Lunch Meeting Summary: Prenda Microschool Opportunity & Personal Updates

Overview

Extended lunch meeting with Ari Crane in Austin covering Prenda microschool opportunity for Jennifer, Ari's wife's sudden faith crisis, rare vinyl business updates, Christian "society engineer" initiative brainstorming, and Ari's AMG road trip plans. Gary pitched Meta Ray-Ban glasses to encourage Ari's content creation.

Key Topics Discussed

Jennifer's Faith Crisis

• Sudden Loss of Faith: Ari revealed Jennifer told him "last night she doesn't think there's a God" after a cascade of setbacks
• Trigger Events: Multiple crises hit simultaneously - Rogers Healy backing out of $500K record deal, broken dryer, approximately $30-40K in losses in a single day
• Jennifer's Challenge: "If there is a God, strike me down right now" - Ari responded "It doesn't work that way, honey"
• Ari's Response: "I know there is. Like, I know there is" - remained firm in his faith
• Jennifer's Perspective: "If there is a God, he's a prankster" - Ari countered that "God has a good sense of humor"
• Gary's Strategic Insight: Suggested Prenda microschool could "economically incentivize your wife to at least stay open again to God" through faith-based education work

Prenda Microschool Opportunity

• Gary's Discovery: Found Prenda.com - faith-friendly microschool platform doing "the Alpha thing before Alpha" at fraction of the cost
• Pricing Comparison: Prenda is ~$2,000/student/year vs. Alpha's $10,000/year
• Alpha Critique: "The reason why Alpha doesn't let you demo it is because that's basically what it has" - friend on Alpha sales team "basically unable to sell Alpha to any school"
• Texas School Choice: $10,800 scholarship available starting next school year, leaving ~$7,000+ per student for guide compensation
• Jennifer's Potential: Gary called Jennifer directly to pitch the opportunity: "You leading it with Ari supporting would create a lot of demand from parents in your area"
• Economics Breakdown: "If you have 15 students, that's $100,000 a year" after platform fees
• Jennifer's Response: "This is good stuff... I'm very excited about it"
• Timeline: Applications for Texas funds open mid-late February; Gary meeting Prenda CEO Kelly Smith at 5:30pm
• Competition Assessment: Texas less saturated than Florida which has had school choice for years

Ari's AMG Business Updates

• Rogers Healy Withdrawal: High-net-worth friend Rogers Healy backed out of buying Ari's half of AR Music Sellers: "I'm not in the position to do that right now"
• Impact: Was counting on this deal before the holidays; Ari took high road: "Hey, no worries, man"
• AMG Compensation Model: Three revenue streams - base salary, strong commission (potential 10% of company revenue), free encapsulation (was $50-75/record)
• Record Business Success: "I turned $12,000 into $107,000 last year" passively through rare record auctions
• Celebrity Clients: Working with Steve Aoki, Eminem, and Questlove on record grading
• Gustavo Situation: Revealed Gustavo (record dealer with "froggy glasses") "fucked" their mutual contact Beef by cutting him out of Snoop Dogg partnership completely
• Gary's Instinct Validated: Both felt wrong about Gustavo from the start - "Holy Spirit told you, I guess"

Christian "Society Engineer" Initiative

• Gary's New Role: Someone wants to fund Gary to "create a Christian Freemason society type thing"
• Mission: Finding "society engineers" - people creating initiatives affecting policy, culture, "building God's kingdom"
• Name Brainstorm: Ari suggested "Chosen Few" - Gary liked it: "Multiple meanings"
• Recruitment Strategy: Ari suggested mega churches, faith-based stores, Bible studies, finding "people that are as passionate about it as you are"
• Trans-Denominational Approach: Gary wants it to work across denominations: "That's who I am"
• First Initiative: "Steal all the money from public schools and put it to Christian education"

Meta Ray-Ban Glasses & Content Creation

• Gary's Offer: Offered to buy Ari Meta Ray-Ban glasses for Christmas to encourage content creation
• Ari's Condition: "What I would want you to do, to promise me, is start creating content. Putting it out... Start being that influencer"
• Ari's Enthusiasm: "That would be so cool. I would love that. I don't like my face being on anything, but for that to be away, that's amazing"
• Industrial Vision: Ari immediately saw potential for LIDAR integration for industrial measurements - his oil & gas background showing
• Record Digging Application: "There's not too many people digging records wearing those or talking to people"

