space as a young hospitality group.

Gary Vaynerchuk, AKA Gary Vee, is a serial entrepreneur and leads VaynerMedia, VaynerX, and VCR Group. In 2014, Gary co-founded Resy and sold it to American Express in 2019 and is also an early investor in notable companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Uber, Coinbase, Slack, and more.

David Rodolitz is a NYC hospitality veteran and a co-founder of VCR Group. Prior to founding VCR Group, David was a founding partner of Empellon, a group of restaurants in NYC.

To learn more about VCR Group's restaurants, click here

Connect with Gary and David on Instagram

Connect with The Stanza on Instagram

Subscribe to the newsletter for the full experience.

Interview Highlights:

The business of a fine dining members club in NYC
Restaurants as part of placemaking
Contrarian thinking in hospitality
The reality of running restaurants
Competing in the NYC restaurant & private club market as a young company
The future of private clubs in NYC & taking cues from London club culture
Longevity in the restaurant business
How to handle negative reviews
How would you invest in hospitality?
Advice for aspiring hospitality entrepreneurs

2025: Welcome to The Stanza Mar 18, 2025

It's a pleasure to welcome you to the 2025 season of The Stanza. Thank you for tuning in.

Submit your pitch deck to be featured in "Investment Committee", a new column in The Stanza newsletter here.

Subscribe to the newsletter here and follow on instagram.

Episode highlights

Overview of the new podcast season
The art of the cold email
Career advice for young people
Answering your Q&A:

Limiting beliefs & dreaming big
Best tips on growing a digital community
Private members clubs
Validation from billionaires
Luxury groups buying real estate
Fashion / hospitality brand pivots

Excited for this year's podcast season!!

023: Building iconic hospitality brands: Soho House, The Birley Clubs, Caprice Holdings Jul 25, 2024

**This interview was made publicly available thanks to the support of Peoplevine, the CRM software trusted by the best hospitality brands. Book your free demo here.

Today's guest is Jamie Caring, founder of Sevengage Consultancy, through which he advises hospitality entrepreneurs and real estate owners on brand creation and community building. Prior to his consulting career, Jamie was the CMO of Soho House, the Commercial Director at Caprice Holdings, the holding company behind restaurant brands such as The Ivy, Le Caprice, and Sexy Fish, and the Commercial Director at The Birley Clubs, which owns club brands such as Annabel's and Mark's. Prior to hospitality, Jamie had a 15-year career in music and entertainment at MTV and VH1.

Jamie started at Soho House in 2008 when there wasn't a marketing team, and during his tenure, helped shape it into the global category-defining lifestyle brand that it is today. This was my longest interview to date, and I definitely could have continued the interview. We went in-depth on Jamie's knowledge and insights coming from both of his lives in entertainment and hospitality, and especially focused on strategy for launching and scaling hospitality businesses, as well as the psychology of members clubs. He truly understands how to build an enduring hospitality brand that is a reference for other emerging brands, and I know anyone listening to this episode will learn a lot from Jamie's experience. Connect with Jamie here.

Interview Highlights:

Applying insights from entertainment to hospitality
Meeting Nick Jones and starting at Soho House
Marketing-led vs transaction-led hospitality
Jamie's philosophy on member programming & events
Can people buy into "community"?
What is a true community in the context of a business?
Lessons from Soho House's banker purge in 2010
Top drivers for both membership renewals and cancellations
Expanding from members clubs into a lifestyle brand
The art & science of advertising exclusivity
Thoughts on Soho House's recent negative press and its IPO
Balancing creative vision and needs of investors
Jamie's experience at Annabel's & how legacy clubs can stay relevant
Thoughts on the proliferation of members clubs
Trends in the club industry
Advice for hospitality entrepreneurs
Audience Q&A

If you enjoyed this episode, please share with a friend or colleague :)

021 Exclusivity sells: structuring an effective membership program Jan 25, 2024

Subscribe to ⁠The Stanza⁠, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion.

Today's guest is Annabel Schwartz, founder of hospitality consultancy House of Talana.

