Call Summary: Career Transitions and SF Community Building

Overview

A reconnection call between Gary and Melissa Turner, who first met at Edge City Denver in March 2024. The conversation covered Gary's recent AI bootcamp experience, spiritual sabbatical and baptism, job search considerations, and Melissa's experiences at Daylight Computer and living in San Francisco's emerging community spaces. Both discussed the challenges of authentic community building in tech-centric environments and the future of real spaces versus digital interactions.

Key Topics Discussed (from Gary's perspective)

Gary's Life Updates and Spiritual Journey

• AI Bootcamp Experience: Completed three-month AI-first coding bootcamp early 2025, graduated among top of class, got recruited by several companies
• Education Company Experience: Joined education company that "wasn't the right fit" due to leadership issues and ethical concerns around youth-focused hyperscaling
• Spiritual Sabbatical: Spent last three months on spiritual sabbatical, finally got baptized, found "good spiritual covering"
• Career Uncertainty: Currently exploring ecosystem Dev Rel community roles in tech space, some people wanting to start new ventures together
• Vatican Project Background: Previous involvement with digital transformation initiative for Pope Francis that stalled due to his illness and internal politics
• Tulsa Project Issues: Was lined up to work with "brilliant scientist" in Tulsa but discovered "spiritual problems" - scientist took money from "Mammon Fund" and is now being sued
• White House Faith Event: Invited to faith office event at White House, spoke about AI at faith conference
• Portfolio Development: Currently updating portfolio materials to help people understand his diverse background

Family and Personal Challenges

• Parents' Materialist Perspective: Visiting parents in Vegas who have "zero faith" worldview, father suffering from lack of spirituality and unforgiveness
• Family Dynamics in China: Father's ongoing conflict with sister who lives with aging mother, creating family stress
• Generational Patterns: Observing how materialism without spiritual foundation leads to bitterness and focusing on negative aspects
• Mission Motivation: Feeling motivated to ease parents' worries about his career while eventually introducing spiritual conversations

Melissa's SF Experience and Daylight Computer Challenges

Professional Situation at Daylight Computer

• Company Pivot Concerns: Daylight Computer pivoting to "Daylight Kids" targeting homeschool market with $800 tablets, going after red states with education voucher programs
• Ethical Concerns: "It's almost like we're trying to sell snake oil to, like, some wholesome people" - selling expensive technology to desperate parents
• Leadership Issues: Anjan (CEO) has "no concept" of target market, "no kid in his life," not around children, focused on health benefits marketing
• Brand Degradation: "We're just getting weirder and weirder and becoming more of a cult company" due to failed mainstream marketing
• Mormon Market Focus: Targeting Mormon communities in Utah, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana through conferences
• Crisis Management: Recently handled office arson fire, coordinated building evacuation, dealt with landlord and insurance companies

Living Situation and Nautilus Community

• Nautilus House: Living with Rebecca in loft space run by Zelda Poem's "young polymath accelerator"
• Community Dynamics: Shares space with Neil (popular Indian community connector) and hosts figures like Tyler Cowan for dinner
• Zelda's Limitations: Founder is "pretty inexperienced and pretty young," operates with opacity, "wants to do this hero's journey on her own"
• Grateful Decision: "Really glad I did not leave Daylight to be in this situation with Zelda, because I would have been totally sunk"
• Authentic Space Creation: Despite challenges, the space creates environment where "people can come in and feel like they can actually just land and be there"

San Francisco Culture and Community Analysis

Money as Religion and Status Hierarchies

• Core Observation: "Money is a religion here. Actually, it's more so" than tech being the religion
• Suffocating Hierarchies: Money worship "creates these suffocating hierarchies that kill soulfulness"
• Social Climbing Energy: Constant evaluation of "who should you have at an event? It's basically the richest possible person working on the highest status thing"
• Members Only Culture: "It's like a members only club everywhere you look" with constant status evaluation

The Future of Real Spaces and Authentic Community

• Real Spaces Renaissance: "People love real spaces more than they have in the last, like, 15 years"
• Cafe with Redwood Tree: Example of meaningful investment in long-term SF vision - warehouse cafe with redwood tree planted through roof
• Instant Neighborhood Effect: New authentic spaces becoming "magnets" creating "pilgrimage" experiences
• Post-Internet Reality: "Even though we all live on the Internet, we're kind of post Internet in some ways. We still have stuff work to do here in this reality"
• IDEs in Real World: Vision for "computing environment that is in the world where people can be doing their day to day without having to always just tie into a phone"

SF as Sophistication Laboratory

• Rapid Sophistication: SF as "weird bubble of a place that's growing and changing very fast"
• Innovation on Sophistication: "You can innovate on sophistication in those types of ways. I don't think you can do that as much in other cities"
• HF0 Mansion Acquisition: Bought Victorian mansion (Chateau Tivoli) for next group of residents, expanding globally
• Bi-coastal Life: "A lot of people are bi coastal now. They're living in New York and in SF like, half of the month here, half of the month there"

Job Market and AI Filtering Challenges

• AI Application Screening: "They're using AI to evaluate everyone's applications and you can just be filtered out without any sort of human consideration"
• Category-Based Rejection: "If you don't fit in a certain category, then you're immediately ejected"
• Professional Types Struggling: "I see a lot of people I know struggling, trying to get jobs here, and they're like, real professional types"
• Age and Flexibility Issues: Older professionals "probably too much in your own way, and you're not willing to bend as much as they want"
• In-Person Advantage: "In person experience is obviously the best" for demonstrating value beyond filtered applications

