CROWN LETTER: MICHAEL SEIBEL

CEO Candidate — Liana Banyan Corporation

To: Michael Seibel From: Jonathan Jones, Founder Date: January 23, 2026 Re: Leading the cooperative that shouldn’t work (but does)

Michael,

You’ve spent your career finding founders who see what others miss and helping them build what others say can’t be built. I’m writing because I’ve spent nine years building something the startup world would call impossible — and it’s ready.

Liana Banyan is a cooperative commerce platform. Cost + 20% on everything. Creators keep 83.3%. No extraction by design. The operating agreement locks the margin permanently — this thing literally cannot enshittify.

I know what you’re thinking. Cooperatives don’t scale. Low margins can’t sustain growth. The incentives don’t align.

I’ve found a way. Simultaneous market penetration AND price skimming — we pre-order six levels of production at once. Early adopters pay the same discount price as late-stage purchasers, with the difference returned as stored future value in the company — like forever stamps. Early believers get the same price AND ownership. The margin stays fixed at 20%. The ownership compounds.

The math works:

  • Three-Gear Currency System (Credits, Marks, Joules) — mathematical solvency proofs, not promises
  • Position Funding model — democratic project financing without equity dilution
  • Tab System — graduated contribution based on success, not debt
  • 1,754 innovations with 1,401 patent claims filed

The manufacturing backbone exists:

HexIsle launches on Kickstarter in late January — exact date depends on Formlabs delivery, which is why I’m telling you now so you can verify it’s real before it goes live.

This isn’t just a board game. It’s the world’s first water-powered physical computing platform.

The Tereno Gaming Platform underneath uses:

  • Hydraulics — water pressure moves components
  • Pneumatics — air pressure from water displacement
  • Mechanical gears — driven by water flow
  • Magnetic coupling — transfers force without contact
  • Rail-gun propulsion — moves ships across the board
  • Laminar flow dynamics — creates predictable currents and waves

No batteries. No electricity. No screens. Just water, physics, and imagination. Players build islands with modular components. Palm trees literally grow and bloom — mechanically, over the course of the game. Ships navigate currents powered by the water itself.

The manufacturing process:

Stereolithographic (SLA) 3D printing enables precision components at 95% less cost than traditional manufacturing. Modular design means it can be replicated at the lowest single individual level anywhere in the world. This is the 2nd Second Industrial Revolution — distributed manufacturing with cooperative economics.

HexIsle proves the system works. The platform scales it.

The timing is now:

Canada just canceled 40,000 startup visas. We’re launching a “Rescue Fleet” — recruiting stranded entrepreneurs to build infrastructure they actually own. They need a platform. We need builders. The alignment is obvious.

What I’m asking:

I’m looking for a CEO. Someone who understands startups but sees beyond extraction economics. Someone who can take what I’ve built and scale it without breaking what makes it work.

The cascade is: CEO → Industry Chancellor → Board Member → Advisory. I’m offering the top of that ladder.

Who I am:

I’m a 53-year-old ARNG veteran — Infantry (11B) and Aviation (15A), helicopter pilot with FAA Commercial Rotary Wing IFR rating. Father of eight. 21 years in IT development. Chess rating 2118 on a good day - nowadays I hover in the 2080s when I take a chess break from work - top 0.4% globally.

I’ve been thinking about cooperative economics for 47 years. I’ve been actively building this for nine. I have 18 handwritten journals documenting the journey, early prototypes from 2003 when I was active duty, SolidWorks files from before that, and 1,200+ Fusion 360 diagrams from recent years.

I’m not a pitch deck founder. I’m an engineer who built the thing.

What I’m not is a Silicon Valley CEO. That’s why I’m writing to you.

YC has always backed founders who see around corners. This letter is me asking if you want to help run what’s on the other side.

I’d welcome a conversation. Even if the answer is no, I’d value your perspective on what I’ve built.

Help each other help ourselves.

Jonathan Jones Founder, Liana Banyan Corporation Founder@LianaBanyan.com 406-578-1232

There is a walkthrough at LianaBanyan.com/RedCarpet. No scheduling, no pitch deck, no salesman.

Help each other help ourselves.

As You Wish.

How We Amplify You

Liana Banyan amplifies the people it serves. We drive our audience to your storefronts, your channels, your practices. We don’t ask you to be our billboard. We ask to be your megaphone.

The louder you get, the louder we get — because your success is our revenue, and our revenue is your influence.

We amplify you. You amplify makers. Makers amplify their communities. Everyone gets louder together.

LINKS:

GOLDEN KEY EMBEDDED: “Help each other help ourselves”

RESEARCH NOTES (For BISHOP reference, not included in letter)

Michael Seibel:

  • CEO of Y Combinator
  • Co-founder of Justin.tv (became Twitch, sold to Amazon for $970M)
  • Co-founder of Socialcam (sold to Autodesk for $60M)
  • First Black CEO of YC
  • Known for: direct communication, pattern recognition, founder empathy
  • Has funded 3,000+ startups

Angle:

  • He’s seen every startup model — this is genuinely different
  • YC backs “impossible” ideas that work
  • Cooperative + scale is the unsolved problem
  • His background (Twitch) shows he understands creator economics
  • Direct ask: CEO role, not advisory

Why him for CEO (not just board):

  • Liana Banyan needs operational leadership, not just guidance
  • His pattern recognition could accelerate growth
  • His network opens doors we can’t open alone
  • He’s proven he can scale from zero to exit
  • The cooperative model needs someone who can translate it to mainstream

Cascade if CEO declines:

  1. CEO (full operational leadership)
  2. Industry Chancellor (strategic guidance, board-level)
  3. Board Member (governance, fiduciary)
  4. Advisory (counsel, no governance role)