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John Montague

Role(s): Corporate Lawyer, Trusted Friend & Advisor to Gary Sheng, Crypto/ZK Legal Specialist Last interaction: June 7, 2025 - Strategic Partnership Discussion with Gary Sheng

Contact Information​

  • Email: [To be added]
  • Phone: [To be added]
  • Location: Florida

Professional Background​

  • Corporate lawyer with expertise in venture structures and crypto/Web3 legal frameworks
  • Active in Zero Knowledge (ZK) proof space and cryptocurrency legal work
  • Event organizer in crypto space (ZK happy hours and networking events)
  • Provides legal counsel and strategic advice to Gary Sheng
  • Experience with complex legal structures for frontier technology companies
  • Connected to crypto ecosystem and ECC (Ethereum Community Conference)

Personal Background​

  • Lives in Florida with Monica (partner/spouse)
  • Recently had physical therapy needs (glute injury from El Salvador trip)
  • Active in European crypto conference circuit
  • Interested in AI-enabled fitness and wellness applications

Relationship with Gary Sheng​

  • Trusted friend and legal advisor whom Gary relies on for corporate structuring
  • Gary explicitly wants John involved from the ground up in his ventures: "whatever I do, I'd want you to be helping me get this going, and also protecting me"
  • Gary sees John evolving into a strategic legal advisor ("legal sensei") for large-scale, ambitious projects
  • Their conversations cover Gary's evolving leadership vision and plans for transformative ventures
  • Gary credits John with understanding venture-scale legal requirements

Current Projects & Interests (June 2025)​

  • ZK Ecosystem Development: Organizing ZK happy hours and networking events in Europe
  • ECC France Participation: Planning major event at Ethereum Community Conference (July 1-6, 2025) with $5K investment
  • AI Fitness Platform Concept: Developing "OnlyFans for AI fitness" - platform for athletes/influencers to create custom AI fitness bots with 70-80% revenue share
  • Crypto Legal Practice: Experienced downturn in crypto legal work but maintaining connections
  • Consumer Device Interest: Strong interest in mass-market consumer electronics with good margins

Dr. Alexander Partnership Discussion (June 7, 2025)​

Initial Pitch Reception​

Gary's Positioning: Presented Dr. Alexander as "literally smartest man on Earth" needing corporate structuring:

"his problem is literally directing his intelligence to commercial end. Literally the only only fucking issue... it starts with a good corporate lawyer. That helps us create an incentive structure."

John's Immediate Interest: Recognition of AI device potential:

"Dude, I love the idea of AI enabled tech device. I think that's still fucking sick... Nobody's done that yet, and it can just be, like, sick as fuck. I would sign up for that."

Technology Competition Vision​

OpenAI Competition: Gary positioned venture as direct competitor to major AI companies:

"competing directly with OpenAI. And the IO thing that he just bought. Going head to head."

Johnny Ive Challenge: Targeting recently acquired billion-dollar design company:

"We're gonna fuck his world up... We are gonna crush Johnny Ive"

Corporate Structure Requirements​

Trillion Dollar Vision: Gary's scale expectations requiring sophisticated legal framework:

"we just need a dope chief legal chief, like, legal counsel, whatever, like, from the very beginning because this is gonna be a trillion dollar company."

Co-founder Positioning: Gary positioning himself as Dr. Alexander's business partner:

"if he's the you know, metaphorically, if he's the president, I'm his VP"

Resource and Capability Assessment​

Engineering Infrastructure: Dr. Alexander's existing technical capabilities:

"He has all the engineers. He literally created a fucking school in India trained on his methodology for building software."

Self-Funding Capacity: Financial independence enabling strategic choices:

"he has tens of millions of dollars and he's been... he's either wants to commercialize"

Manufacturing Background: OEM experience with major technology companies:

"A company like Samsung will go to him and say, make me this thing... literally a plurality of smart devices had his intellectual property there."

Strategic Advice and Market Analysis (June 7, 2025)​

Commercialization Strategy​

Narrow Focus Requirement: John's counsel on venture development:

"any sort of commercial thing it has to be super narrow and commercially focused. To start off with"

Revenue Focus: Emphasis on immediate commercialization path:

"you just have to pick a vertical. That you can do better than anyone else to start off with... and build revenue as well."

Consumer Device Market Analysis​

Market Opportunity Recognition: Understanding of consumer electronics potential:

"the holy grail of money is, like, coming up with a with a mass scale consumer electronic device. Like, with good margins."

Execution Challenges: Realistic assessment of market entry difficulties:

"how do you release a device? Like... that rabbit thing was like a flop. Like like, how do you make people want a new device?"

Timing Criticality: Recognition of market window:

"And you have to do it in the next year, I think."

