The Kickoff
A tech division built on infrastructure that already runs — pointed at Mainstay’s audience. Virgo TV ships first.
Read
Mike Johnson · GRL
The Ask
Of Mainstay Tech. Standard founding equity for a President-level operator who’s bringing infrastructure on day one.
Market-adjusted for split time between Mainstay and Ground Rush. Equity is the upside — base keeps the lights on.
I keep running Ground Rush Labs. Mainstay Tech is the priority build. Both companies move; neither stalls.
What I Commit To
Not a job description — a set of standards. The bar I hold myself to, regardless of what’s asked.
Strategy, hires, vendors, infrastructure, product roadmap. You don’t think about tech. I do.
Private beta to your inner circle Q1. Open the doors Q2. First 1,000 paying subs before the year is out.
Two engineers, one designer, one product manager. Small. Senior. No middle management. Everyone ships.
Self-hosted everything. No platform fees. No data leaks. Mainstay owns the relationship with every fan.
Chatbots, voice agents, automation, content pipelines — all the things already built — plugged into Mainstay day one.
Friday brief. What shipped, what’s next, what’s at risk. Direct line. No middle layer.
Your Netflix. Your Twitch. Your rules. Subscriptions you keep one hundred percent of.No Spotify cut. No Apple cut. No middleman.
The Investment
All-in. Salaries, infrastructure, legal, marketing, contingency. Team hired by month 3. Virgo TV live by month 6.
Full build through scale. CTO joins Year 2. By month 18 the platform self-funds. Month 24 it covers the whole division.
Year One is an investment. Year Two starts earning. Year Three the tech division funds the next bet.
Where It Goes
Six lines. Every dollar tied to an outcome.
21%
$250K
26%
$310K
18%
$210K
11%
$130K
11%
$125K
13%
$150K
100%
$1.175M
The Return
Subscription math. Plain numbers, no projections inflated. The ladder.
Day One
The Ground Rush stack — built, shipped, running. Mainstay plugs in. No 18-month build cycle.
The Roadmap
Question