I Built a Platform and I Don’t Want to Be a Billionaire

A Letter to Kara Swisher

Dear Kara,

You’ve spent your career calling bullshit on tech founders who promise to change the world while building extraction machines. So let me be direct: I built a platform, I’m not taking VC money, and I think the whole model is broken.

If that sounds like every other founder pitch you’ve heard, keep reading. If it still sounds like bullshit by the end, delete this.

The Standard Pitch (Which I’m Not Making)

“We’re building a community-driven platform that empowers creators and democratizes access to—”

You’ve heard it. It always ends the same way: Series A, Series B, growth at all costs, IPO or acquisition, original mission abandoned, users exploited, founder cashes out.

I’m not doing that. Not because I’m more virtuous — because I’ve structured it so I can’t.

The Structure

  • No outside investors. Nobody can force me to monetize users.
  • Fixed margins. Cost + 20%. Not “market rate” — actual cost plus a thin margin to sustain operations.
  • User ownership. Every contributor earns medallions — blockchain-verified equity. They own what they build.
  • Three commercial portals fund charitable initiatives. The margin from .com/.biz/.net sustains the .org forever.

When I step back, the platform doesn’t get sold. The users govern it. There’s no exit because there’s no one to exit TO.

What It Actually Does

Six initiatives launching: food access, prescription medications, group purchasing, legal defense, medical savings, community coordination. Real needs, not engagement metrics.

One in five Americans who use insulin ration their doses because of cost. That’s not a market opportunity — it’s a failure of infrastructure. We’re building the infrastructure.

What I Want From You

Not press. Not a podcast appearance.

I want you to ask me hard questions. On the record or off. The things you’d ask any founder who claims to be different.

If the answers are bullshit, say so publicly. I’d rather get destroyed by you now than build something that deserves to be destroyed later.

The platform is live. The economics are published. I’ll answer anything.

Jonathan Jones Founding Manager, Liana Banyan Corporation November 2025

P.S. — You once said “most founders are not your friends.” I’m not trying to be your friend. I’m trying to build something that doesn’t eventually become what you spend your career criticizing.

406-578-1232 Support@LianaBanyan.org