Letter to John Montague: Holding Company Legal Guidance Request
Date: November 20, 2025
To: John Montague
From: Gary Sheng
Re: Partnership Structure and Legal Support
John,
First, I just wanted to say I miss you. I love you. When I reflect on the people I love and respect, you are genuinely one of my favorite people in the world. I could never say that enough about the people in your life. Life is short. Life is beautiful. Ideally, all of us reunite in heaven when our time's up. But nonetheless, I wanted to express my love for you, brother, and to say thank you for being in my life.
The Ask
I wanted to get a sanity check from you about starting a holding company. I don't know if that's the right term, but something like a holding company structure for an equal business partnership I'm entering.
The Business Model:
- Consulting for startups and getting equity in those startups
- Spinning out individual sub-businesses that the holding company owns
I'm curious if you've seen anyone do this before, and if you have any thoughts on the structure.
The Partnership
Long story short, my partner's name is Brenda Gentry. Her nickname is Crypto Mom. We have an unconventional reason for doing business together. It's really a spiritual connection I have with her, which makes it a bit unusual. But it could also be the source of a powerful long-term partnership in a way I haven't experienced before.
You know, I've had a lot of false starts. The longest business partnership I've had is three years with Civics Unplugged. I want to go way longer than that.
Logistics
Legal Residences:
- Brenda is based in Texas
- My legal residence is Vegas, but it's flexible
I think it might make sense for the company to be based in Texas unless there's a good reason to be somewhere else. Would appreciate your perspective here.
Immediate Needs
I know we're going to want legal help on whatever deals we pursue. We currently have an opportunity to take a pretty significant stake in a deepfake detection startup, and I'd want to get that contract going as well.
So yeah, man, I'd really love your thoughts on:
- The holding company idea with an equal business partner
- If you think it's reasonable
- Your help setting up the legal structure, if you're open to it
Your advice and support mean so much to me. I'm happy to get on a call literally whenever works for you.
I appreciate you so much.
All my love,
Gary