2025-06-26 Conversation with Tyreke Griffin

Participants

• Gary Sheng
• Tyreke Griffin (introduced by Waziri Garuba)

Overview

Phone conversation discussing Tyreke's cultural events business in Austin, Gary's advice on event monetization strategies, and potential collaboration opportunities in Tulsa.

Tyreke's Current Business Model

Tyreke hosts immersive cultural events in Austin targeting people who want alternatives to traditional bar scenes:

"I host like, these immersive events where each event is kind of like focused on a different culture. So I have like Asian culture Filipino culture, French culture, Louisiana culture, just for people to like, that don't want to go to like bars to meet people. Like they want to like actually do something and like learn something."

Current Status:

• Describing business as "highs and lows" and "still up and coming"
• Planning Filipino games event in collaboration with Filipino Young Professionals Austin
• Running summer series at a distillery with two more events scheduled
• Considering stepping back to reassess strategic direction

Gary's Strategic Advice on Event Monetization

Core Philosophy

Gary emphasized the importance of sustainable business models over passion-only approaches:

"My biggest advice to you is. As soon as an event becomes like super profit generating, it's like kind of a scam, right? Which is like, oh, wait, how do I make a good business then? Well, you kind of have to attach it to another business."

Sponsorship Strategy

Gary advocated for corporate/government sponsorship rather than charging attendees:

"You want to make a bunch of money because the connections that you're helping the company develop there pay for itself, right? Because that would be part of the recruiting budget, the marketing budget, sales, business development, but whatever, whatever the budget sort are so that you start to be seen as not as like a. Well, you're seen as like a way to increase their funnel of people that matter to them."

Example: Filipino Government Partnership

Gary provided a specific example of how to scale cultural events:

"Let's say you did the Filipino stuff. You were able to get budget from the Filipino government for making Filipinines look good and getting Austin people to want to visit Philippines and you're able to get discounts on flights and stuff like becomes a lot more interesting for. to do an event about the Philippines. Because now you're like sponsored by the Filipino government."

Revenue Source Strategy

Key insight on sustainable funding:

"So the money should come from sponsors, where the sponsors are going to come from. It's either going to be corporations or governments or stuff like that, or like super, super wealthy people."

Personal Background Exchange

Tyreke's Background:

• Age: 32
• Origin: Lake Charles, Louisiana (southwest)
• Education: Industrial Engineering
• Current Job: Energy Risk Engineer
• Entrepreneurial mindset: "I can do any task. I'll figure out how to do it"

Gary's Current Situation:

• Recently completed Gauntlet AI coding bootcamp in Austin
• Consulting for an AI school but considering it's not a good fit
• Splitting time between Austin and Tulsa
• Working with someone he describes as "the best industrialist in America"

Gary's Philosophy on Education vs. Profit

Gary shared strong views on ethical considerations in education:

"If you're going into education, you better want to help the kids versus make money. And it's not to say that you don't want to make money, you better not be denying it because if you're secretly trying to make money while pretending to help kids, you're kind of just doing evil shit, right?"

His approach to education funding:

"So I'm basically trying to work on things that generate a lot of revenue so that or profit, so that I have capital or my companies have capital to work on education, the right way. which does require a lot of money, it requires a lot of love and hiring great people. not cutting corners."

Key Warnings and Advice

Avoiding Poverty Mindset

Gary emphasized the importance of financial sustainability:

"You don't don't put yourself in a position where the most you can be is like poor... But if you're suffering, it's not going to work, right? If you're like struggling to pay bills, everything, right, it's not going to work."

Strategic Thinking Required

On the importance of long-term planning:

"Because like part of their existing budgets. I think that's where you should go versus like pure love... But also like, okay, you do not want to create events that are too expensive for the people that want to attend."

Tyreke's Response and Next Steps

Tyreke expressed appreciation for the strategic perspective:

"Yeah, especially, like, the future of it. Because I'm right now I'm doing like this. I wouldn't say I'm burned out, but, like, I could definitely take a step back from it... I was going to like take a step back and think about, like really think deep on like where I want this direction to go."

Immediate Action Items:

• Tyreke to review links/information Gary will send about Tulsa opportunities
• Follow-up conversation planned after Tyreke reviews materials
• Potential collaboration on industrial projects given Tyreke's engineering background

Notable Themes

1. Sustainable Business Models: Events need external funding sources rather than relying on attendee fees
2. Cultural Appreciation with Business Acumen: Balancing passion for cultural education with financial viability
3. Strategic Partnerships: Leveraging corporate/government budgets aligned with event goals
4. Educational Ethics: Importance of genuine care for beneficiaries over profit motives
5. Cross-Industry Collaboration: Potential synergies between event planning and industrial/manufacturing work

Follow-up Potential

• Tyreke's industrial engineering background could be valuable for Gary's Tulsa manufacturing initiatives
• Event planning skills could support Gary's larger community-building goals
• Shared Louisiana connection and cultural appreciation interests
• Tyreke's adaptability and engineering mindset align with Gary's project-based approach