Gary Sheng & Peter Han: Business Development Updates and Spiritual Counsel

Date: July 7, 2025
Format: In-person coffee meeting
Context: Strategic catch-up covering Gary's recent business developments, relationship management challenges, and spiritual counsel

Major Business Development Update

Multi-Billionaire Opportunity with Lael Alexander

Significant Financial Opportunity: Gary reported a major development where Lael Alexander has been presented with a substantial profit-sharing deal:

"Basically, he's like multi-billionaire. Cooled a bunch of money... In exchange for profit share. So, apparently that's after a few weeks. Well, they had been vetting that opportunity for a year and a half."

Validation Process: The opportunity has undergone extensive vetting over 18 months, indicating serious due diligence and legitimate potential.

Celebration Plans:

"And when we're done, that's... They want to do a celebratory, like, universal studios trip. I'm trying to decide how hard I'm going to go to that Wednesday."

Gary's Positioning: Gary positioned himself as integral to supporting Lael through this opportunity, demonstrating his strategic partnership role.

Alpha Schools Internal Politics

Jewish Day School Deal Sabotage: Gary revealed significant internal conflict at Alpha Schools:

"It was my connection that brought in a Jewish day's rules opportunity. Basically, the New York Jewish community, the sales guy tries to cut me and Ron out of the deal that I brought in."

Organizational Dysfunction: Gary described Alpha's internal power struggles and unstable contractor relationships:

"You got here, you got an initial 30-day contract and then you got enough of the beer. Which is annoying because it's not stable. The internal power business is insane."

Strategic Response: Gary and Ron Roberts maintained their position despite attempts to marginalize them from deals they originated.

Relationship Management Strategy with Lael Alexander

Feedback Dynamics Challenge

Trust Issues Recognition: Gary acknowledged Lael's difficulty accepting feedback:

"his trust issues is why he has almost no one around him, besides his wife, and like, of any something you're all venture."

Stepdaughter's Insight: Gary learned about Lael's feedback sensitivity through family members:

"So I was talking to his stepdaughter. And we were talking about how hard it means... How hard it is to give her step daddy a lot of people back because they take it personally."

Practical Example: Gary used a household hygiene issue to illustrate the feedback challenge:

"Like for example, this one carpet in the house smell like catfish that is catfish hot. And they dealt with the issue, but not before getting frustrated at the person calling up the basic screws that is for the catfish."

Peter's "Relational Jiu-Jitsu" Counsel

Indirect Communication Strategy: Peter shared his approach to managing sensitive powerful personalities:

"If I have to be direct with him, I have to be in direct. It's the only way I can, right? And he gets it eventually, and I will plant seeds that make it seem like it's his idea, and so that I don't care if he takes all the credit."

Meeting People Where They Are: Peter emphasized adaptive communication:

"Because I happen to need him where he is, and I know he brings something he can like and not. And I know that I need to look in well by communicating, even though it's in the opposite of India, for me."

Gradual Boundary Setting: Peter described his years-long process of establishing directness:

"But it took me years to get to that point... But you can always work."

Option-Based Approach: Peter recommended giving controlled choices:

"Give him like two or three options. So he gives him the perception of forcing agency, right? That, hey, I'm still the one needing this. You're just observing... And anyone knows the entries as well, or you don't give in the fourth choice, which is a bad choice."

Gary's Assessment of Lael's Values

Character Over Competence: Gary recognized Lael's hiring philosophy:

"He has, like, and I respect it because I'm benefiting from that way of deciding who to work with because he likes... Soulful, loyal people, not necessarily people that have the best technical skills."

Cultural Fit Priority: Gary understood the importance of patience in team building:

"So I think it's just a matter of a lot of the ongoing challenge will just be finding really great people that match the culture too. I just don't think that that could be rushed."

