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2025-06-16 Yard House Dinner: Shanghai Educational Summit Planning

Date: June 16, 2025
Location: Yard House, The Domain, Austin, TX
Participants: Gary Sheng, Sherman Taylor (Allen Zhou), Lina Lu, Ari Crane
Context: Strategic dinner meeting following the historic AlexEd China Education Founding Team Meeting earlier that day

Key Strategic Developments​

Alexander School Naming Consensus​

Team Decision on School Name:

Sherman/Team: "David will be having a lot of dinners over the next few months... And, our vision is we announce the school at the summit. Yeah, it could be good. We block, we agree, and we launch the school... Dr. Alexander, as a team, we decided it's the Alexander School."

Educational Impact Vision:

Sherman: "That is like the Perry School in Atlanta. The Perry School in Atlanta changed the view of education for elementary level. The Alexander School changed education for all levels of education."

Shanghai Summit Planning (March 2025)​

Timeline and Strategy:

Lina Lu: "The other thing we were discussing is that we all now agree to have that educational summit. But, realistically, it will be like in January. Because that type of event is going to take months to organize, plan, and layout... It will take about three to four months to do that."

Launch Strategy:

Sherman: "We make the announcement. We invite all of the heads of schools from all of China. People from the outside. All its figures. And have a summit."

Timing Adjustment:

Lina Lu: "Launch after Chinese New Year. Whether before or after... So March. It gives us a little flexibility... Yeah, March is nice weather."

Dr. Alexander's Value and Positioning​

Gary's Strategic Assessment:

Gary: "My job is to make sure that he's not poor along the way. Right? So, it just depends to me. I mean, the way I see it is how badly does China want this? Because without Dr. Alexander, it's going to be a lot worse."

Value Proposition:

Gary: "So, if it could be the first soft bridge to becoming approved in China, they would pour money in? We would say no. We would write up the cost. Because... paying him a few million dollars per year is nothing compared to the value that he could bring to society. He's cheap. He's honestly cheap."

China Connection Context:

Gary: "He has a factory there... Over the last few years, yeah."

Religious Integration Strategy​

Soft Approach to Faith Elements:

Sherman: "We didn't have any formal religion lessons, but we did have what we would call... But it wasn't directly under... Also, our guidance counselor may be very strongly okay... So, these were very soft ways for us to meet what the school required of us. But it wasn't so hard that the Chinese government did anything."

Non-Confrontational Framework:

Sherman: "Let's call it the non-dairy version. It's still going to be present, but it's not going to be in your place."

Environmental and Values Integration:

Sherman: "To me, I'm very big into environmental. I'm very big into resourcing, re-resourcing. Integrating technologies that limit our input, our print on the world. Dr. Alexander is the perfect person for that."

Strategic Network and Government Access​

Sherman's Wife's Role​

Extensive Government Integration:

Sherman: "My wife oversees 60 different business units with the American Exchange Association... She oversees all of China. The BUs, the units... And then, she works with the Chinese government to ensure compliancy. So, whenever the government is wanting to change any insurance policies, they will actually go to her to read through the compliances and she will give the thumbs up or thumbs down or tell them how to do it."

Organizational Capabilities:

Sherman: "She says, once we finalize our agreement, we need to have a very detailed, structured plan that clearly establishes everybody's roles and responsibilities, timelines, phases, in order to go from signing and adopting."

Joe Liemandt Assessment and Strategy​

Critical Analysis of Alpha Schools Leadership:

Gary: "I don't think that from what I've heard from you, it's less about the Alpha Technology. It is true that Joe is making himself synonymous with American education. That's the reality, right? The best involvement that he can have is just money. Right. Because honestly, he has bad judgment. Honestly."

Mackenzie Price Background Context:

Gary: "Joe's number three employee, or number two, was Andy Price. Andy Price hired Mackenzie's maiden name... They fucked. Joe didn't fire them. So they forever owed him, essentially. And then Mackenzie, later down the line... Well, soon after married Andy Price. Became Andy Price. Had to pump out some kids."

Educational System Critique:

Gary: "I don't think that he has good product sense, including school design sense."

Alternative Partnership Opportunities​

LDS/Mormon Educational Connections​

Strategic Religious Partnership Assessment:

Gary: "You know who I trust a lot more with the education system? The Latter Day Saints. Honestly. I met with... They are very principled. Good with money. They like money, but they don't covet it. They have great schools that they're building."