Annabel was the former west coast memberships manager at Soho House and most recently the director of member relations & culture at San Vicente Bungalows. We did a deep dive on all the fun topics within hospitality - curating and designing a members club, the consumer psychology of exclusivity, the meaning of great hospitality, and trend predictions on the future of the industry. Annabel has so much unique experience and insight into the business from a behind the scenes angle and I know you're all going to love this episode.

On another note - this interview is the final guest episode of the season. The podcast will come back later this year, but for now definitely be sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow along on Instagram and TikTok (@thestanzamedia). Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the show.

Episode Highlights

Annabel's background at Soho House and SVB
Structuring of an effective membership program
Why exclusivity is an essential component
Paying for access vs earning access
Privacy in LA vs spontaneity in NYC
3 trend predictions for hospitality
Advice for members clubs operators

Thank you to Peoplevine for sponsoring this episode. Peoplevine is the CRM loved by the best members clubs in the industry. Check out which clubs use Peoplevine and book your free demo here.

020 A good members club has a great CRM Jan 18, 2024

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion.

Today's guest is Jordan Gilman, founder of Peoplevine. This episode is for all the hospitality operators who subscribe to The Stanza. Peoplevine is the hospitality CRM used by San Vicente Bungalows, Zero Bond, ZZ's, Casa Cipriani, Faena, and many more brands you already know and love. I've partnered with Peoplevine over the last 3 months and I wanted to have Jordan on the podcast to chat about his experience pitching to luxury hospitality brands, why their CRM is loved by the best operators, and how a great CRM is needed to deliver a consistently great guest experience.

Thank you to the team at Peoplevine for being early supporters of The Stanza newsletter and podcast.

Episode highlights:

Pitching to high end hospitality clients
Building a network of luxury hospitality operators
Expanding into the UK market
How Peoplevine designed its CRM based on their personal guest experience
Executing an effective loyalty program
Views on private dining clubs such as ZZ's
Jordan's thoughts on the future of members clubs

Read about how your favorite clubs use Peoplevine: https://www.peoplevine.com/clients

Follow The Stanza on IG / TikTok: @thestanzamedia

019 From finance to fashion tech entrepreneurship Jan 11, 2024

Subscribe to ⁠The Stanza⁠, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion. Today's guest is Bianca Rangecroft, founder of Whering. Whering is a digital wardrobe and styling app that allows you to catalogue your clothes, create outfits, and get styling suggestions. As of today, the app has 1.5M users. Think of it as the modern app version of Cher's wardrobe from Clueless. Prior to Whering, Bianca worked at Goldman Sachs in asset management.

We chatted about fundraising as a first time founder, how she financially supported her transition from Goldman to entrepreneurship, and her view on the future of sustainable fashion. I appreciated Bianca's honesty throughout the conversation and I know any early stage entrepreneur will benefit from this interview.

Episode highlights:

How Bianca's experience at GS prepared her for Whering
Funding start up and living costs in the early days
Bianca's key fundraising insights
Growing Whering's user base
How she built a tech company as a non technical founder
Vision for Whering and the future of circular fashion

*Apologies in advance for the slight background noise!

Download Whering: https://whering.co.uk/

Connect with Bianca on IG: @biancarangecroft or LinkedIn

Follow The Stanza on IG / TikTok: @thestanzamedia

018 Building cash flow solutions for CPG brands Jan 04, 2024

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion.

Today's guest is Alek Koenig, founder and CEO of Settle.

Settle is a cash flow management platform for CPG start ups. Brands you love, like Ghia, Soft Services, Ceremonia, Lalo, Italic, and Starface, are users of Settle, and it's easy to see why. From streamlining your AP, managing bills and vendor payments, to getting working capital loans with transparent terms, Settle provides solutions to problems specific to CPG brands, all within a modern and simple interface.

Settle is also backed by institutional venture investors such as Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital. And even if this episode isn't a typical consumer brand founder story, I asked Alek to come on as a guest to share insights from transitioning from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, fundraising advice, and managing a company in uncertain times.

