Date: 2026-09-04 1:30 PM EDT Attendees: Michael Houck (Rye Valley), Emil Barr (Candid Network / FlashPass client)
Summary
Weekly sync covering FlashPass design update, billboard campaign restructure, speaking tour and sponsorships, and Civic Chain secondary round investor pipeline.
FlashPass design: Design firm dropped last month; Michael is now handling all design internally with Claude. Flash Pass design with explainer video to Emil by Monday (Sep 7). Emil to send correct thumbnail today (current one shows an error in Slack).
Billboard campaign: Not dead. Michael and Tatem workshopped a two-part approach: Part 1 before midterms, Part 2 after (contingent on California outcome). This resolves the original timing issue. Open question: how prominently to feature Emil on Part 1 vs. directing to a landing page. Emil to sync with Tatem directly; three-way sync if needed.
Speaking tour and sponsorships: American Express declined paid speaking fee (higher-ups held the line on policy); Danielle open to sponsored event model instead. Active sponsor conversations: Anthropic, Google Workspace, HubSpot, and smaller AI tool brands targeting college audiences. No closed deals yet. Michael proposed bundling multiple campus events into one sponsorship package (e.g. 15 stops vs. one-off). AI workshop content now on the table if sponsors cover it (Michael typically avoids it as off-brand but open if an AI company is paying). Dean-level contact email campaign now live; AI system built to monitor conferences and auto-pitch speaker applications.
Civic Chain secondaries: Moving slowly; Michael running low on warm network contacts. Ideal profile: crypto-native individuals with personal crypto wealth who believe in blockchain. Chris Dixon (a16z Crypto) flagged but hold for Series A. Ryan Adams (Bankless, early Launch House investor) identified as a strong fit — ideologically aligned. Former Launch House member who pivoted to meme coin day-trading and is now worth $100M+ also surfaced as a target.
Decisions
None that are Rye Valley decisions. All items are operational execution or Emil’s business decisions.
Action items
- Michael: send Flash Pass design with explainer video by Mon Sep 7
- Emil: send correct thumbnail today
- Emil: sync with Tatem directly on billboard two-part approach
- Michael: reach out to Ryan Adams and the meme coin trader re Civic Chain secondaries (~$250K remaining)
- Michael: nudge Ratmir on intro next week
- Michael: re-engage Tim ahead of call in 2-3 weeks
- Michael: loop AI workshop angle into sponsor conversations; expand sponsor target list; pitch bundled multi-event package
Notable transcript excerpts
Michael on design pivot: “We stopped working with the design firm last month because I’m just able to do all of our own internal design with Claude now.”
Michael on billboards: “I don’t think the billboard idea needs to be dead. I think we can restructure it. Do a part one before the midterms. Then depending on what happens in California, a part two we wanted to originally do, but afterwards, so it solves the timing issue.”
On Civic Chain secondary profile: “The folks that have said no have ultimately been like, well, the slash last thing is more proven. The people that are saying yes are excited about the idea of a real application on blockchain.”
Michael on Ryan Adams: “He was one of our guys on the [Launch House] Series A. He’s super well known. He’s got his company, but he’s not a fund. This would definitely be ideologically aligned for him.”