Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Code To Winning
Episode: PARLER IS BACK: GAME CHANGING APPROACH TO PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION || Jon Willis || EPISODE 065
Host: Kagiso Dikane
Guest: Jon Willis (CSO & Co-founder, Pulse; current Parler owner)
Date: October 22, 2025

Overview

This episode features Jon Willis, Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of Pulse and the current steward of Parler, as he recounts Parler’s dramatic journey from meteoric rise to shutdown, then its recent comeback and expansion. The discussion dives into privacy-centric social media, the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship, new tech infrastructure strategies, and how blockchain is woven into the app’s future. Listeners get deep behind-the-scenes insight into platform building for freedom and user empowerment, plus honest reflections on winning and resilience.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Parler (00:58–11:39)

• Origins and Intent

  • Founded in 2018 by John Matze and Rebecca Mercer as a counterbalance to Twitter's perceived censorship.
  • Emerged as a safe space for voices banned on mainstream platforms, particularly conservatives.
  • "Parler was originally founded ... as kind of like a counteract or a counterbalance to Twitter, which was starting to ban conservatives left and right." – Jon Willis (01:21)

• 2020 Surge and Suppression

  • Gained massive traction during the 2020 US election, especially with the Hunter Biden story’s suppression on mainstream platforms.
  • Parler became #1 in the App Store before being shut down by Apple, Google, and AWS after January 6, 2021.
  • "There was no truth to [Parler coordinating January 6]. ... Be that as it may, they found their villain." – Jon Willis (03:38)

• Deplatforming Details & Fallout

  • AWS deleted Parler’s database, leading to a billion-dollar valuation dropping to zero.
  • Later, evidence emerged of government-funded monitoring and academic collaboration (Stanford study for $750k).
  • Ownership changes hands; platform struggles to regain footing until Willis and partners relaunch it in 2024.

• Technical Weaknesses & Strategic Response

  • Recognized main vulnerability: reliance on AWS/big tech clouds.
  • Developed and launched their own global cloud—Triton Data Centers, using energy-efficient custom hardware (same as Facebook’s).

Building a True Big Tech Alternative (11:39–16:12; 28:28–33:44)

• Owning the Entire Stack

  • Parler’s new parent company, Pulse, now owns the full tech stack: servers, cloud, and content delivery (via Edgecast acquisition).
  • “When you really look at what we’ve built in the last five years, we’ve built a true replacement to big tech.” – Jon Willis (11:30)

• Competing in a Crowded Space

  • Acknowledges conservative label (40% recognition, Pew Research).
  • “We don’t care who you vote for ... Parler is for everybody.” – Jon Willis (13:55)
  • Recognizes trends moving towards short-form video—launches Play TV as a TikTok/YouTube alternative.

• Mitigating Deplatforming Risk

  • Can still be removed from App Stores, but not from the web; web experience is identical to mobile app.
  • "If we were ever shut down on Apple and Google… we still have the web as the backup." – Jon Willis (12:19)

Rewards, Data Privacy, and Blockchain Integration (13:55–26:20; 28:28–33:44)

• A New Incentive Model: User as Beneficiary

  • Parler/Pulse flips the traditional model: users own their data and get rewarded for engagement (not just creators, but any user).
  • First social media platform to offer daily cryptocurrency (Optio) rewards for participating in 176 countries.
  • “We are flipping the model, saying, keep your data. ... You’re gonna earn rewards by doing so.” – Jon Willis (15:22)

• Optio: Utility Crypto and Marketplace

  • Launched native token, Optio (Latin for ‘choice’), as a real utility token (not a meme coin).
  • Rewards can be redeemed in the in-platform marketplace (Kartix), spent at real-world retailers, or exchanged for fiat/major crypto.
  • “We're working deals with retailers ... grocery stores, department stores that you use every single day.” – Jon Willis (31:39)

• Kartix Marketplace

  • Aggregates products from over 100,000 merchants—users can pay with fiat, crypto, or a mix.
  • “You could take payments in fiat and Optio. ... That $2 in Optio could be worth $4 soon.” – Jon Willis (33:44)

Play TV: Video Platform for Creators & Users (21:19–25:24)

• Key Differentiators

  • Content creators and users both earn, censorship is minimized (except for legal/copyright issues, zero tolerance for pornography/trafficking).
  • Monetization mixes fiat and crypto, making it attractive alongside YouTube or TikTok.
  • Quick adaptation to shifting attention spans (launch of 'Bursts'—short video format).
  • “We’re not doing any of that [arbitrary flagging/censorship] … with Play TV” – Jon Willis (22:19)

• Moderation

  • Only basic, universally accepted limitations (illegal content, IP violations, porn).