Spiritual Community and Church Scene in SF

Epic Church and Tech Leader Attendance

• Location: Near South Park Commons, close to Melissa's residence
• Notable Attendees: Gary (Weiss CEO), Emmet Sher, some people from New York
• Christian-Techno Integration: "Probably in on this, like, Christian centric techno future conversation"
• Strategic Positioning: "A lot of big players are over there. So I don't think that's by accident"

Future of Church and Technology

• New Church Movement: "The new church actually could be the next wave" coinciding with AI and robotics
• Human Decentralization: AI and robotics forcing questions about what it means to be human
• Western Christianity: "Church of Tomorrow is going to look a lot more like a technology foundational" approach
• Spiritual Exploration Sites: People building new venues for exploring spirituality and human meaning

Community Building Philosophy and Vision

Craving for Authentic Experiences

• Core Human Need: "People are craving something that they have a really difficult time building themselves"
• Real Experiences: Need for "real experiences, these real environments, these real magical comings together of people"
• Church-Like Functionality: Spaces that provide "home, a place of home" like "church on a Sunday"
• Tribe to Commons Evolution: Building "small tribes" and "turning those tribes into commons"

Antidote to Soulless Institutions

• Problem Recognition: "So many soulless institutions and buildings and communities that are really grifting"
• Technology + Humanity: "We're interested in technology, but we also wanna build a better future for humanity and for civilization in general"
• Funding Opportunity: "People are probably gonna be more so willing to fund that in the next year" despite AI/robotics changes

Key Quotes

On Career and Personal Philosophy

"I'm either all in or I'm not in. And if I'm not in, then I feel very, like, challenged and bored and like almost, like, desperate in a sense." - Melissa on work engagement

"I really try to do is not get into a spirit of fear or despair about not being exactly where from an outside perspective you'd be like, oh, this is a great place to be." - Gary on managing life transitions

On SF Culture and Community

"Money is a religion here. Actually, it's more so." - Melissa on SF culture

"People love real spaces more than they have in the last, like, 15 years." - Melissa on community trends

"People are craving something that they have a really difficult time building themselves... these real experiences, these real environments, these real magical comings together of people." - Melissa on human needs

On Technology and Humanity

"Even though we all live on the Internet, we're kind of post Internet in some ways. We still have stuff work to do here in this reality." - Melissa on technology's role

"Those questions of what it means to be human are kind of at the center of a wound. Or maybe just a new opening into how we see our own existence." - Melissa on AI's impact

On Future Collaboration

"I feel like San Francisco needs Gary Sheng." - Melissa's assessment

"We might have a weekly dinner club together." - Potential collaboration if Gary moves to SF

Action Items / Takeaways

Immediate Opportunities

• SF Job Applications: Gary exploring multiple opportunities in SF that align with community building focus
• Weekly Dinner Club: Potential collaboration if Gary relocates to San Francisco
• Church Exploration: Gary planning to check out Epic Church service (10:30 or noon options)
• Community Integration: Melissa positioned to facilitate Gary's introduction to authentic SF community building scene

Strategic Insights

• Real Spaces Investment: Growing market opportunity for authentic community spaces as alternative to status-driven environments
• Faith-Tech Integration: Epic Church as example of successful integration of spiritual community with tech leadership
• AI Job Market Navigation: Need for in-person networking and relationship building to bypass AI filtering systems
• Community Building Demand: Increasing hunger for authentic experiences and real connections in tech-saturated environment

Personal Development

• Spiritual Foundation: Gary's recent baptism and spiritual sabbatical providing grounding for next career phase
• Family Dynamics: Gary's awareness of parents' materialist limitations informing his approach to career decisions
• Authentic Community: Both Gary and Melissa aligned on importance of soulful community building over status-driven networking

Ministry Philosophy and Spiritual Context

Gary's Spiritual Evolution

• Recent Baptism: Significant spiritual milestone during three-month sabbatical
• Faith-Work Integration: Vision for "secular work to be funding missionary work" as basic model
• Global Perspective: Interest in international ministry opportunities while maintaining practical career foundation
• Family Evangelism: Strategic approach to introducing spiritual conversations with materialist parents

Community as Ministry

• Church Alternative: Recognition that authentic community spaces can serve spiritual needs
• Technology as Tool: Understanding AI and robotics as forcing deeper questions about human meaning and purpose
• Real Presence: Emphasis on physical gathering and authentic relationship as antidote to digital isolation

Business Model Discussion

Daylight Computer Case Study

• Market Misalignment: Example of tech company failing to understand target market (homeschool families)
• Ethical Concerns: Pricing and marketing strategies that exploit desperate parents seeking educational solutions
• Leadership Disconnect: Founder's lack of understanding about children and education market
• Brand Degradation: How failed mainstream strategies lead to targeting fringe markets

SF Community Economics

• Real Estate Investment: Authentic spaces requiring significant upfront investment but creating lasting value
• Network Effects: Quality community spaces attracting high-value individuals and creating ecosystem benefits
• Status vs. Substance: Tension between signaling-based economy and authentic value creation

This conversation revealed both Gary and Melissa's sophisticated understanding of the challenges facing authentic community building in tech-centric environments, while highlighting significant opportunities for collaboration in creating spaces and experiences that prioritize human connection over status signaling.