Ari's Current Projects & Road Trip

• AMG Road Trip: Visiting 17 record stores across Austin, San Antonio, Temple, and Waco over two days
• Business Development Strategy: Offering free $75 graded record display to independent stores, geotag activation, $5-7/submission revenue share
• Pitch: "A lot of these independent record stores make $500 to $1,500 a day... give them an opportunity to make an extra $300, $400, $500 a day for nothing"
• Mixed Reception: "50% are like no, no, or maybe. And then 50% are like, absolutely"
• Health Issues: Diverticulitis prevents eating seeds; severe acid reflux; ordered food without sesame seeds

Healing & Prophets Discussion

• Houston Pastor: Gary wants Ari to meet his Houston pastor for healing prayer: "I want to see what happens when my pastor prays over you"
• Ari's Skepticism: "There's more hoax stuff out there than legit" regarding faith healers
• Ari's Criteria: True healers would be "in real-time communication with God" - believes few people genuinely have this gift
• Gary's Response: Listed dozens of biblical examples of God speaking directly to people (prophets)
• Gary's Claim: "He is. I've never seen someone have more connection" about his Houston pastor

Personal Updates

• Gary's Mentors: Multiple people in their 40s-50s wanting to invest in Gary's future - "an AI pioneer, another one is a finance genius... They all care about Christianity in different ways"
• Ari's Reflection: "I really don't have mentors like that in my life... I feel like I'm past my time and past my prime"
• Gary's Challenge: "I would challenge that. Something related to education. And music. Feels good. That's in your cards"
• Collector's Academy Concept: Ari floated idea of school integrating music and collecting as billionaire asset class education
• Jennifer's Work Status: Not currently working; has Master's in Education
• Church Update: Ari attending New Beginnings (Zionist church in Euless) - recent speaker was Hamas hostage survivor

Key Quotes

On Jennifer's Faith Crisis:

• Ari: "She literally told me yesterday she lost her faith and doesn't believe in God. I was like, what?"
• Ari: "She was like, if there is a God, strike me down right now. I was like, it doesn't work that way"
• Gary: "This may be a way to economically incentivize your wife to at least stay open again to God"

On Alpha vs. Prenda:

• Gary: "My friend who's on the sales team for Alpha says he's basically unable to sell Alpha to any school because they're like, why is software this expensive?"
• Gary: "The sales team is not even allowed to demo"

On Ari's Potential:

• Gary: "I think you have... something related to education. And music. That's in your cards"
• Ari: "I feel like I'm past my time and past my prime... I feel like the ship has sailed for some things, but I'm optimistic"

On Healing:

• Ari: "If somebody is granted the power to actually heal somebody... that would be somebody that is actually in real-time communication with God"
• Gary: "He is. I've never seen someone have more connection"

On Content Creation:

• Gary: "What I would want you to do, to promise me, is start creating content... Start being that influencer"
• Ari: "I don't like my face being on anything, but for that to be away, that's amazing"

Action Items / Takeaways

• Gary meeting Prenda CEO Kelly Smith at 5:30pm - will share notes with Ari/Jennifer
• Jennifer to review Prenda research document Gary sent
• Ari considering staying overnight in Austin area, continuing to San Antonio tomorrow
• Gary offered to buy Ari Meta Ray-Ban glasses contingent on content creation commitment
• Ari to connect with "Beef" following Gustavo situation revelation
• Potential future visit to Gary's Houston pastor for healing prayer
• Ari dropped off box of ~40-50 curated records for Gary including "Winners and Losers on God's Earth" 1983 Bible camp guide

Special Notes

Vinyl Gift

Ari brought a box of 40-50 curated records for Gary, including a notable find: "Winners and Losers on God's Earth" - a 1983 Bible camp guide that was inside one of the record sleeves. Featured Garden of Eden imagery and content about "how Christians conduct themselves, understanding the world and the natural world, and doing the right thing."

Lunch Location

Machi Sushi (all-you-can-eat hand-rolled sushi) - Ari's "favorite place in Austin for sushi" located near a hotel. Both overate significantly - Ari: "I'm glad I don't do that very often, man. I'd weigh 300 pounds."