Truth Social and Other Platform Collaborations (25:24–26:28)

• Role in Truth Social
  • Team helped design app wireframes and initial UI/UX for Trump’s social network.
  • Also consulted on cloud infrastructure (though Truth Social uses AWS).
  • "We helped with the initial user interface and user experience wireframing ... and with the cloud infrastructure." – Jon Willis (25:41)

Global Reach & Real-World Tests (26:38–28:05)

• International Usage
  • 176 countries; after the US, strong user bases in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and the Philippines.
  • Iranian rebels recently used Parler to evade regime censorship, confirming infrastructure resilience.
  • “We actually have pictures of Iranian rebels holding up a piece of paper that says Parler is giving us free speech here in Iran.” – Jon Willis (27:54)

Financial Tools and International Money Movement (33:44–36:20)

• Kyvo Wallet

  • Upcoming DeFi wallet and Venmo competitor with fiat and crypto transfers, including internationally.
  • Plans for a Kyvo debit card that earns rewards.
  • Host exclaims about much-needed international peer-to-peer payment solutions.
  • “We got you ... Kybo is basically becoming a bank and will have all the banking features.” – Jon Willis (34:55)

• Automatic Currency Exchange

  • System automatically handles FX rates; building decentralized swap for crypto/fiat conversions.

Entrepreneurial Realities & Reflections (37:00–46:26)

• On Failure and Trust

  • Entrepreneurship is about risk, faith, resilience, discernment, and overcoming adversity.
  • “If you haven’t failed, you’re not an entrepreneur ... in order to be an entrepreneur, you have to be able ... to truly discern good from bad.” – Jon Willis (37:41)

• Family and Loyalty

  • Surviving the journey means forming close, loyal teams: “Our text thread is called the family ... everyone in there I consider my brother or sister.” – Jon Willis (41:04)

• Perspective on the US and Opportunity

  • Celebrates American capitalism, warns against entitlement and loss of self-reliance.
  • “If you have everything handed to you on a silver platter, you’re good for nothing because you don’t know how to work ... That is the problem with communism ... It’s all legalized slavery.” – Jon Willis (42:53)

What Does It Mean to Be Winning? (46:26–48:23)

• Jon Willis’s Definition
  • “When you can be proud of yourself, when you can look in the mirror and know that your kids are taken care of, your wife is taken care of ... you still trust that person that you see—that’s winning.” – Jon Willis (46:56)
  • Enduring and persisting despite hardship is ongoing winning: “Every step that we take that’s upwards in a world that’s constantly trying to bring us down is winning.” – Jon Willis (48:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Parler’s Philosophy:

  • “We don’t want you to be the product, because with big tech platforms, you’re their product because they are selling you to the highest bidder. We are flipping the model.” – Jon Willis (15:22)

• Entrepreneurship:

  • “Failure is the greatest teacher. And if you haven’t failed, you’re not an entrepreneur.” – Jon Willis (37:41)
  • “I look at it this way. If you ever go to Universal Studios in Hollywood... throughout life, we’re constantly climbing a down escalator. And though our legs may be burning ... if we stop our climb, we’ll end up right where we started.” – Jon Willis (47:40)

• On Blockchain in Social Media:

  • “One of the biggest pieces that was missing in social media was blockchain technology ... We built a layer one blockchain, Optio, with the intent that it can be plugged into multiple different type of platforms.” – Jon Willis (28:34)

• Real-World Impact:

  • “The Iranian rebels ... were actually using Parler to communicate... because the Iranian regime couldn’t shut down our platform.” – Jon Willis (27:45)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• 00:58–11:39 — The story and original downfall of Parler
• 11:39–16:12 — Building independent infrastructure; the architecture of Pulse/Parler
• 13:55–16:12 — The new user rewards model and data privacy contrast
• 21:19–25:24 — Play TV, video content, and content moderation philosophy
• 25:41–26:28 — Truth Social collaboration
• 26:38–28:05 — Global user base and the Iranian rebel story
• 28:28–33:44 — Blockchain, Optio token, and e-commerce integration
• 33:44–36:20 — Kyvo wallet and international payments
• 37:00–46:26 — Entrepreneurship's lessons, mindset, and American opportunity
• 46:26–48:23 — Defining what it means to be "winning"

Final Thoughts

Jon Willis shares the turbulent but inspiring journey of Parler—the migrations of ownership, facing deplatforming, and solutions for surviving in a landscape dominated by big tech and censorship concerns. He outlines a new vision: building a platform where users are empowered with data privacy and monetary rewards, supported by a truly independent technology stack and blockchain-driven ecosystem. Through both technical and philosophical depth, the episode motivates listeners to rethink the economics of their online lives and the real cost—and reward—of taking risks.

For more:

• bypulse.com
• parlor.com
• Play TV: playtv.parlor.com
• @GetParlerApp and @OptioBlockchain (on X)