NYC Strategic Discussion - May 18, 2025

Overview

This conversation took place at a restaurant in New York City between Gary Sheng, Ron Roberts, T'ziah Wood-Smith, and Nick Porter. The wide-ranging discussion covered Alpha Schools' educational model, urban planning initiatives, strategic partnerships, AI and technology implications, and multiple potential collaborations including government contracts, faith-based initiatives, and entertainment ventures. The meeting served as both a relationship-building opportunity and a strategic exploration of potential synergies.

Key Topics

Alpha Schools Model & Philosophy

Gary provided a comprehensive overview of Alpha's educational approach:

Gary: "We are trying to replace teachers with AIs to learn the foundational, common core curriculum knowledge, but then they spend the whole rest of their day pursuing their passions and, you know, as fast as they can getting what we call at the boundary of knowledge."

On the core technology:

Ron: "Basically, it's an adaptive learning product that consolidates an eight-hour learning experience to two hours. It basically adapts to whatever your learning style is. The objective is obviously learn this, the pathway to it doesn't really matter. It's totally personalized."

On the impact this has on students' time:

Ron: "That product is the core product that allows kids to have the rest of the six hours to do project-based curriculum."

Gary emphasized the goal of creating pioneers rather than followers:

Gary: "So if you're going to create a fashion line, you should create a fashion line that's a net new addition to the fashion world. You shouldn't create some bullshit that no one's going to buy."

New York School Launch

The conversation addressed the imminent launch of an Alpha School in New York:

Nick: "So school in, you said the fall, is it September, October this year?"

Gary: "September, like 20, 25 kids. Pilot. Pilot year."

On the target demographic for early adoption:

Ron: "Out of the 15 [students still needed], one of the parents would be, like, a famous person... So, basically, we need, like, one of those, and I think the other one is, like, entrepreneurial..."

Gary explained the value proposition for high-profile families:

Gary: "Part of the selling point that we won't put on a website, but it's just the reality, is that we will do, the school, like, Joe Lamont, and his whole net, he will mobilize his whole network to make sure that the early students, especially high profile kids, high profile kids are incredibly successful."

Central City Digital Twin Project

Nick Porter described his work on creating a digital twin for a Colorado municipality:

Nick: "I mean, we have a digital twin. We're looking to make and continue to update it. We'd like it to be a living, breathing brain for the city. We have a drone capture platform to make some maintenance and pay for expansion of our model and creating 3D models. More cost-effective and faster."

On potential applications in education:

Nick: "We could have more project-based curriculum where it's like, give the kids the keys. They have curiosity."

Gary immediately saw the connection to Alpha's approach:

Gary: "I want kids in Central City to have the opportunity to literally get high school credit for helping you build your municipality. That should be a thing if they're passionate about city planning."

First Step Act & Government Contracts

Gary described a significant opportunity with the First Step Act:

Gary: "The first step back, right, that the Trump passed 2021 bipartisan, it was a big press release, nothing happened. You know why? Because they couldn't find executors of it."

On why this presents an opportunity for Alpha:

Gary: "And so you need a really great technologist and educational theorists, everything. It's like, hmm, wonder who has them. And so we may win a huge government contract to fill that gap."

The potential impact:

Gary: "And we may, from within two months of any of us being part of the ecosystem, bring in millions of dollars of revenue into the alpha ecosystem. And we're just going to rinse and repeat. And that's annual recurring, that's recurring, right?"

Faith-Based Initiatives & God Wave Festival

Gary shared his vision for a massive Christian music festival:

Gary: "I've had a dream of creating the largest revivalist music festival ever. Certainly the most impactful. By virtue of having a documentary about it. That comes out right after. That a billion people see... It's called the God Wave Festival."

On the strategic approach:

Gary: "And strategically, it's trans-denominational. It's all Christian, but it's trans-denominational because... I think it's important that we get the core of it really strong. It's about love and unity."

Gary explained how this connects to other initiatives:

Gary: "All these products do relate in the sense that knowing Christian billionaires that care about the future is valuable no matter what. They're all synergistic. And those same billionaires that would want to fund this festival would want to create the best faith-based schools in the world."

America's 250th Anniversary Initiative

Gary described an opportunity with America's upcoming anniversary:

Gary: "The 250th anniversary commission that Biden created is just full of useless bureaucrats that have made zero progress on planning the 250th anniversary celebration for America. It's happening in 13 months."