Funding Strategy​

Scale-Appropriate Fundraising: Recommendation for substantial capital raise:

"If it really does work, I would suggest raising, like, a hundred million dollars"

Meeting Planning and Next Steps (June 7, 2025)​

ECC Conflict Resolution​

Europe Trip Priority: John's existing commitment to Ethereum Community Conference:

"I'll be in France for ECC... I planned, like, a big event"

Alternative Timing: Flexibility for post-conference engagement:

"I'll be back on, like, the fifth or sixth... I can fly out and meet with him and you. Whenever."

Tulsa Meeting Planning​

Facility Tour Interest: John's willingness to visit Dr. Alexander's headquarters:

"Either that or I can go out to Oklahoma. When, you know, you all are back at the home base"

Timeline Coordination: Planned meeting around June 14th:

"we'll be back. Tulsa. Starting on the fourteenth"

Technology Demonstration Expectations​

Due Diligence Requirement: John's need to evaluate before commitment:

"I wanna see it and see if it's... I would wanna kinda get an idea of what he wants help with."

CES Validation: Recognition of Dr. Alexander's recent industry success:

"He won CES this year, bro. From for his extremely energy efficient refrigerators and every All of his appliances."

AI Fitness Platform Innovation (June 7, 2025)​

Personal Experience Catalyst​

Injury Recovery Success: John's personal validation of AI-assisted rehabilitation:

"I've made probably, like, a month worth of PT progress, I feel like, in, like, five days. Just by, like, working with this."

Market Opportunity Recognition: Understanding of underserved market potential:

"most people in PT are old people, and they don't really like doing shit like this"

Business Model Innovation​

OnlyFans Parallel: Revenue-sharing platform for fitness influencers:

"there should be like an OnlyFans for like, relates to AI for, like, athletes. And fitness influencers. To create, like, their own AI bot that they can sell to like, their audience"

Revenue Distribution: Creator-friendly economic model:

"they get, like, 70 to 80% of the revenue just like an OnlyFans model"

Scaling Philosophy: Leveraging others' marketing efforts:

"I like ideas where you're creating a way for other people to make money and they do the marketing for you."

Crypto Market Analysis (June 7, 2025)​

Current Market Conditions​

Activity Downturn: Personal experience of market cooling:

"It was really hot for me at end of year. Last year, and then it's now it's gotten a be a little bit quiet."

ZK Investment Continuation: Maintaining ecosystem engagement despite downturn:

"About 5,000. But only like high target people I'd like to do some more events"

Network Maintenance​

Industry Connections: Continuing relationships during market lull:

"If you know of anybody that's going, let me know."

Strategic Positioning: "One pinky in crypto" approach for Gary vs. John's deeper involvement

Strategic Assessment and Concerns (June 7, 2025)​

Venture Validation Requirements​

Technology Demonstration: Need for concrete proof of capabilities before legal commitment Market Entry Strategy: Understanding of consumer device launch challenges Resource Requirements: Recognition of substantial capital and engineering needs Timeline Pressures: Awareness of competitive timing in AI/device markets

Incentive Alignment: Creating proper compensation and equity structures Intellectual Property Protection: Safeguarding Dr. Alexander's innovations Co-founder Agreements: Structuring Gary-Alexander partnership appropriately Venture Scale Planning: Preparing for "trillion dollar" growth trajectory

Interactions​

  • June 3, 2025: Virtual meeting with Gary Sheng discussing venture studio plans and legal structuring needs
  • June 7, 2025: Strategic partnership discussion focused on Dr. Alexander collaboration opportunity. Covered John's AI fitness platform concept, crypto market analysis, and Gary's pitch for trillion-dollar AI device company. Planned meeting in Tulsa around June 14th pending John's return from ECC France.

Notes​

John Montague emerges as a sophisticated legal advisor with deep crypto expertise and consumer product understanding. His June 7 conversation reveals someone capable of strategic thinking about venture structure while maintaining realistic assessments of market challenges.

His personal experimentation with AI for fitness recovery demonstrates hands-on understanding of AI applications, while his "OnlyFans for AI fitness" concept shows innovative thinking about platform business models and creator economics.

John's willingness to consider the Dr. Alexander partnership while requesting concrete demonstration shows appropriate due diligence approach. His recognition of consumer device market opportunities combined with realistic assessment of execution challenges positions him as valuable strategic legal counsel.

The combination of crypto legal expertise, consumer product understanding, and venture structuring experience makes John well-positioned to help structure Gary's ambitious technology ventures. His Florida location and established crypto network connections provide additional strategic value.

Key Themes: Corporate legal structuring, crypto/ZK ecosystem engagement, AI application development, consumer device market analysis, venture scale planning, due diligence requirements, and strategic partnership evaluation.

Transcripts​

Transcript IDDateSummary
2025-06-03-gary-sheng-john-montague-summary2025-06-03Summary of Conversation: Gary Sheng and John Montague (June 3, 2025)
2025-06-07-gary-sheng-john-montague-dr-alexander-partnership2025-06-07Strategic legal partnership discussion covering Dr. Alexander venture structuring and corporate legal needs