I've also partnered with Settle to give you guys $250 in transaction fee credits if you use the code (THESTANZA) to sign up for free - that means transaction-fee payments for you. Click here Settle's Working Capital calculator so you can see how much financing power your business is eligible for.

Episode highlights

The consumerization of business software
Transitioning from corporate to entrepreneurship
Preparing financially for that transition
Managing a company in times of economic uncertainty
Fundraising from institutional investors
How to understand your customers' pain points
Advice for networking with investors as an introvert

*Thank you Settle for partnering with The Stanza*

017 Building contrarian brands Dec 14, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality & fashion.

This episode is sponsored by Peoplevine - the best hospitality CRM software. Check out why Peoplevine is used and loved by the best private members clubs and book your free demo here.

"Everything he touches turns to gold" - this is what a brutally honest friend said to me about today's guest, Raphael Farasat. Raphael is the founder of award-winning Truffl Agency and co-founder of Last Crumb Cookies, the viral luxury cookie brand. He's worked with the likes of Tesla, LinkedIn, and Heineken, and as the creative director behind really cool upcoming consumer brands such as Better Bagel, Barcode Drinks, Boba Ice Cream, Jean Dousset, and more. We chatted about the power of metaphor when it comes to building a world for a brand, his creative process, and taking a contrarian approach when it comes to marketing and storytelling. Every founder building a consumer facing business - whether that's a cpg brand, hospitality group, or marketplace - can benefit from this interview.

Episode highlights

Raphael's creative process
A networking strategy that brings aligned opportunities
Applying the scarcity model from streetwear to cookies
How to create a contrarian brand that people love
Metaphors and consumer psychology
How to create a membership program that fosters customer loyalty

Connect with Raphael on IG: @raph_

More on Truffl Agency: https://truffl.com/

Try Last Crumb cookies: https://lastcrumb.com/

015 Building a mens' fashion brand Nov 30, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: Welcome to The Stanza (thestanzamedia.com) Thank you to Peoplevine for sponsoring this episode. Peoplevine is the best CRM for hospitality businesses. All the best private members clubs use Peoplevine - click to see why and book your free demo: The Guest & Member Experience CRM for Hospitality Brands (peoplevine.com)

Today's guest is Brandon Snower, founder of Le Alfre, a menswear brand based in NYC. You may recognize his brand story from his viral TikTok, in which he shares how he went from investment banking to starting a brand during the pandemic. We chatted about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, how he managed having $3,000 in his bank account at one point, how he's positioning Le Alfre in a sea of new fashion brands, and getting great press for Le Alfre. He's made incredible progress in the 2 and a half years he's been working on Le Alfre, not only from a sales perspective, but he's also secured investment from the former head of Richemont Group N. America. Well done!

This interview really highlights an attitude I think is essential for all entrepreneurs, and that is resourcefulness. Some people may even call it "scrappiness". My view is that it's the willingness to find solutions instead of feeling defeated when you come across obstacles. We touch on that in the episode, but I wanted to mention that it's a trait I've noticed in all successful people.

Episode highlights

Transitioning from investment banking to entrepreneurship
How to network effectively
Le Alfre's branding philosophy
Creating a members club for Le Alfré customers
Having your founder story go viral on TikTok
Strategies for securing great press
Taking the right risks
Advice for entrepreneurs

Connect with Brandon on IG: @Brandon.Snower

Le Alfre on IG: @le.alfre

Follow The Stanza on IG/TikTok: @thestanzamedia

014 Investing in luxury beauty brands Nov 17, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly journal for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com

Today's guest is Julia Baldet, an investor at BC Partners, a large cap European private equity fund. Prior to BC Partners, Julia was an investor at Manzanita Capital, where she was the sole associate working on the $1B sale of Byredo to Puig in 2022. While at Manzanita Capital, Julia also managed some of their other investments, such as Diptyque, Space NK, and Susanne Kaufmann. In addition to investing at the institutional level, Julia is an angel investor in Konvi, The Edit LDN, and Kimai.

