A Business Model, Not a Charity
An Open Letter to Warren Buffett
Dear Mr. Buffett,
You’ve said you’re “going quiet.” But you also said you’re not going to sit at home and watch soap operas.
This isn’t a pitch for money. It’s a pitch for scrutiny — from someone who’s spent 60 years understanding what makes businesses work.
The Model
Liana Banyan is a cooperative commerce platform with a fixed margin: Cost + 20%.
That’s it. On every transaction — music licenses, product sales, services — the platform takes Cost + 20%, and the creator keeps the rest. On a $500 transaction, the creator gets $415+.
Three commercial portals generate revenue. That revenue permanently funds six charitable initiatives — healthcare access, education, civic infrastructure. Not “profit first, give later.” The giving is structural, built into the operating model from day one.
Ownership is distributed to participants through blockchain-verified medallions. Every contributor earns equity proportional to participation. Not speculation — actual ownership stakes with governance rights and dividends.
Why I’m Writing You
You’ve built your career on understanding businesses that generate value sustainably. You’ve avoided fads, speculation, and models that depend on extracting from customers.
I’ve spent nine years building something I believe is sound. But I don’t have your experience in stress-testing business models.
What I want to know:
- Where does this margin structure fail? Is Cost+20% sustainable against competitors who burn cash to acquire users?
- What am I missing about capital formation? Cooperatives have historically struggled to raise growth capital without compromising their structure.
- Does this model have durability? Can it survive my absence, market cycles, competitive pressure?
The Personal Part
I’m a veteran. I have a family of 10. My mortgage is on the line for this launch.
I’m not building this to get rich. I’m building this because I think the infrastructure of commerce shapes who benefits from it — and I wanted to build infrastructure that couldn’t extract from the people using it.
The margin is fixed in our operating agreement. We literally can’t enshittify.
The Ask
You’ve said you’ll still be at the office, still looking for useful ideas. You’ve said Berkshire is “sitting on cash waiting for opportunities that we’ll be glad we have the cash for.”
I’m not asking for an investment. I’m asking for 30 minutes of scrutiny from someone who’s spent 60 years separating businesses that work from businesses that don’t.
If this model doesn’t hold up, I’d rather know now. If it does — maybe it’s worth watching.
Jonathan Jones Founding Manager, Liana Banyan Corporation November 2025
Full economics at Cephas.LianaBanyan.org 53 patent filings protecting the architecture
406-578-1232 Support@LianaBanyan.org
P.S. — You’ve said the American economy works best when prosperity is shared. I built a platform where sharing is structural, not optional.