2025-08-03 Matt Holm, Chris Jett, Alina Jett & Gary Sheng - Venue Tour and Business Strategy Discussion

Date: August 3, 2025
Location: Austin, TX - Print Shop venue and surrounding area
Participants: Matt Holm, Chris Jett, Alina Jett, Gary Sheng
Context: Venue tour, business strategy discussions, and social networking

Executive Summary

Gary joined Matt Holm, Chris Jett, and Alina Jett for an extensive venue tour of Matt's expanding Print Shop entertainment complex in downtown Austin. The conversation covered Matt's ambitious block-wide venue expansion plans, Chris's health/wellness technology venture with Dr. George Carlo, Alina's music industry expertise, and Gary's transition from Alpha Schools to manufacturing work in Tulsa. The session revealed significant networking opportunities, business development potential, and Austin's growing entertainment infrastructure.

Matt Holm's Venue Expansion Strategy

Print Shop Overview and Growth

Matt provided comprehensive tour of his entertainment venue, revealing major expansion plans:

"So we've had this for 12 years. This is a mash-up of corporate events, kind of Sunday through Wednesday, Thursday through Saturday, concerts, whatever you need. We've done weddings there. We've done comedy before Joe Rogan opened up his comedy mothership."

Revenue and Scale: "We grossed about $2 million a year on our worst year except for COVID, which we had zero."

Block-Wide Expansion Plans

Strategic Vision: "We are now in the middle of taking half the block. And don't tell any of the servers because they'll run out the door of Vince Young."

Celebrity Chef Integration: "We've got an amazing guy who's really connected with EDM space and gets the whole block, and we'll all play nice in the sandbox."

Festival Space Concept: "The algorithm of this is we create kind of a festival space on this whole block... getting, say, 4,000, 5,000 people out here, and a festival where you can pop into other stuff at the same time on all these clubs."

Technical Infrastructure Development

Sound System Vision: "So the best sound system in Texas, I'm saying. You know, it's going to be really good."

Venue Capacity: "The capacity on this is 1,200. Realistically, probably 800 to 1,000. So it's a missing, kind of mid-sized downtown."

Versatility Strategy: "The cool part is during the week, we could have a TED Talk, and then you have a rave that night. So we can be everything to everybody."

Underground Space (Former Morgue)

Historic Basement Tour: "This was the city morgue from the 1960s... we have another 20,000 square feet that was the city morgue."

Artist Amenities Vision: "This space down here, this is why I envisioned this to be. This is a huge lounge for the artists... big name acts can unload their musicians down on that side. They go down and have a celebrity chef prepared meal in the basement."

After-Party Potential: "Your after party with you and your closest 500 friends can happen throughout the space you're about to see."

Chris Jett's Health & Wellness Technology Venture

Dr. George Carlo Partnership

Expert Credentials: "This guy Dr. George Carlo he's since the 1970s He's been with the Department of Defense MLB, NFL PGA Secrets of Champions, Peak Performance, Human Output He's 40 years of work."

Proven Technology: "All the science is there. It's there, just sitting there. It's never been productized. It's ready to go. It's not like being a startup like, oh I hope this works."

Navy SEALs Application: "Imagine if the Navy SEALs are deploying to Egypt tomorrow there's something they're doing two weeks before so when they land there's no jet lag they're all in flow, everything works this is already deployed."

Business Model and Market Opportunity

Golf Market Entry: "The fastest thing where the Millstein family, they own golf.com they own all the distribution, they own every possible way to take this to market so fucking fast."

Venture Studio Approach: "That's why the Venture Studio is like Fun Venture Studio, it allows me to deploy into, buy a soccer team in Europe, do this on the corporate venture, like for founder burnout, that's a huge thing."

Artist Performance Application: "What you're talking about is human resilience metabolic factors So you'll know before like a VT has a breakdown... these artists for like a few years... Imagine you're a DJ coming from a place in San Francisco and you're flying all the time."

European Soccer Team Investment Strategy

Market Dynamics: "The only place... the number one biggest one Is European soccer It's a pyramid So when you win You go up here, 5x 10x, 50x, 100x."

