Crown Letter: Michael Seibel
CEO — Liana Banyan Corporation (Offered)
February 9, 2026
Mr. Seibel,
Liana Banyan is a Cost + 20% cooperative marketplace and product-funding incubator where creators, workers, and backers keep 83.3% and the margin is constitutionally locked.
I’ve spent nine years building something the startup world would call impossible — a cooperative commerce platform that can’t enshittify — and it’s ready for operational leadership.
I don’t want to be CEO. I want to build, invent, solve problems. I’m structurally building this so the CEO role is a professional, accountable seat from day one — not a title I cling to out of ego. That’s why I’m writing to you.
One Crown, One Offer. No one else is getting this letter for CEO. We have made no backup plans — because we want you to know how wanted you are.
What I Built
Sixteen charitable initiatives funded by three commercial websites, all at Cost + 20%. The operating agreement locks the margin permanently.
You may be thinking that 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 historical cost-predictable production at once for the same product. 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 compounding stake in the cooperative’s capacity — more Joules, more backing power, better terms — while the margin stays fixed at 20%.
The economics aren’t promises. They’re engineering:
- Three-Gear Currency System (Credits, Marks, Joules) — mathematical solvency proofs, not projections
- Position Funding — democratic project financing without equity dilution
- Tab System — graduated contribution based on success, not debt
- 1,200+ documented innovations — 99% utility patents, not design — protected by 210 formal claims across 7 applications. Eight definite with 9 more out of the first 130 so far have survived a deep dive against the U.S. patent office with no prior art found
The full prior art research — every query, every result, every dual-AI valuation assessment — is published at Cephas.LianaBanyan.org in the “Under the Hood” section until peer-reviewed. Nothing behind an NDA. Nothing behind a paywall. Built in Public.
The Manufacturing Backbone
HexIsle, our launch title, is a water-powered physical computing platform — no batteries, no screens, just physics and imagination. A geared mechanical ocean with waves, tides, and currents; powered by hydraulics which convert to pneumatics for palm trees that literally grow and bloom after planting on islands players build with modularly powered components. We’re targeting a second quarter 2026 Kickstarter launch (exact date still Formlabs-dependent), so you can see the decentralized local manufacturing backbone working in public before committing.
Stereolithographic (SLA) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing enable precision components engineered from the ground up so every interdependent piece is designed natively for both 3D printing and traditional molding and die press production, so the same designs scale from prototype to mass manufacturing without retooling. By design, and part of the engineering compatibility requirements for expansion and ancillary product lines. Modular design means it can be replicated at the lowest single individual level anywhere in the world. This is distributed manufacturing with cooperative economics. HexIsle and the ancillary product lines it generates, patents contributed under the same terms as every member, prove the system works. The platform scales it.
The Timing
Canada has effectively closed its Start-Up Visa program, leaving more than 40,000 founders in backlog or limbo while a smaller 2026 pilot is designed. We’re organizing a “Rescue Fleet” — stranded entrepreneurs building infrastructure they actually own. They need a platform. We need builders.
The Ask
If you’d prefer not to sit in the seat yourself but know someone who should — that is equally valuable to me. Well, perhaps a little more equal if you take the seat yourself. A Crown holder can appoint and mentor the person they place into the role. You would be the experienced commander whose presence keeps everyone honest. That mentorship is what being the Crown means.
If this is even a “maybe,” the walkthrough is already waiting for you at LianaBanyan.com/RedCarpet — enter your @ycombinator.com or @michaelseibel.com email and it will recognize you. If you’re willing, look at the economics and the manufacturing stack, and then give me your crucible questions — either privately or publicly via the Press Junket feedback tool at Cephas.LianaBanyan.org, which is open to any domain-verified professional.
The Ecosystem Forming
I’ve also written to MacKenzie Scott about Board Chair, Tom Simon (26-year FBI Special Agent, CPA, forensic accountant) about CFO, Sal Khan about our education initiative, and José Andrés about food security. The ecosystem is forming. What’s missing is operational leadership at the top.
Who I Am
I’m a 52-year-old Army veteran — Infantry (11B) and Aviation (15A), FAA Commercial Rotary Wing IFR-rated helicopter pilot. Father of eight. Twenty-one years in IT development. I changed my major in college from Architecture to a double major of Bible and Business, with a minor in Art — but I never stopped designing. I have 18 handwritten journals, early prototypes from 2003 when I was active duty, SolidWorks files from before that, and 1,200+ Fusion 360 diagrams from recent years.
I’ve been thinking about cooperative economics for 47 years. Building this for nine.
I’m not a pitch deck founder. I’m an amateur engineer who built the tools needed to accomplish the tasks at hand. What I’m not is a Silicon Valley CEO. That’s why Liana Banyan needs you.
Help each other help ourselves.
Jonathan Jones
Founder & General Manager, Liana Banyan Corporation 406-578-1232 | Founder@LianaBanyan.com
P.S. 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.
Enclosures:
- Platform walkthrough: LianaBanyan.com/RedCarpet (personalized for @ycombinator.com / @michaelseibel.com)
- Economics deep dive: Cephas.LianaBanyan.org/under-the-hood/
- Full research archive: Cephas.LianaBanyan.org/under-the-hood/patent-prior-art-research/