The Hardest Part Is the First Part

Starting a business is hard enough when you know what you are doing. Starting one inside a cooperative economy you have never seen before — with Credits, Marks, Joules, project Bridges, and a Helm you have not configured yet — can feel like learning to drive and navigate at the same time.

That is why the Escape Velocity program exists.

The name comes from physics: escape velocity is the speed an object needs to break free of gravitational pull and sustain its own trajectory. On Liana Banyan, it is the point where you no longer need someone holding the controls for you. You understand the economy, your listings are live, your Credits are flowing, and you are running your own operation.

The program gives you three paths to get there, depending on how much help you want.

Tier 1: Full Steward

What it is: A dedicated mentor who sets up and manages your first business on the platform for six months. The Steward does the heavy lifting — configuring your Helm, building your first Bridge, pricing your services, managing your initial listings, and walking you through every system.

Who it’s for: Members who are brand new to cooperative economics, members who have a skill but no business experience, and members who would rather learn by watching an expert operate than by reading documentation. This is the highest-support option.

How It Works
Your Steward starts as your **Backup** — observing your decisions and catching mistakes before they cost you. Over the first two months, they shift to **Secondary** — handling operations while you learn the strategy. By month four, you become **Primary** and the Steward moves to advisory. By month six, the Steward steps back entirely.

What it costs: The Steward earns 20% of your first profits generated during the six-month period. No upfront cash. No Credit deposit. The Steward only gets paid when you get paid. This aligns incentives completely — a Steward who builds you a profitable operation earns well. A Steward who phones it in earns nothing.

The graduation arc:

1 Month 1-2: Steward as Backup (you lead, they catch) → 2 Month 3-4: Steward as Secondary (shared operation) → 3 Month 5-6: You as Primary (Steward advises) → 4 Month 7+: Escape velocity — you run it alone

All compensation flows through Credits within the cooperative economy. The Steward’s 20% is calculated on your net Credit income from platform activity during the engagement period.

Important Distinction
The Steward relationship is a service engagement within the cooperative, not an equity arrangement. The Steward earns Credits for their mentorship service. They hold no ongoing claim to your business, your listings, or your future income after the six-month period ends.

Tier 2: Consulting Steward

What it is: Per-task help. You run your own setup from day one, but you can hire a Steward for specific tasks at project rates. Need help pricing your first three listings? Hire a Consulting Steward for that task. Confused about how Marks accumulate? Book an hour. Want someone to audit your Bridge configuration? Post it as a Lark.

Who it’s for: Members who have some business experience and are comfortable figuring things out, but want expert help for specific sticking points. Also for members who started with Tier 1 and graduated early but still want occasional guidance.

What it costs: Standard project rates in Credits. Each consulting engagement is priced individually — a one-hour session might be 50 Credits, a full Bridge audit might be 200. You control the budget and the scope.

How it differs from Tier 1: No ongoing relationship. No profit share. No six-month commitment. You hire a Consulting Steward the same way you would hire any service provider on the platform — post the task, agree on the rate, get the work done. The only difference is that Consulting Stewards are specifically trained in platform operations and onboarding.

Example
Maria runs a catering business and joined Liana Banyan to reach new customers. She is comfortable with business operations but has never used a three-currency system. She hires a Consulting Steward for two tasks: "Explain how Credits convert to project participation" (1 hour, 50 Credits) and "Review my service listing pricing against comparable offerings" (2 hours, 120 Credits). Total investment: 170 Credits. Time to self-sufficiency: about two weeks.

Tier 3: Direct Listing

What it is: Skip the Steward entirely. List your services, configure your Helm, set your prices, and go. The platform documentation, the Cephas knowledge base, and the community forums are your guides.

Who it’s for: Existing businesses that already know their market, their pricing, and their operations. Members who have used cooperative or marketplace platforms before. People who learn by doing and would rather make small mistakes than wait for permission.

What it costs: Nothing beyond your standard membership. No Steward fees, no consulting charges, no profit share. You keep 100% of what you earn from day one.

The tradeoff: Speed for support. You will get up and running faster than Tier 1 members, but you may miss optimizations that a Steward would have caught. The Cephas knowledge base and the guided tour system exist to close this gap, but they are not the same as a human mentor watching your specific situation.

What Escape Velocity Actually Looks Like

Regardless of which tier you choose, the destination is the same. A member who has reached escape velocity can do all of the following without assistance:

  • Navigate their Helm and manage their active Bridges
  • Price services accurately using the Cost+20% floor as a baseline
  • Understand how Credits flow in and out of their account
  • Recognize how Marks accumulate through effort differential
  • Post listings, accept work, and complete transactions independently
  • Use the platform’s hiring models (Assignments, Larks, Challenges, and the rest) from both sides — as a buyer and as a provider

Most Tier 1 members reach escape velocity between month four and month six. Tier 2 members typically get there in two to six weeks. Tier 3 members are often operational within days, though full fluency in the cooperative economy usually takes a few weeks of active participation.

The Real Measure
Escape velocity is not a certification or a badge. It is a practical state: the moment you stop needing to ask how things work and start asking how to make them work better. Your Steward will know when you are there. More importantly, you will know.

Choosing Your Tier

There is no wrong answer. The tiers exist because people arrive at Liana Banyan from different starting points. A seventeen-year-old with a welding skill and no business experience needs a different onramp than a forty-year-old general contractor who has been running crews for two decades.

Pick the tier that matches where you are today. You can always adjust. A Tier 3 member who gets stuck can hire a Consulting Steward for a single task. A Tier 1 member who learns fast can graduate early and stop the profit share ahead of schedule.

The goal is not to stay in the program. The goal is to leave it — moving under your own power, at your own speed, into the cooperative economy that is now yours to build in.