Performance Advantage: "When I take that with my performance Shit, there is no comparison Because the egos you have to go through In NFL, NBA, MLB None of these guys want to deal with it But when you own the fucking team, this is the protocol And this is what we're doing And I know we'll win."

Community Impact Vision: "The idea On the European soccer team Is to provide In these small towns Like a Ted Lasso, a Wrexham sort of thing... You bring that whole town on that ride."

Alina Jett's Music Industry Expertise

Electronic Music Background

Genre Specialization: "We're like all music... but we are deep into, what is it? Deep House. All the DJs in Ibiza. We're friends with a lot of them directly."

Current Favorites: "I think my favorite at the moment is Camel Fat. That style... They are great producers. They create most of their own music. But seeing them live, they were just here in Austin."

Lee Burrage Appreciation: "Tonight is Lee Burrish, who is an excellent, excellent DJ... He's one of my favorites on the planet."

Venue Naming and Branding Insights

Ministry of Sound Reference: Gary: "What about Ministry of Vibes?" Alina: "I don't love Ministry of Vibes. I'm really good at names. I can think about it a little bit."

Venue Concept Development: "You know, you can name different things. Like if you do something cool downstairs, you can do Sound Lounge. You know, like different plays."

Artist Amenities Understanding: "I also like the idea of a green room downstairs. For the artist or after a special VIP hangout... Because then you can attract good talent. Knowing that they have their little VIP area that just comes with the gig."

Austin Music Scene Integration

Local Venue Knowledge: "Kingdom doors open at 10... At worst, he'll go on at midnight. But he might start sooner because he usually does like four or five hour sets."

Cultural Adaptation: "I mean, I'm not a country fan, but now that I've moved to Austin, I'm starting to warm up. I'm starting to realize that, okay, it's not just the way I thought it was."

Gary's Strategic Transition

Alpha Schools Departure

Ethical Concerns: Gary described feeling constraints with Alpha Schools, leading to his transition away from that work.

Manufacturing Focus: "I'm helping with like factories there... Just because there's so much work to do. I have work."

Geographic Shift: "Leaving in like two days... Tulsa."

Professional Evolution

Education to Manufacturing: Gary outlined his shift from education technology work to hands-on manufacturing initiatives.

Network Leverage: Demonstrated continued ability to connect and facilitate relationships across diverse professional networks.

Strategic Positioning: Maintained role as connector and strategic advisor while transitioning to new focus area.

Key Strategic Themes

Austin Entertainment Infrastructure Development

The conversation revealed Austin's position as emerging entertainment hub with significant infrastructure investment and celebrity involvement across venues.

Technology-Entertainment Convergence

Multiple participants demonstrated integration of technology solutions with entertainment and performance applications.

International Business Opportunities

Chris's European soccer strategy and venue programming partnerships showed global scope of Austin-based ventures.

Network Effects and Collaboration

The gathering itself demonstrated the collaborative nature of Austin's entrepreneurial ecosystem and the value of cross-industry relationship building.

Notable Quotes

Matt on Vision: "This is going to be fun. I love this kind of stuff. I love that space, this space. I love the idea of whatever the basement could be."

Chris on Performance Technology: "My whole thing is to have a team For working with great people Some people do it by themselves I need to do it."

Alina on Music Culture: "As long as it's live. I mean, Metallica, like all of it. Live music."

Gary on Transition: "The billionaire's ability to take feedback. Some people will be more excited to just be along for the ride. I'm just not."

Strategic Outcomes

1. Venue Development: Matt's expansion plans provide significant entertainment infrastructure for Austin's growing scene
2. Technology Integration: Chris's wellness technology offers applications across sports, entertainment, and corporate sectors
3. Cultural Bridge-Building: Alina's music industry connections link NYC electronic scene with Austin's emerging market
4. Network Expansion: Gary's transition while maintaining strategic relationships demonstrates continued value as connector and advisor

Follow-Up Opportunities

• Potential collaboration on venue programming and artist booking through Alina's connections
• Technology integration opportunities between Chris's wellness platform and venue applications
• Continued relationship development as Gary transitions to Tulsa while maintaining Austin presence
• Cross-pollination between entertainment, technology, and manufacturing sectors through established relationships