China Market Opportunity:

Gary: "I think Mormons are very interesting because they would be very excited to invest in this Alexander school, whatever we call it. Because they're not approved religion in China."

Dr. Alexander's Global Educational Infrastructure​

India Operations Revelation:

Lina Lu: "And what's the ground education program looks like? Tulsa." Gary: "Oh, there's nothing in Tulsa. In which part? In India. There's a whole software engineering camp in India. Like a school." Sherman: "And he created it. He created it? When? Like a few years ago." Gary: "He created the whole thing. He funded it and created the whole thing... I believe it's called Global Institute of Science and Technology."

Training Integration Strategy:

Gary: "He trains the engineers that he needs to hire."

Cultural and Strategic Insights​

Educational Philosophy and Segregation Critique​

Sherman's Boarding School Experience:

Sherman: "I went to a 250-person boarding school. And that was very formative for me. I'm living with a bunch of nerds, right? That love learning and love science and stuff. I think it's important to insulate smart kids from the ignorant masses. I'm serious. You have to create the bubble of curiosity."

University Social Dynamics Analysis:

Sherman: "It's always interesting to me how people self-segregate. So you have the Asian frat. Black frat. Latino frat. Basketball team. Baseball team. Everyone just hangs out with their own little crowd."

China Market Positioning Strategy​

Geographic and Economic Understanding:

Sherman: "Puxi is old school money, Pudong is new school money. You're a leader. I'm a leader? So, we can certainly work."

Personal Transformation and Team Commitment:

Sherman: "Building the school, that was my personal concept story. That still was my dream. But, it's not my dream anymore. It's our dream. And, I'm sharing. I'm willing to give up in order to have a strong team."

International Expansion Framework​

Multi-Country Strategy​

Regional Development Plan:

Lina Lu: "In our plan, Shanghai is the first stop. But there's also Singapore and Malaysia." Sherman: "Probably Singapore. First. This board is based on the Singapore version. Because Singapore is the driver right now in technology."

Government Relations and Compliance​

Regulatory Navigation:

Lina Lu: "Just for the students, please don't over-sanitize because there's government rules. And we will try to vote out Dr. Alexander. But I'm getting disappointed, you know?... You can write the dollars in your list, but you cannot vomit that because of the government rules."

Personal and Cultural Elements​

Family Integration Philosophy​

Team as Family Approach:

Sherman: "Your wife's on the team. Your husband's on the team. Your dogs. Brett, he's on the team."

Travel and Logistics Coordination​

Immediate Travel Plans:

Ari: "We are driving up Thursday morning. We're driving through Tulsa... It's like a three or three and a half hour drive from Dallas up to Tulsa." Gary: "Wait, then you can meet Dr. Alexander in person."

Airport Transportation:

Gary: "Could you drop me off at the airport at like 9?"

Cultural Bridge-Building Through Education​

Food and Social Commentary:

Sherman: "Americans have no subtlety... Americans are low class. They're not like us. We're very refined."

Dating Culture Analysis:

Gary: "The tricky thing about American women right now... Is that... It's like a standoff. Where like... They're... They're not like... Inviting traditional courtship. Because they assume that guys are dicks. But then they only respond to guys that are dicks."

Strategic Takeaways​

  1. Unified Vision: Team consensus on "Alexander School" branding and March 2025 Shanghai summit launch
  2. Government Integration: Sherman's wife provides crucial compliance and regulatory navigation capabilities
  3. Religious Strategy: Soft integration approach balancing faith elements with Chinese regulatory requirements
  4. Value Positioning: Dr. Alexander positioned as irreplaceable asset worth multi-million dollar annual investment
  5. Network Leverage: Multiple pathways including LDS connections and direct Chinese government access
  6. Multi-Regional Expansion: Singapore-first strategy with Malaysia and broader Asian market development
  7. Team Integration: Family-inclusive approach with structured planning and role definition

Next Steps Established​

  1. Gary's Tulsa Visit: Wednesday departure to meet with Dr. Alexander
  2. Detailed Planning: Sherman's wife to develop structured implementation framework
  3. Government Coordination: Continued dinners and relationship building with Chinese officials
  4. Summit Preparation: 3-4 month planning cycle for March 2025 Shanghai educational summit
  5. Team Coordination: Continued integration of all family members and stakeholders into collaborative framework

The dinner represented a crucial transition from initial partnership discussions to concrete implementation planning, with clear timelines, role definitions, and strategic positioning for the Alexander School as a transformational educational model spanning US-China collaboration.