Building independently, on an ostensibly open protocol with a King Maker, feels like playing an incredibly asymmetric game. As if the protocol were just some rich man's playground and you're the unpaid serfs.
He's playing 3D chess and you're the pawns.
Sometimes depressing.
Occasionally disheartening.
Always discouraging.
But, if it is truly open, then it is open to King Makers, too.