Strategic Counsel on Capital Deployment

Peter's Capital Management Philosophy

Staged Investment Approach: Peter emphasized gradual financial commitment:

"Go, whatever, 100 grand a month for six months and then you have to meet these things. You have very good lines and it doesn't work then. If I walk away, it's better than if I said here's 10 million bucks."

Relationship Preservation: Peter highlighted the importance of structured agreements:

"Where I say 9 million bucks and let's figure it out. And then a year later, like sorry, we're not going to support you anymore than the relationship that's lost you."

Learning from Alpha's Mistakes: Gary connected Peter's advice to Joe Liemandt's hiring practices:

"Like I think what happens when you It's quickly higher than a bunch of people. I think Alpha has been the perfect thing for me to see before this... because Joe will hire hundreds of people in a month. And most people are completely mediocre and insecure."

Organizational Development Insights

Vision Commitment Problem: Gary and Peter identified fundamental business flaws:

"Because they don't commit to a vision and a plan... They're always looking at each other. How is this going to happen, right?"

Leadership Style Issues: Gary described Joe Liemandt's problematic management approach:

"Here's Joe's men's style. He'll email random tweets to all the engineers, and it's always confusing them about what he wants. He's like, we should do this, we should do that. And then you'll have these engineers pivot from what they started working on to do this thing that he just emailed out."

Schools as Soulful Enterprises: Gary articulated the fundamental mismatch:

"The schools are also just, they have to be such soulful enterprises where you're like humbly evaluating the health of the human system. And that is not the right thing for you or me. It's almost the exact opposite of what you want."

T'rumah and Individual Giving Discussion

Gary's T'rumah Teaching

Individual vs. Institutional Giving: Gary shared his recent writing on biblical giving principles, emphasizing support for individuals rather than just institutions.

Peter's Validation: Peter confirmed his similar approach:

"No, this is exactly what I did... Feeding goes to individuals or families. And that's people I make and they'll tell me how I make it."

Practical Application: Both emphasized the importance of direct, personal giving relationships over institutional anonymity.

Strategic Positioning and Testing

Gary's Direct Approach: Gary described his willingness to speak truth to power:

"I'm not afraid to call out that his kids are lazy as shit and say that... His kids are lazy as shit and he appreciates me calling it up."

Mutual Testing Dynamic: Peter emphasized the reciprocal nature of powerful relationships:

"But it's also you testing him... And if you're talking to me, you would say, Peter, I disagree with what you're doing."

Balance of Respect and Honesty: Gary demonstrated understanding of appropriate boundaries while maintaining truth-telling:

"In all the being respectful, in the guest room, none of it, and you know, everything. All of it matters."

Spiritual and Denominational Discussion

Trinity Communication Patterns

Different Divine Voices: Gary and Peter discussed varying experiences of divine communication:

"We also talked about the difference between the voice of the Holy Spirit, God, and Sorry, the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus. Those are often different voices, different people."

Gary's Spiritual Sensitivity: Gary identified as primarily feeling the Holy Spirit:

"I talked about how I'm a feeler, I feel the Spirit, and so I assume that it's Holy Spirit."

Denominational Strategy

Church Selection Principle:

"We also talked a bit about the fact that the best church that you should go to is the one that you feel called to go to."

Fruit Across Denominations: Recognition that effective ministry exists across various Christian traditions:

"And that there's great fruit in all the denominations, even if some of the denominations came from basically political power, like the Catholic Church."

Gary's Interfaith Positioning

Strategic Relationship Building: Gary described his approach to different denominational communities:

"It's an honor to be... For example, in the Latter-day Saint community, one of the twelve disciples of Joseph Smith, her family, wants me to join. It's an honor, right?"

Threading the Needle: Gary explained his careful communication strategy:

"And so I basically was like, thanks for the feedback, while knowing like the reason why non-denominational churches, the Latter-day Saints, Catholics, blah, blah, Baptists, all are repeating me, is because I know how to thread that needle."

