Korean BBQ Dinner - Zachary Smith & Dawson Carroll

Key Participants

• Gary Sheng (@gary-sheng.md)
• Zachary Smith (@zachary-smith.md)
• Dawson Carroll (@dawson-carroll.md)

Major Topics Discussed

Work Projects & Business Opportunities

Zachary's Recent Trump Project

Zachary mentioned working on something for Trump recently:

"Did a cool thing for Trump, actually. Really? Coincidentally. Can't say anything about it for like a week and a half, but... It wasn't direct to Trump, though. It's a government thing."

Dawson's Podcast Opportunity with Louis

Dawson is evaluating a podcast strategy role but has concerns:

"There's this guy. Have you met Louis? [...] He wants me to come on and be the strategist for the channel. For the podcast. [...] The numbers don't really make a lot of sense right now."

Key concerns about Louis:

• Keeps texting at 10pm: "That's already a red flag. You don't want to be texted by somebody at 10pm. Who's, like, my client."
• Business structure unclear: "Louis would be paying me a contract to get it off the ground"
• Involves a lawyer/divorce attorney who's apparently popular and could potentially reach top 10 podcast status

Zachary's assessment of the opportunity:

"I think that this guy's podcast could do real numbers. Like, be a top ten podcast, potentially. Not consistently, but at some points." "Let's say that Dawson over here can get... 10% of the podcast. That's great. That could be easily 2.5 million."

Gary's Tulsa Opportunity & Joe Liemandt Dynamics

The Tulsa Inventor vs Joe Liemandt

Gary is evaluating a major opportunity with an inventor in Tulsa vs continuing with Joe Liemandt:

"I want to work with an inventor and not, like, this guy that's just rich. [...] I want to see cool things coming to the world. Joe Liemandt is a sales guy slash PE guy. Slash what guy? Private equity. [...] Who wants to be a tech guy. But he doesn't have it in him."

Tulsa Guy's Character Flaw

"Brilliant guy with a major character flaw. [...] Promising stuff that he doesn't follow through on. [...] The only person that I think could help him fix that is me. Because I'm not already working with him. And he kind of knows he needs my help. In part because I'm not a yes man. And I would be willing to basically manage him."

The inventor's background:

"He's a super inventor. He's, like, so fucking smart at science and technology. [...] An early version of screen sharing, is one. [...] Was... Pretty critical to a lot of... Manufacturing... Processes of Shenzhen."

Joe Liemandt's Management Issues

Gary shared examples of Joe's flakiness:

"Joe in detail asked for something from my roommate. Like gave it as a bounty. Like hey anyone any of the engineers can do this. My roommate spent three days just doing exactly what he wanted. He was like oh never mind. Thanks for doing this."

"He has, like, the attention span of, like, a five-year-old. [...] I got hired to create Davos for education. He didn't want... He lost... [...] Didn't really push forward with that."

Gary's Strategy for the Tulsa Decision

"I'm thinking about doing a... Two day trip just to, like, have hard conversations with him. And fully decide, basically. [...] I'm gonna basically force him to wire me the first month. Like, on the spot. [...] Because if he doesn't, I'm just fucking out."

All-In Podcast Dynamics & Zachary's Role

Current Active Project

"What's up guys Got more updates from all in what what do they want i'm doing this thing with them [...] they started on the project today."

Zachary maintains high accessibility:

"You're that accessible? I'm very accessible, Josh. [...] I let all in know that I was going to this dinner, but that I would be happy to do anything once I got back."

Dave Rubin Relationship Ending

"Are you still working with Dave? Not really. I have something I'm working on but he's like so it's so impossible to like get feedback around the changes and it's like so all over the place that it's impossible to like handle him as a client."

Phoenix - Dave's Executive Producer

Details about Dave Rubin's 22-year-old executive producer:

"Phoenix is probably going to come to our event at Zach's. [...] He's 22. [...] Dave pays him very well. He'll get better. Like 240. [...] But at 22 240 is fucking awesome."

Faith, Dating, and Personal Philosophy

Gary's Approach to Dating & Faith

Gary has adopted a more faith-centered approach:

"Well, I trust that God will put the right person in my path when I'm ready. Yeah. I basically decided to give up lust."

His definition of "giving up lust":

"Not going on dating apps. Not actively going out on 6th Street or whatever to just find some random drunk home. [...] No porn."

Gary's comparison to addiction recovery:

"I think it feeds on itself, right? Like, when I was addicted to video games, the only answer is not to moderate for me. It's just like, no more video games. [...] Instead of, like, trying to moderate."

Dawson's Dating Situation

Dawson ended a long relationship earlier this year:

"I was seeing a girl until, like, almost a year. Until February, it was really bad. [...] She just turned out to be a horrible person."

On relationship timeline insights:

"A therapist told me one time that it takes about a year for people to, like, really show their true colors. [...] Eventually a relationship turns into more than just, like, oh, we like each other, this is fun. It turns into, like, actual challenging conversations."