His plan to capitalize on this:

Gary: "And so what I'm trying to do is to get Trump to basically endorse a shadow commission or an alternate commission. And there doesn't even need to be any federal funding for it."

On the funding potential:

Gary: "Literally like, oh, they're about to die. Do I want to be a founding father of the future of America? Oh, yeah. And oh, you're saying it's also a business that could be in charge of all the patriotic, futuristic events related to America? Yeah, definitely."

Technology & Human Connection

Nick expressed his philosophy about technology:

Nick: "Passionate about the intersection of technology and how it makes us more human. I think a lot of social media, everything is kind of these domino highways that take us, kind of isolate us from ourselves. So any way in which technology can foster more connection, foster internal alignment with yourself, that's something that's what I'm passionate about."

Gary expanded on how AI is changing productivity and education:

Gary: "So teaching kids like in elementary school age how to leverage AI to be just higher leverage, save their friends time... Learning to value your time is something that that's the most important thing to like learn to value your time and leverage."

Relationships & Building Trust

T'ziah provided insights on the importance of timing in relationships:

T'ziah: "Maybe it's not that moment. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Maybe you meet somebody, there's been times where, like, I've gotten older now being at 32, and I'm pretty sure you've had this moment. I've met people back when I was 20, 23, 24, 18, 16, 17, even younger than that, and that was a different space in my life."

On leveraging past connections with current credibility:

T'ziah: "But my character as a person, now that I'm in this space in my life, you know what I'm saying, to meet people like yourself, having the conversations that we're having, now I can go back to some of those people and say, hey, look, let's tap in."

Ron Roberts' Background

Ron shared his personal journey:

Ron: "So, yeah, I'm from Compton, born and raised. I started off in policy, doing poverty alleviation work. My dad was a pastor, and he used to take me down to the Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row every Thursday. I was the kid with all the ideas. They started taking my ideas more seriously. They gave me a board seat when I was 13."

On his education and early career:

Ron: "I went through private, Catholic, public, Montessori, every type of rigmarole. Nothing really fit for me. Hence, I dropped out of high school after my sophomore year... Got a job at, like, Whole Foods, my first, like, WeBop. On the weekends, I was volunteering in the projects in Watts."

His transition to entertainment:

Ron: "That got me connected with Scooter Bra. When I was, like, 18, just had turned 18, I got hired at some projects on the foundation side. And I was helping do some engagement strategy for, like, Ariana, Justin, and all these other people on roster."

Key Relationships Referenced

• Joe Lamont: Described as having significant network power within Alpha Schools
• Mackenzie Price: Mentioned as Alpha's founder who "has met with 150 billionaires over the past two years"
• Paula White: Referenced as head of Trump's faith office
• Peter Truby: Mentioned as being connected to the Daniels Foundation in Colorado
• Scooter Braun: Referenced in Ron's background as someone he worked with
• Tom Fisher: Mentioned in context of Basis Schools and contracts
• Kanye West: Referenced regarding Sunday Service and Ron's childhood connections
• Rich the Kid: Mentioned as someone Nick previously worked with

Potential Collaborations Discussed

1. Alpha Schools NY Launch: Seeking high-profile parents for the initial 25-student cohort
2. Central City Educational Partnerships: Potential for project-based learning within Nick's digital twin initiative
3. First Step Act Implementation: Using Alpha's technology to fulfill the unfulfilled mandate
4. God Wave Festival: Christian music festival with documentary component
5. America's 250th Anniversary: Creating an alternate commission for planning celebrations
6. Colorado Educational Connections: Potential introductions to the Daniels Foundation
7. June 14th Parents Day: Invitation for Nick and T'ziah to attend Alpha's event in Austin

Action Items

• Ron to be fully onboarded into Alpha Schools ecosystem
• Potential connection to Daniels Foundation through Nick Porter
• Exploration of Nick's digital twin technology for educational applications
• Consideration of T'ziah and Nick's networks for high-profile parent recruitment in New York
• Invitation for Nick and T'ziah to attend the June 14th Parents Day in Austin

Location Context

The conversation took place at a restaurant in New York City, with food and drinks being ordered throughout. The setting was casual but focused, with occasional interruptions from waitstaff taking orders.