We chatted about how she created the career she desired, her insights from investing in consumer brands, and her advice for those wanting to break into consumer PE.

*Huge thanks to BC Partners' compliance team for giving us the green light to do this interview!

Episode Highlights:

How Julia carved her career path into luxury consumer investing
Byredo: deal process & dyamics
Why Puig was the right buyer of Byredo
Julia's insider perspective of the luxury beauty business
What makes a $billion beauty brand prime for acquisition?
What type of capital partner beauty & fashion entrepreneurs should seek
How Julia sources angel investment opportunities
Julia's investment criteria (company & founding team)
Advice for aspiring luxury consumer investors

Connect with Julia on LinkedIn

Check out her essay for the blog Data Driven Investor

Follow The Stanza on IG/TikTok: @thestanzamedia

013 Inside the mind of a creative director: luxury real estate, hospitality, & DTC fashion Nov 09, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly journal for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries https://www.thestanzamedia.com

*Check out which of your favorite hospitality brands use Peoplevine, the best CRM tool for the best private members clubs, luxury hotels, and restaurants. You can also book a free demo for your hospitality business: https://www.peoplevine.com

Today's guest is Lexy Copithorne, who is a creative director and brand strategist with experience across luxury real estate, hospitality, and fashion. I've never met anyone like Lexy - she has a unique intellectual approach to her creative work and in this episode we talk all about her process when creating physical and digital environments for brands.

Some of her experience includes: branding for luxury real estate developer JDS in New York, the Beverly Estate, also known as the Godfather House, Casalena, the LA Mediterranean restaurant, and is also a co-founder of Pruzan, a technical athletic wear company based between LA and London.

Also for some history here - before the lockdown Lexy and I were planning to launch a tequila brand but unfortunately the pandemic happened and our plans didn’t work out. But I got to witness how her creative mind works, and when I started this podcast, I just knew I had to have her on as a guest.

If you're obsessed with brand as it pertains to the digital and physical world, you're going to love this episode.

Episode Highlights

How to create a strong customer journey from physical to online
How to create a physical/digital ecosystem with strong brand identity
Marketing physical spaces (luxury real estate & hospitality)
Visual storytelling principles & process
Building a luxury athleisure brand
How Pruzan's run club creates community and fosters brand loyalty
Brand building for hospitality

Connect with Lexy: Copithorne & Company - Copithorne & Company (lexycopithorne.com) Check out Pruzan: Pruzan Official Website (pruzanrunning.com) The Copper Building (Developed by JDS): Home - The Copper The Beverly Estate: The Beverly Estate

*This episode is sponsored by Peoplevine

012 Scaling a skincare brand through TikTok Nov 02, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com

Today's guests are Jade Beguelin and Sabrina Sade, the co-founders of 4AM skin, a NYC based skincare brand. Sabrina left med school and Jade quit her wall street career to pursue building 4AM skin and they've been absolutely crushing it as a young brand. Something I really admire about Jade and Sabrina is their willingness to roll up their sleeves, be resourceful, and get things done. We chatted about being public founders on social media, having products go viral and selling out on Tiktok, and thoughts about building a brand and community that cares about what you're selling. If you're building in the DTC space, you're going to learn a lot from this episode. Enjoy!

The Stanza listeners get 15% off 4AM Skin with code STANZA15 on https://4amskin.com

Episode Highlights:

Approach to building an audience online
Brand /founder alignment on social media
Going viral on TikTok & selling out on TikTok shop
Lessons learned from selling vs branding
How to create a community that cares about you & your brand
Thoughts on raising money from VC investors
How to be resourceful as a bootstrapped founder
Starting a business with a friend

Connect with Jade: @jadebeguelin on TikTok/IG

Connect with Sabrina: @sabsade on TikTok/IG

@4AMskin on TikTok/IG

Follow The Stanza on TikTok/IG: @thestanzamedia

006 Creating a candle brand through storytelling & partnerships Oct 30, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries. Sent every Friday: https://thestanza.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Use Gamma AI to create your next presentation, document, or website. https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast

Hayley Mack founded Cent LDN while being furloughed during the pandemic, and since then has done partnerships with Elton John and Selfridges, StockX, Nando's, Adidas, Lush Beauty, and so forth. She's been featured in Hypebae, High Snobiety, Forbes, etc - all within three short years. Hayley shares insights into positioning her candle brand for success as well as advice for those building unique brands.