Current approach:

"I'm definitely not on the dating app. Just trying to be girls in person. [...] Not making it something that I'm thinking about all the time. Working towards it being just... Organic."

Religious Cross-Dating Views

Gary's stance on interfaith dating:

"When she was talking about her past attempts at dating Like have they been believers and she's like no i'm like I don't really know what you're expecting like It's not like a comp it's not something you can compromise on [...] can you date across religions i'm like no You cannot that makes zero sense To date across religions. that means that you don't believe in your fucking religion"

Contrasted with political differences:

"What about dating across political parties? It's fine. Women are all retarded politically"

Technology & Cultural Commentary

K-Pop and Consumerism

Gary's critique of K-pop as cultural phenomenon:

"I'm against K-pop. [...] I just think that consumerism and K-pop is like such a natural conclusion of our soulless age. Just complete manufacturing."

"They basically did American hip-hop better in terms of its soulless consumerism. They're amazing at what they do. [...] They basically call it k-pop idols"

AI and Sex Robots Discussion

Extended conversation about Elon's AI companion and the future of sex robots:

"What do you guys think about Elon's waifu animation thing? [...] Elon wants to win in the AI companion space. So he got like this AI avatar that has like underboob. It just talks back at you with its boob jiggle."

Predictions about the industry:

"I think the robotics space is definitely... about to go nuts. [...] I mean, you just know that the Kardashians are about to cash out billions off of sex robots though. Just creating sex robot versions of themselves?"

Cultural implications:

"I'm just literally saying... Humanity deserves this. [...] This is just what... What we sell. If we're robotics and stuff, it feels like we're going to Blade Runner."

Political Commentary

Trump's Potential Third Term

Gary's analysis of Trump's likely strategy:

"I think that Trump is going to lean more into faith. I think... because it's going to give him a protective cover to justify everything. God told me to do this, blah, blah, blah. If you don't support me, you don't support God. [...] So the faith office is going to be pretty... center of the action."

"It's also going to be what helps him justify, like, hey, we're at war, and you've got to let me do it on the third term because God wants that."

Gary's emotional approach to politics:

"I'm trying to just see things with less... If you get really emotional about, like... current events, it's hard to actually do good plays, right? [...] I'm more trying to just objectively analyze people and their incentives."

Work with Faith Advisor Paula White

"You said you work with Trump's faith advisor? Is this the same guy? It's a woman named Paula White. What do you do with her? She wants help on tech stuff. Also youth engagement stuff."

Personal Anecdotes & Insights

Zachary's All-In Origin Story

Zachary shared the butterfly effect of creating the All-In intro:

"How did that happen to you? Oh I just made it one weekend. [...] So I made the album Podcast Intro as that. [...] by the end of the day it had over a hundred thousand views all four besties had commented on it."

The workplace context:

"The CEO wanted me to do something on my own to like prove that it was like more than just like a happenstance but it was a skill that you could have strategy around. [...] And so I did the project to everyone. Everyone was like no one's gonna like listen watch this because I did it from a blank Twitter account."

Managing High-Ego Personalities

Zachary's strategy with Jason Calacanis:

"You guys just have to... Let them have their ego. And then the things you need, you just have to take. Jason has this obsession with me, and we're very holographic as PSDs. [...] So I'll just send him a Figma link. [...] being really good at whatever it is that you're trying to do is the minimum. [...] That's what allows me to be able to just fucking around. Not... Not PSDs."

Upcoming Events & Connections

Saudi/Dubai Fund Representative Visit

"Thursday morning is whenever I have a call with uh, fbi To figure out what's going on with with their trip to austin [...] He does hundreds of millions of dollars a year like you've seen it. Yeah. Yeah."

Key Relationship Dynamics

Gary & Zachary

• Zachary continues to facilitate connections for Gary
• Gary appreciates Zachary's unfiltered perspective: "I just feel like he's so beautifully unfiltered"
• Discussion of potential All-In speaking opportunity for Gary

Dawson & Zachary

• Zachary helped connect Dawson to various opportunities
• Mutual respect for each other's business acumen
• Zachary pushing Dawson to value his leverage in negotiations

Group Dynamic

• Comfortable, open conversation covering sensitive topics
• Mutual advice-giving on career and personal decisions
• Mix of business strategy and personal philosophy

Notable Quotes

On Business Philosophy:

"The beautiful thing is, before you start working with someone, you have... This is your perfect time to negotiate. The only time you have to negotiate." - Dawson

On Personal Growth:

"I'm trying to just see things with less... If you get really emotional about, like... current events, it's hard to actually do good plays, right?" - Gary

On Relationship Standards:

"I believe that we are called to repent And You should be you should have joy and repentance" - Gary

On Business Leverage:

"Now that I'm a contractor, it's like, I have this leverage" - Referenced about Dawson's approach

This conversation reveals the ongoing evolution of all three individuals' professional and personal trajectories, with significant decisions being weighed regarding career moves, relationship standards, and strategic positioning in their respective fields.