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
• 150+ innovations with 470+ patent claims filed

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.

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.

I’m a 52-year-old Army 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.