Date: 2026-09-04 1:00 PM EDT Attendees: Michael Houck (Rye Valley), Tatem (SiluxRings / Civic Chain ops)
Summary
Pre-call between Michael and Tatem to align on Emil Barr campaign strategy before Michael’s call with Emil 15 minutes later. Also touched on operating agreement and Ben Gusberg update.
Emil campaign strategy realignment: Core goal is getting “kingmaker” billionaires aware of Emil — not Gen Z love. He needs to stand out as a distinctive Gen Z voice they respect, executing something that is standalone and his own (not co-opting anyone else’s platform). The two previous ideas (march, billboards) both hit the right topic (billionaire wealth / California tax threat / specter of socialism) but encountered new constraints each time. War in Iran and midterms both too politically divisive — risk of putting Emil on a political team too early.
Billboard two-part campaign concept (developed this call):
- Phase 1 (pre-midterms): billboards in SF/Palo Alto/Sandhill Road naming specific billionaires — show how much tax revenue California loses if each person leaves. Framing must be positive (“this will backfire on you”), not outing wealth. Emil’s name kept off the billboard itself; URL in corner links to his story.
- Phase 2 (day after election): switch billboards to “Come to Ohio” messaging. Emil’s face and brand front and center at that point. Greg pitches press, tying Emil to the campaign retroactively.
- Open question: how to reduce friction between billboard and Emil’s identity without cluttering the billboard. No clean solution yet.
- Vivek relationship: Tatem flagged that two companies (FlashPass, Seven Chain Two) have Ohio contracts potentially contingent on Vivek winning. Not alienating Vivek is a hard constraint for now.
Operating agreement: Still pending. Michael sent payment; agreement will be finalized Monday.
Ben Gusberg: At 6K Instagram followers; Tatem expects a surge. Tatem plans to eventually integrate more personalized content beyond AI-teaching but sees no signal to switch yet.
Decisions
None that are Rye Valley decisions. Billboard concept to be run by Emil verbally on Michael’s next call.
Action items
- Michael: run billboard two-part concept by Emil verbally on the following call; if he likes it, direct him to Tatem for the full pitch
- Michael + Tatem: reconvene Monday to finalize operating agreement
- Team: solve friction problem of connecting billboard to Emil’s identity before actioning
Notable transcript excerpts
Michael on Emil’s goal: “The main goal with this is awareness from the right people. What he cares about is that these kingmaker people in society who are moving stuff around are aware of him, and think that he stands out among Gen Z in ways that they agree with.”
Tatem on not putting Emil on a team: “He’s too young. He can figure that out later. But right now, we want him to be liked by every billionaire out there because then he can later sort out which ones he doesn’t like.”
On the billboard two-part concept: Tatem — “You switch it. Come to Ohio. Yeah, you switch it. The day after the election.” Michael — “Yep. That’s very good. That’s even better, actually. We could do it in the same locations.”
Michael on billboard framing: “Framing must be positive: ‘this will backfire on you,’ not outing wealth. We want it to be said positively so it doesn’t cause an uprising of ‘this person makes x amount of money.’”
Tatem on friction: “The biggest issue that most people run into is you just have too many steps to get a person to where you wanna be. It’s the same as a sales funnel or a marketing funnel.”