Slingshot#
The cooperative accelerator.
Every accelerator in the world is designed for the same person: the founder with venture capital ambitions, a technology background, and a product aimed at extraction. We built a different one.
Slingshot is for the person with a cooperative idea and a community ready to support it. No equity surrender. No term sheets. No demo day theater for investors. Just collective resources, platform infrastructure, and a cooperative network that wants you to succeed.
Mission#
Slingshot provides structured launch support for Member initiatives within the Liana Banyan Platform — accelerating cooperative projects from idea to operation using shared resources, mentorship, and the cooperative network.
What Slingshot Accelerates#
- Member-led cooperative initiatives within the Sweet Sixteen
- New Bruck’lyn neighborhood nodes
- Pnyx governance innovations
- Cooperative tools and services that benefit the whole platform
- Any Member project that passes the cooperative-class filter
The Cooperative-Class Filter#
To enter Slingshot, a project must:
- Benefit the Members who support it (not extract from them)
- Operate on cooperative ownership principles
- Commit to sharing innovations with the platform CANON
- Have at least 3 Member sponsors
The Counterintuitive Promise#
We will not make you rich. We will make your cooperative viable. Those are different things. One is extraction. The other is sustainability.
“A slingshot takes what’s already moving and gives it direction.”
Cross-ref: Pnyx · Bruck’lyn · Brass Tacks · Harper Guild
About Slingshot The Accelerator Problem Traditional accelerators solve the wrong problem. They take equity from founders and use it to fund operations — creating a structural misalignment from day one. The accelerator wins when it exits. The founder wins (sometimes) when they exit. The community the product was supposed to serve? They’re users, not owners.
Slingshot inverts this.
The Cooperative Inversion In Slingshot:
No equity surrender. Your cooperative keeps what it builds. No investor pitch. Your pitch is to the Members who will use what you build. No extraction model. Your success metric is Member benefit, not exit valuation. Shared infrastructure. The platform provides what would cost a startup $500K to build. What “Accelerator” Means Here Slingshot accelerates by removing friction:
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How Slingshot Works The 90-Day Sprint Slingshot operates in 90-day cohorts. Each cohort accepts up to 10 projects. The sprint has four phases:
Phase 1: Foundation (Days 1–20) Legal structure finalized (cooperative articles, Member agreements) Platform stack integration mapped Founding Member circle confirmed (minimum 3 Member sponsors) Substrate entry created (canonical record from day one) Phase 2: Build (Days 21–60) Core cooperative function built on platform infrastructure Weekly check-ins logged to substrate Peer cohort review (Slingshot projects review each other — no outside judges) VSL credit line opened for qualified projects Phase 3: Launch (Days 61–80) First Member transactions on the platform Bruck’lyn node integration (if applicable) Pnyx announcement to the full cooperative Marks distribution to founding Members Phase 4: Handoff (Days 81–90) CANON contribution documented (innovations logged) 90-day receipt written and logged to substrate Graduated status conferred (Slingshot Alumni) Next-cohort mentorship commitment Support Provided Resource What It Means Legal templates Pre-drafted cooperative documents Platform access Full stack without build cost Network access Introduction to relevant Members and node leaders Marks seed Initial cooperative currency for Member activation Mentorship Alumni Slingshot Members available for peer guidance The Peer Review Model There are no outside judges in Slingshot. No investor panel. No demo day audience.
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Join Slingshot Before You Apply Slingshot is for projects that are ready to move. If you have an idea but no cooperative structure, start with Pnyx governance and Bruck’lyn community-building first. Come to Slingshot when you have:
A clear cooperative function (what it does, who benefits) At least 3 Member sponsors (Members who have committed to use it) A willingness to share innovations with the CANON The Application The Slingshot application is a cooperative-class pitch: not to investors, but to the Members you’ll serve.
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Slingshot Governance The Alumni Council Slingshot is governed by its Alumni Council — Members who have completed at least one Slingshot cohort. The Alumni Council:
Reviews and accepts applications for each cohort Sets cohort themes and priorities (aligned with platform Pnyx decisions) Mediates disputes within cohorts Maintains the CANON contribution archive Alumni Council membership is automatic upon cohort completion. Council decisions are made by simple majority and logged to substrate.
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