The question comes up at every pitch, every coffee meeting, every investor call that goes sideways: “Why are you still doing this? Why not take a job?” Jonathan’s answer, when he gives it fully, always returns to the same place — the Army.
Not because of any particular deployment or training exercise, but because of what service instills: the understanding that there is such a thing as a mission, that the mission has requirements independent of your comfort, and that the difference between a professional and an amateur is what happens when the conditions are terrible.
Liana Banyan has been under construction since 1989. Jonathan has been its sole architect through economic crashes, family crises, technology obsolescence cycles, and three complete platform rebuilds. He is still here for the same reason any soldier stays at post: the mission isn’t complete yet.
“Because I was a soldier” is the shortest version. The full version is 37 years long.
