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2025-06-12: Austin Hangout - Alpha Schools China Strategy

Executive Summary​

Extensive strategic planning session in Austin between Gary Sheng and the AlexEd team (Lina Lu, Ari Crane, Sherman Taylor) regarding Alpha Schools expansion to China. The conversation revealed significant opportunities for revolutionary educational innovation, high-level Chinese government connections, and potential for creating a new paradigm in international education collaboration.

Key Participants​

Lina Lu - Chinese investor representative, Shanghai resident, AlexEd partner evaluating Alpha Schools for Chinese market Sherman Taylor (Allen Zhou / 周艾伦) - AlexEd co-founder with Chinese government connections, education innovator
Ari Crane - AlexEd partner, rare music collector, government contracts expert Gary Sheng - Alpha Schools consultant, education visionary focused on China-US collaboration

Major Strategic Developments​

Chinese Government Access​

Sherman Taylor revealed unprecedented access to Chinese leadership:

"We reached out to, his name is Mr. Wu. He's the mayor of Pudong... it's been rumored for the last six months that he will become the next leader of China... after meeting the mayor on the spot said we will give you the education license. Right on the spot. He said, we like the idea. Why don't you? It's yours."

Key Quote on Government Support:

"Chinese investors just appeared... once we got verification of the license, Chinese investors just appeared. But we just started saying, okay, we can budget this amount. We can budget this amount."

Educational Market Analysis​

Lina Lu provided crucial insights into Chinese education landscape:

"International education in China is massive. There's three different kinds of schools... the problem is, although there's so many schools, they only follow three types of curriculum. That being the IB, AP, and then the British curriculum."

Core Problem Identified:

"When the students are graduating and going to college, they can't get jobs... So we have a growing unemployment."

Gary's Revolutionary Vision​

Gary articulated a transformative approach to education:

"What Alpha has right now is basically... What Joe has done... The billionaire Joe. What he has done is basically create a school in his image. He is a sales guy. He is a communicator... But in terms of actually helping China create more astronauts... And people that can engineer rockets... Without Dr. Alexander's help, it's completely hopeless."

On First Principles Approach:

"I don't think there's a need to... from Dallas 6 hours from Dallas, 9 hours from here there's no utility... We're starting from the first principles... Dr. Alexander wrote a book on every periodic table of the elements because everything is broken the way that we teach science everything is broken."

Dr. Alexander Integration Strategy​

Gary emphasized the critical importance of Dr. Alexander:

"Dr. Alexander has... He was the non-Chinese person most responsible for helping China... Shenzhen go from a fishing village into Shenzhen. He literally carved his name in buildings. L-A-A. In Shenzhen, in Net Valley."

Capabilities:

"He has the intelligence to absolutely help any country build its talent foundation that's hugely missing right now. Including China. He has a huge debt of gratitude to pay."

Innovative School Design Concepts​

Selection Process​

"You need super geniuses at the very highest level... A giant nationwide co-opetition that just basically creates a culture around taking responsibility for China's future you take the best and then also through a lot of IQ test and social test etc you select 24 future Mr. Wu's and future Lyle Alexander future Deepsea."

Apprenticeship Model​

"Imagine there was 36 super brilliant 15, 16, 17, 18-year-olds... We were able to get 8 to 10 super genius inventors to literally live right next to the pool. And take on 2 or 3 apprentices each, right?"

Media Strategy​

"That is the docu-reality show and I've actually conceptualized a new kind of TV called activation TV... you film a segment over the course of a week, you quickly edit it you put it out, there's calls to action where you can support all the kids in their projects."

International Collaboration Framework​

China-US Bridge Building​

Gary positioned education as diplomatic tool:

"My view is that schools are one of the best ways to build peace... NASA is working on a project to unblock 187 blockers to a city on the moon. And I have not shared this with NASA. But I think that the U.S. and China should build a city on the moon together."

Sherman's Perspective:

"Mr. Wu. This is an alternative motive. That he wants to create an environment in his area to show that the United States and Pudong collaborate."

Cultural Initiatives​

Gary outlined ambitious cultural collaboration:

"One of the greatest weaknesses of of China is that it doesn't have something as equivalent of K-pop... I can tell you how underappreciated the most genius black creatives are in America and how they would love the opportunity to help build... help engineer a new sound... help engineer a new sound yes but also create Wakanda in China."

