# Jackson Jesionowski (Jack Jay)

> Jackson Jesionowski, also known as Jack Jay, founded Persist Ventures and co-founded Open Droids. Based in San Francisco, he announced in November 2025 that he had shifted his leadership focus from Persist to working full time as Open Droids CEO. His public work connects founder recruitment, growth marketing, and open robotics, with an emphasis on practical wheeled machines and user control.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Open Droids (now branded Droid)
- **Organizations:** Persist Ventures, Open Droids / Droid, Persist Designs
- **Education:** University of Arizona
- **Known for:** Founded Persist Ventures, a venture studio that supports aspiring founders through build challenges and shared services., Co-founded Open Droids, which markets single-arm and dual-arm mobile robotic platforms., Served on the jury for a Pillai College of Engineering business competition in the 2022–2023 reporting year.

## Career timeline

- **2016–2017** — Attended the University of Arizona; no completed degree verified.
- **2020** — Published a September 13 note to collaborators describing his agency projects and Tadpool, a proposed entrepreneurship agency that would pay young people to build businesses.
- **2022–2023** — Named as Persist Ventures CEO and a business-competition jury member in Pillai College of Engineering’s annual report.
- **2024** — Co-founded Open Droids with Abhishek Gupta and Ashish Gupta; company launch and first R1D1 release are reported as March and August respectively.
- **2024** — Featured as a Persist Ventures speaker at DNA HOUSE during Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul in September.
- **2025** — Discussed wheeled household robots with Don Baine in a PLUGHITZ Live interview published April 25.
- **2025** — Announced November 26 that he had shifted from Persist leadership focus to working full time as Open Droids CEO.
- **2026** — Featured on Sean Kelly’s Digital Social Hour episode 1156; episode page published in June. The robotics company’s current website uses the Droid name.

## Achievements

- Founded Persist Ventures, a venture studio that supports aspiring founders through build challenges and shared services.
- Co-founded Open Droids, which markets single-arm and dual-arm mobile robotic platforms.
- Served on the jury for a Pillai College of Engineering business competition in the 2022–2023 reporting year.
- Spoke about Persist’s talent model at DNA HOUSE during Korea Blockchain Week 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Said he had moved from a leadership focus at Persist to working full time as CEO of Open Droids.
- **2026-06** — Sean Kelly published a Digital Social Hour episode page featuring Jack Jay discussing internet culture, AI, influence, and his economic ideas.
- **2026-10** — Website checked this month identifies the robotics brand as Droid, formerly Open Droids; this is an observation date, not a verified rebranding announcement date.

## Links

- Website: https://jackjay.io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-jay-jackson-jesionowski/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/jackjayio
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prophetmode/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jackson-jesionowski
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21