Terms of Service

Welcome to CTO Swarm

Welcome to CTO Swarm, the private peer community for startup and scale-up CTOs. By joining our community, accessing our platform, or participating in our events, you agree to these Terms of Service. We've written these terms in plain language to make them as clear as possible.

Who Can Join

CTO Swarm membership is exclusively for practicing CTOs, technical co-founders, and senior technical leaders at startups and scale-up companies. To maintain the quality and relevance of our community:

• You must currently hold a CTO or equivalent technical leadership role
• You must provide accurate information during the application process
• We reserve the right to verify your eligibility and decline applications
• Consultants, recruiters, and vendors are not eligible for membership

Your Account & Access

When you create an account with CTO Swarm:

• You're responsible for keeping your login credentials secure
• You must not share your account access with others
• You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use
• You're responsible for all activity that occurs under your account

Community Guidelines

CTO Swarm is built on trust, respect, and confidentiality. All members must:

• Treat fellow members with respect and professionalism
• Keep all discussions and shared information confidential
• Refrain from spam, self-promotion, or sales pitches
• Share knowledge and experiences to help fellow CTOs
• Respect intellectual property and give credit where due
• Report any violations of these guidelines to our team

Violations of these guidelines may result in suspension or removal from the community.

Membership Plans & Payments

CTO Swarm offers both free and paid membership options:

• Community Access: Free access to our peer community, discussions, and select events
• Extended Membership: Paid access to premium content, exclusive workshops, and additional resources
• Extended Membership is billed monthly via Stripe
• You can cancel your Extended Membership at any time
• Cancellations take effect at the end of your current billing period
• No refunds for partial months, but you retain access until the end of your billing cycle

Money-Back Guarantee

We stand behind the value of our Extended Membership. If you're not satisfied within the first 30 days of your Extended Membership, we'll provide a full refund. Simply contact us through our Contact page to request a refund within this period.

Events & Content

CTO Swarm provides various resources including workshops, AMAs, playbooks, and templates:

• All content and events are for members' personal and professional use only
• You may not redistribute, resell, or share member-exclusive content
• Recording of live events is prohibited without explicit permission
• Playbooks and templates are provided as-is for your reference and adaptation
• We retain intellectual property rights to all original CTO Swarm content

Third-Party Services

CTO Swarm uses trusted third-party services to deliver our platform:

• Circle.so: Our community platform for discussions and content sharing
• Stripe: Our payment processor for Extended Membership billing
• These services have their own terms of service and privacy policies
• We're not responsible for the availability or performance of third-party services

Limitation of Liability

CTO Swarm facilitates peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing. While we strive to maintain a high-quality community:

• All advice and recommendations shared by members are their personal opinions
• We're not liable for business decisions you make based on community discussions
• You use all shared resources, templates, and advice at your own discretion
• We make no warranties about the accuracy or completeness of shared content
• Our liability is limited to the amount you've paid for Extended Membership

Account Termination

Either party may terminate membership:

• You can cancel your membership at any time through your account settings
• We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate our guidelines
• We may also terminate memberships if eligibility requirements are no longer met
• Upon termination, you lose access to member-exclusive content and discussions
• These Terms of Service survive termination where applicable

Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms of Service from time to time to reflect changes in our services or legal requirements. When we make significant changes:

• We'll post the updated terms on this page
• We'll update the "Last updated" date at the top
• For material changes, we'll notify members via email or community announcement
• Continued use of CTO Swarm after changes constitutes acceptance of new terms

Questions About These Terms

If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can contact us through our Contact page and we'll be happy to clarify anything.