Financial Structure & Scale​

Investment Framework​

Sherman revealed significant financial backing:

"One of our investors is willing to pay the full cost of the school. We have zero payment. But they want 20% of student revenue until the full payment is approved."

Market Opportunity​

"If we came in and said we can add 400 students, that is 3x on what we already have... Year 2, probably by Alpha... $56 billion."

Technology & Curriculum Innovation​

AI Development Strategy​

Ari emphasized independence:

"If you build it yourself you're not beholden to anybody... We should develop our own AI."

Gary's Assessment of Alpha:

"I literally found out about it yesterday oh, really?... Every time I've stopped asking but they send me this long of a thing of why they can't show me I'm not an outsider I'm literally trying to help them they can give you it's just not that helpful right it's not that helpful to see random videos of students it's not impressive."

First Principles Curriculum​

"The fastest path to teach a kid how to contribute genuinely to bleeding-edge inventions... What is the path for them to be AGI, right?... Artificial General Intelligence."

Cultural and Religious Dimensions​

Values Integration​

Gary discussed incorporating spiritual elements:

"Even though I don't think that this school should be a Christian school it should have the same values it should teach the heart because you don't want a super genius to be evil."

International Religious Collaboration​

"I think it would be really cool to bring to do something with Pope Leo in Shanghai create a Catholic school we should create a Catholic school with Pope Leo in Shanghai... the Catholic church is the biggest education system in the world it's the biggest medical system in the world."

Implementation Timeline & Next Steps​

Immediate Actions​

  1. Tulsa Visit: Planned trip to meet Dr. Alexander

    "Could we go in July or something? Okay. I would like you, no matter what, no matter whether you do anything with Alpha, I would like to leave you on a trip to Tulsa."

  2. Business Proposal: Due Monday with Wednesday group review

    "We were asked to put together a business proposal... So we're going to submit it on Monday, and then we're going to share that as a group on Wednesday."

  3. Shanghai Summit Planning:

    "You create a summit where you clarify the most ambitious vision possible that starts with one blueprint school but then the idea is for it to have so many satellites and spinoffs."

Critical Strategic Insights​

Alpha Schools Limitations​

Gary provided frank assessment:

"The Alpha brand actually means very little to anyone that's not like overly online on Twitter in the EdTech Twitter... you would be selling other people on that you would be telling every parent oh this matters then you'd get stuck trying to explain why it matters."

Chinese Market Dynamics​

Lina provided crucial parent perspective:

"What I hope my kids can have strong foundation for the world of tomorrow because the world of tomorrow was changing so fast so fast... in Beijing there are different parents they do something in school for their kids themselves. And it's the parents community which is involved to help kids to grow."

Quality vs. Scale Tension​

Sherman emphasized selectivity:

"There was something Alpha said that totally disagreed with... That when he said the way they don't, they're not overly selective on the kids they bring. Where we have to be... Especially starting out as a new business... That's the worst way to start a school."

Personal Connections & Family Context​

Gary's Background​

"I was only born because of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Because my dad, who went to Beidou, got into grad school in LSU, Louisiana State University... Then Tiananmen Square happened. And then George H.W. Bush and Nancy Pelosi, Democrat and Republican, came together to pass the Chinese Student Protection Act."

Lina's Family Situation​

"I have two kids. One, my daughter is 12 years to 20. And my daughter is 15 years old. And my son is 16... When I heard this model I thought they are born too early."

Long-term Vision​

Generational Impact​

"This project is my favorite it's something I've been working toward I built schools for other people now this one's mine."

Global Implications​

Gary articulated the stakes:

"Stagnation is a myth. Stagnation is a myth. You can't just stagnate. It's either going to be very bad or very good. It's either going to be very bad or very, very good."

Key Takeaways​

  1. Unprecedented Access: Sherman Taylor has direct connections to potential next Chinese leader
  2. Market Readiness: Chinese parents and government are desperate for educational innovation
  3. Resource Availability: Significant Chinese investment capital is available for the right opportunity
  4. Vision Alignment: All parties see education as pathway to China-US collaboration and global advancement
  5. Implementation Urgency: Multiple references to limited time and need for immediate action
  6. Quality Imperative: Success depends on creating genuinely revolutionary educational experience, not incremental improvement

Next Actions Identified​

  • Tulsa trip to meet Dr. Alexander
  • Business proposal submission and review
  • Shanghai summit planning with top Chinese innovators
  • Development of independent AI curriculum platform
  • Media strategy for documenting and promoting the educational revolution