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ID:
2025-03-30-catch-up-with-ken-miyachi
Participants:

Catch-up Conversation with Ken Miyachi - 2025-03-30

Date: March 30, 2025 Time: 2:40 PM - 6:45 PM Location: Ken's House, Austin, TX People: Gary Sheng, Ken Miyachi

Key Topics Discussed​

  • Ken's Recent Challenges: Navigated a major crisis at BitMind involving a large token holder panic-selling, causing significant market volatility. Discussed the complexities and stress of managing a tokenized ecosystem and the need for better stakeholder alignment.
  • Gary's New Role: Gary shared accepting the role with Joe Liemandt, focusing on political strategy for education reform. Ken affirmed this is a strong fit for Gary's core strengths (community building, ecosystem development, political/cultural strategy).
  • Framing Gary's Role: Brainstormed the best way to describe Gary's work. Shifted from "Chief of Staff" to the much stronger "I run a political strategy agency."
  • America 2.0 Summit: Discussed the upcoming summit Gary is organizing for Joe. Renamed from "American Genius Invitational" (seen as potentially conceited) to "America 2.0 Summit". Brainstormed potential vibes, music (Aloe Blacc, Flamenco?), and the goal of establishing Joe as the leader in education innovation.
  • Politics & Philosophy: Explored various topics:
    • Insurance fraud potential with AI.
    • Data privacy challenges in blockchain (e.g., genomic data on-chain).
    • Utilitarian ethics vs. individual rights (El Salvador anti-crime measures).
    • The importance and role of free speech.
    • Critiques of socialism and its impact.
    • Classism vs. racism as societal issues.
    • Sovereign Wealth Funds (and the related Gifted Savings program Gary knows about).
    • The potential acquisition of Canada by the US.
  • AI & The Future: Discussed Apple's AI strategy, the limitations of predicting post-singularity scenarios, and the importance of focusing on the present.
  • Personal Catch-up: Gary's graduation speech, update on relationship status (amicable friendship post-breakup), Ken's desire for better work-life balance, plans for Gary moving to Austin.

Key Decisions & Outcomes​

  • Renamed the summit from "American Genius Invitational" to "America 2.0 Summit".
  • Reframed Gary's professional identity to "Founder/Principal of a political strategy agency".
  • Affirmed the decision for Gary not to work directly for BitMind to preserve the friendship.

Action Items​

  • Gary: Update summit planning documents with the new name "America 2.0 Summit". Adopt the new professional framing ("political strategy agency").
  • Ken: Continue navigating the BitMind stakeholder situation.
  • Both: Plan future hangouts in Austin (shooting, canoeing, general catch-ups).

Interesting Insights​

  • The high stress and unique stakeholder management challenges inherent in tokenized ecosystems.
  • The power of framing and concise messaging in establishing professional identity and communicating complex goals.
  • The value of friendship providing unbiased feedback and sanity checks.
  • The potential for AI to automate many tasks leaves human skills like political negotiation, taste, and relationship building as key differentiators.
  • The ongoing relevance of foundational political and ethical debates in current events.

Notes​

  • The conversation highlighted the value of their friendship as a space for honest feedback and brainstorming.
  • Ken provided crucial insights that significantly improved the branding/framing for both Gary's role and the summit.
  • Both are navigating high-stakes, high-stress environments and seeking better personal balance.