Cultural and Racial Strategy Discussion

Audience Recognition

Influential vs. Struggling Communities: Gary articulated his strategic focus:

"I know who my audience is. It's very influential people in America. Very influential people. Sorry to say this, poor, struggling, black people. It's not my audience."

Direct Engagement Strategy: Gary distinguished between written and personal communication:

"It's the in-person conversations with them. Gotta let them know that I am in solidarity with them."

Reparations Philosophy

Competence-Based Approach: Gary outlined his strategic perspective on racial progress:

"I think the smart way to do reparations is to be a very competent black guy. That saves an incompetent white guy. That has a lot of votes."

Symbolic Value: Gary emphasized the poetic justice of his relationship with certain partners:

"I think it's poetic, it's symbolic and beautiful. The young black guy is saving an entitled, delusional white billionaire."

Strategic vs. Adversarial Energy: Gary distinguished his approach from traditional activism:

"I believe that one of the greatest ways to get your people paid is to be way more strategic and thoughtful than the powers that be. And that's just a fundamentally different energy than trying to claw back."

Network Access and Influence

Elite Connections

Diverse Influential Network: Gary shared examples of his expanding access:

"Like I met Ted Cruz the other day. I was hanging out with the creative directors of all the main white Austin podcasts, holiday, Andrew Huberman, all in a podcast."

Strategic Positioning: Gary recognized his unique position:

"I'm so adjacent to all these people. God has put me in such an interesting position."

Faith Foundation for Civilization

Christ-Centered Future Vision: Gary articulated his core conviction:

"I really just feel like Christianity, I'm not talking about Christianity, I'm not talking about the Catholic Church. I'm talking about Christ and His teachings feel so timeless. And I think that it's hard for me to imagine. It's a healthy future civilization that is not rooted in, essentially, Christ deep in it."

Secular Alternatives Assessment: Gary dismissed non-Christian approaches:

"And I've seen it all, I've seen projects where they're like, will basically be appreciated except without Christ. I don't think that works."

Holy Spirit Necessity: Gary emphasized spiritual foundation:

"I think you need the Holy Spirit. I don't think that you need to be fearful of a bishop."

Communication Strategy and Feedback

Peter's Response to Criticism

Boundaries with Critics: Peter demonstrated mature boundary setting:

"The response to you is right now, which is, I appreciate the feedback period, right? I'm not going to change, I'm not going to buff, and honestly you're going to ignore anything else that you say."

Peaceful Disengagement: Gary endorsed avoiding unproductive conflicts:

"I think the smart ones know why you didn't respond. My life has gone a lot more peaceful. The last, even last few weeks, because I stopped starting conversations that were not going to happen."

Strategic Communication Principles

Courage to Be Disliked: Gary emphasized the importance of authentic expression:

"I think the courage to be disliked is fundamental to anything valuable."

Credibility Through Experience: Gary positioned his evangelistic effectiveness:

"I'm a great evangelist because I've explored every other option."

Strategic Patience: Both emphasized the importance of timing and relationship building over immediate confrontation.

Strategic Implications

Relationship Management Excellence

• Gary and Peter demonstrated sophisticated understanding of managing powerful, sensitive personalities
• Emphasis on long-term relationship building over short-term wins
• Recognition of the importance of cultural fit in high-stakes partnerships

Capital and Influence Stewardship

• Clear frameworks for staged investment and relationship preservation
• Understanding of the difference between competence and character in team building
• Strategic approach to deploying resources effectively

Spiritual Business Integration

• Practical application of Christian principles to business relationships
• Recognition of divine guidance in strategic decision-making
• Balance between spiritual conviction and strategic communication

Notes

This conversation reveals Gary's continued maturation as a strategic operator, combining Peter's counsel on relationship management with his own growing experience in high-stakes partnerships. The discussion demonstrates sophisticated integration of spiritual principles with practical business strategy, particularly in managing the Lael Alexander relationship and navigating Alpha Schools politics. Both participants show deep understanding of power dynamics, communication strategy, and the importance of character-based partnerships in building sustainable enterprises.