Call Summary: Pilot Methodology and First Adam Framework

Overview

Extended mentorship call where Mike Ajouz outlined his venture methodology for Gary, emphasizing the "starting point vs. ending point" philosophy, pilot design principles, and the importance of proving capabilities before scaling. Mike introduced the "First Adam" concept - Gary would be the initial proof of concept for whatever model they develop together, which could then be replicated.

Key Topics Discussed

Marriage and Value Alignment Philosophy

• Multicultural Marriage Complexity: Mike shared that value misalignments that seem minor during dating become "violent" when raising children - "All the small misalignments come to the surface later"
• Modern Dating Failure: Traditional cultures had shared micro-cultural assumptions; modern dating across diverse backgrounds reveals hidden conflicts only after family formation
• Engineering Problem: Marriage and family are "very profound engineering problems" requiring careful value matching at technical level

Christianity's Retreat from Secular Space

• Historical Failure (1850s-1900s): "The Christian establishment basically gave up the secular space" despite creating universities, judicial systems, and the Constitution
• Bilingual Requirement: Christians must translate scripture into secular language to compete: "If you stay in the secular language, you can compete. And you'll win because it's true"
• Paul's Pragmatism: Referenced Paul fighting Peter over circumcision as principle, but telling Timothy to get circumcised for practical mission access - "Very flexible in the application"
• Truth as Discipline: "Being able to accept the truth, even when it makes you look bad" - this is cultivated, not natural (children lie from day one as original sin)

First Principle: Define Starting Position Before Ending Position

• Y Combinator Model: Study how Paul Graham started in 2005, not where YC is today
• Bezos Example: Started selling books with a PC bell ringing in garage, not the "everything store"
• Capability Focus: "Prove out the capability before we waste a lot of time on strategy"
• Call Your Shot: Like pool - pick a specific, defined milestone and hit it

Pilot Design Principles

• Cheap Options: "All options theoretically have value until they don't" - design tests that are fast and inexpensive
• Information-Rich: Every step must be "substantiated with experimentation, data, or some type of market knowledge"
• Scale Design: "Death is death. Failure, failure. So the upside has to be designed where if you do win... you got to be able to run"
• Anti-Forecast Philosophy: "Don't forecast. Let the world tell you the truth"

Gary's Unique Capabilities Assessment

• Digital + Technical + Community: Mike sees Gary's background as distinctly digital and community-building on "digital rails"
• Fish vs. Football Analogy: "That's almost like a fish trying to play football versus swim. If it wants to, it can. But it's designed to swim fast"
• Platform Thinking: "The most important thing is the person in the box. The person is everything"

Hybrid Nonprofit/For-Profit Model

• Self-Funding Imperative: "The central fallacy of not for profits is their patronage models. And so they're always corrupt"
• Structural Tithing: 10% equity from startups flows back to nonprofit - "Structural tithing"
• Charlie Kirk Warning: Referenced Kirk's "angst over his Israeli backers" as example of donor capture to avoid
• Business as Religion: "Business is the new religion, so if we apply [Christian principles], we can flip that around"

Strategic Battle Space Framework

• Structures Over People: "The reason the other side wins is not because they have the majority of the people. It's just that because they have the majority of structures"
• High Leverage Points: Mike spent time on human trafficking pursuing traffickers, not victim support - "Victim support is very Christian. The problem is it doesn't scale"
• Snake Economics: "The enemy is very smart. It uses the economics of virality. It doesn't build the body, it takes over the body"

The "First Adam" Framework

• Replication Model: "You will be the first Adam. Whatever it is we want for others, you will be the first Adam"
• Paul Graham Precedent: YC was Paul's "replication phase" after his own "Adam experience"
• Learning Journey: Whatever Gary proves through his pilot becomes the template for others

Community Building Purpose Requirement

• Systems Theory: "The purpose of a system is what it does" - community must have defined output
• Charlie Kirk Model: Built community but "the power is once you built it, he could deploy it"
• Fill in the Blank: "I can create communities. To blank." - the blank must be defined and meaningful
• Evan at Arena Hall Reference: "He has all these great people... His struggle is, what do I do with this?"

Summit Idea Discussion

• Spring Summit Proposal: Gary proposed April/May summit to gather aligned Christian entrepreneurs
• Mike's Response: Open to iteration - "We can just spitball and whatever. It's fine"
• Proof of Capability: Summit could demonstrate ability to convene the right people aligned with the vision

On Mike's Own Journey

• Recent Conversion: "I just became Christian three years ago. This is all profoundly new to me"
• Real-Time Development: "It's happening. It's happening. Do you know what I mean?"
• Learning as Going: Not claiming a finished framework - "I'm learning as I go, man"

Key Quotes

On Starting Position Philosophy

"Understand how [Bezos] started. Selling books. Versus the everything store where he ended up. And so what I would say to you is the first idea, which I'm very, very focused on, is the starting point, not the ending point."

On Pilot Design

"What I'm really trying to do is prove out the capability before we waste a lot of time on strategy."

On Christian Structures

"The reason the other side wins is not because they have the majority of the people. It's just that because they have the majority of structures. So I want to go after structures."

On Excellence as Witness

"When we have terrific Christian companies who are kicking butt. Who are living their faith. Making money. Delivering awesome products. That is the greatest light to attract the most moths."

On Translation Requirement

"You need to be able to be bilingual. You have to be able to translate scripture into, in my opinion, secular language and stay in the secular language. If you stay in the secular language, you can compete. And you'll win because it's true."

On First Adam Concept

"You will be the first Adam. Just like Paul... He started Y Combinator because he had that first Adam experience, and he wanted to replicate himself."

On Gary's Role

"I'm needing for you to figure out who you are and how you can best be potent. And I'm hoping to support that."

Action Items / Takeaways

• Gary to define a specific, measurable pilot that proves a capability (the "blank" in "I build communities to ___")
• Pilot should leverage Gary's digital/technical/community-building strengths
• Design for scale from day one even if starting small
• Consider connecting with Evan at Arena Hall who faces similar community monetization questions
• Continue iterative dialogue to refine the specific "shot to call"
• Mike emphasized he will fund the experiment once defined

Strategic Framework Summary

Mike's venture methodology:

1. Person-First: Start with the entrepreneur's unique capabilities, not a pre-defined idea
2. Starting Point Focus: Define the garage/books version, not the Amazon vision
3. Cheap Options: Test hypotheses quickly with minimal resource burn
4. Scale Design: Build for exponential upside even in pilot phase
5. Information-Rich: Every step must generate learnings
6. Spirit-Led: "Put your best ideas out there. Let the spirit decide for you, and then be obedient to what it says"