Episode Highlights:

Early success through brand positioning and high profile partnerships
How to use your network to get the right visibility
Advice for positioning your brand for great PR
Creating an audience-driven brand vs founder-led brand
Crossing over into other industries
Advice for brand builders

Cent LDN: https://centldn.com or @cent.ldn

Connect with Hayley: @hayleymackkk

Cent LDN in Vogue: https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/are-candles-the-new-luxury-collectibles

Cent LDN in Hypebae: https://hypebae.com/2023/3/cent-ldn-hayley-mack-candles-international-womens-day-interview

Follow The Stanza on IG / TikTok: @thestanzamedia

011 Building a career as a world class magician & performer with Anna DeGuzman Oct 26, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly journal for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries https://www.thestanzamedia.com

*Check out which of your favorite hospitality brands use Peoplevine, the best CRM tool for the best private members clubs, luxury hotels, and restaurants. You can also book a free demo for your hospitality business: https://www.peoplevine.com

Today's guest is Anna DeGuzman, who is truly one of a kind. She's a magician who's performed on America's Got Talent recently, in front of celebrity judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, and Sofia Vergara, but also in front of millions of people watching around the world. Even though she's an accomplished magician at such a young age, she's genuinely a warm person and I loved learning about how she's built a non traditional career on her own terms and how she manages to perform in front of such a large audience. If you're a performer of any kind, or aspiring to be, you're going to love this episode.

Episode Highlights:

How Anna became a magician
Being a public person
Handling online criticism
Pursuing the non-traditional route
Dealing with career uncertainty and inconsistent traction
Mindset when performing for celebrities & on big stages

Connect with Anna on IG (@annadeguzman) or TikTok (@annadeguz)

Follow The Stanza on IG or TikTok (@thestanzamedia)

*This episode is sponsored by Peoplevine

010 Building a successful leather goods brand from scratch Oct 19, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com

Today's guest is Nika Diamond Krendel, who founded Paradise Row, a London-based leather goods brand. Paradise Row has been featured in in Vogue, the Financial Times, Harper's Bazaar, and more, and she's also done a collaboration with Soho Home's flagship store on King's Road. In addition to her consumer facing business, Nika also has a B2B business where she produces bespoke products for some of the UK's most prestigious projects, such as Knightsbridge Gardens and Estelle Manor. I chatted with Nika to learn how she built her brand from scratch - quite literally as she talks about how she didn't have any connections in the interior design world prior to starting her brand. She shares a lot of really great insights in the episode for any brand founder listening, and I hope you'll enjoy this episode.

Episode Highlights:

Transitioning from the corporate world to leather goods
Paradise Row's production process
Building a B2B business alongside D2C
How Nika landed a collaboration with Soho Home Interiors
How to get great press & visibility for your brand
Advice for entrepreneurs just starting out

009 Lessons learned thus far from building a brand through social media Oct 12, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries https://www.thestanzamedia.com

Today's guest is yours truly. It's time to check in with a solo episode answering some of your questions submitted via instagram.

Episode highlights:

Dealing with unforeseen challenges & pivots
Creating a brand as a founder on social media
Why I'm grateful for my finance experience
Realizations after leaving the corporate world
Thoughts on SKKY Partners
Regrets in career

Follow The Stanza on TikTok & IG: @thestanzamedia

008 Investing in & curating beautiful residences Oct 05, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries. Sent every Friday: https://thestanza.beehiiv.com

For those creating pitch decks or presentations, use Gamma for your next one and track who's viewing your deck and which slides they're spending the most time on ;) https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast

Episode Highlights

Transitioning from corporate to entrepreneurship
Buying the first rental property
Innovating in the mid-term rental sector
The residential membership model
Entrepreneurship & delayed gratification
Dealing with negative people
Starting an interiors design business

Check out Guesthouse here: https://www.guest-house.co

Connect with Gabriela on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriela-chapa/

Follow The Stanza on TikTok & IG: @thestanzamedia

005 Developing hospitality real estate Sep 14, 2023

Today's guest is real estate developer & hospitality entrepreneur Max Rodman. Max cut his teeth at Round Hill Capital, an institutional real estate private equity fund based in London, where he also invested in prop tech venture deals. Max is currently a founder of Breezy Capital based out of Lisbon and is developing Fabrica, an aparthotel project in the up and coming Setubal region.

Thank you to Gamma AI for sponsoring this episode. Gamma is simply the best tool for creating decks with ease. Try it for free: https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast

Episode Highlights:

Developing a hospitality project in Portugal
Insights from fundraising as a real estate developer
Raising for individual deals vs. raising a fund
Transitioning from institutional finance to entrepreneurship
Advice for making that jump

Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com

More on Breezy Capital: https://breezy-capital.com Connect with Max: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxrodman/

Follow The Stanza on TikTok and IG (@thestanzamedia)

004 Building a home-sharing community Sep 07, 2023

Today's guest is Zach Bell, the founder of Myplace, a home sharing platform that connects people within 2 degrees of each other. Zach founded Myplace based on the principles of sharing-based exchange and has built an impressive global community over the past 4 years.

Thank you to Gamma AI for sponsoring this episode. Gamma is simply the best tool for creating decks. Try it here: https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast

Episode highlights:

Enabling people to live a multi-location lifestyle
The future of mobility and travel
Sharing-based vs profit-based exchange
Thoughts on monetization
Building a product based on trust
Advice for entrepreneurs building communities

Join Myplace and see which friends are sharing their homes: MyPlace -- Host & Stay With Friends

Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: www.thestanzamedia.com

Connect with me on TikTok or IG (@thestanzamedia)

003 Opening a Restaurant in LA Aug 24, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza's weekly digest, sent every Friday (it's free).

Today's guest is Chloe Makhani, founder of LA's chicest new Mediterranean hotspot, Casalena. If you live in LA, you may have been to Stanley Social or Members in Hollywood, also founded by Chloe. This episode is a look into opening a restaurant, curating a hospitality brand, and investing in LA restaurant real estate. If you've ever been curious about what it takes to run a restaurant, you'll love this episode.

Episode Highlights

How Chloe's institutional experience at Starwood prepared her for hospitality entrepreneurship
Creating a dining experience inspired by European resort culture
Curating a restaurant brand
The hardest part of opening a restaurant
Selecting an executive chef & designing the menu
Working with siblings
Managing a portfolio of hospitality real estate in LA
Advice for other entrepreneurs

Book a table at Casalena here The Stanza on Instagram and TikTok

002 Building a Mezcal Brand Aug 17, 2023

Subscribe to The Stanza's weekly digest, sent every Friday: www.thestanzamedia.com

Find Mezcal Xaman: www.mezcalxaman.com

Connect with Mezcal Xaman on IG: @mezcal.xaman

Episode highlights:

Navigating challenges unique to producing & selling mezcal
Bringing Mezcal Xaman to European markets
Competing against large brands
Hosting exclusive "mini-festivals" to market the brand
Building relationships with bartenders to grow brand awareness
Advice for new alcohol entrepreneurs

Connect with me on IG/TikTok @thestanzamedia

001 Embrace the cringe. Aug 10, 2023

Hello everyone, and welcome to The Stanza.

I thought I'd start the show with a solo episode introducing myself and The Stanza. I chat about how my recent career failure led me to start The Stanza and some valuable lessons I learned in the 18 month transition from finance to entrepreneurship. Thank you for tuning in and supporting the show :)

Enjoy,

N

Subscribe to the weekly journal: www.thestanzamedia.com

Connect with me on IG/TikTok: @thestanzamedia

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