Community Terms & Guidelines

1. Scope

These terms govern Capmatter Founder Circle - the member network, profiles, posts, comments, circles, messaging, events, and the knowledge hub. They apply in addition to our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy. Where a conflict arises on community-specific matters, this page governs.

2. Membership and verification

• Membership is by application and is subject to verification of your identity, role, and company. Approval is at our discretion and may be withdrawn.
• You must be at least 18 years old and use your real name and genuine professional details. Impersonation, fabricated credentials, and undisclosed shared accounts are prohibited.
• Verification means we did a reasonable check of the information supplied. It is not a guarantee of anyone's identity, credentials, track record, solvency, or trustworthiness.

3. What you may not post

Do not post, send, or share content that:

• is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, harassing, hateful, or threatening, or that targets a person or group on the basis of religion, caste, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or ethnicity;
• infringes anyone's intellectual property, or discloses confidential information you are not free to share - including another company's cap table, financials, term sheets, or employee data;
• constitutes a public offer or solicitation of securities or investment, or promises returns. Founder Circle is not a fundraising platform and must not be used to solicit investment from the public;
• contains material non-public information, or is intended to manipulate a market;
• is spam, bulk solicitation, undisclosed paid promotion, chain content, or scraped and republished material;
• impersonates any person or organisation, or misrepresents your affiliation;
• contains malware, exploits, or attempts to compromise the platform or other members; or
• is prohibited under Indian law or under Rule 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

4. Confidentiality between members

Founders share sensitive things here. Treat what other members post in private circles and direct messages as confidential by default: do not screenshot, forward, republish, or quote it outside the platform without the author's permission. This is a condition of membership, and breaching it is grounds for removal.

5. Your content and the licence you grant

You keep ownership of what you post. You grant Capmatter a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute your content for the purpose of operating and moderating the service, and to retain copies as needed for backups, security, and legal compliance. This licence ends when your content is deleted, except for copies retained under our Data Retention Policy and for content others have already received.

6. No advice, no endorsement

Content in Founder Circle is the personal opinion of the member who posted it. Capmatter does not review, verify, endorse, or take responsibility for it. Nothing shared by members - including guidance on fundraising, valuation, tax, employment, or compliance - is professional advice, and Capmatter is not a party to any arrangement you enter into with another member. Do your own diligence before acting, transacting, or sharing anything of value.

7. Reporting and moderation

• Use the Report action on any post, comment, profile, or message, or email support@capmatter.com.
• We acknowledge reports within 24 hours and aim to resolve them within 15 days. Content that is unlawful or poses a risk to members may be removed immediately, before any review concludes.
• Depending on severity we may remove content, issue a warning, restrict features, suspend, or permanently ban an account, and where required report the matter to the authorities.
• Every moderation action is recorded in an immutable audit log.

8. Appeals

If your content was removed or your account restricted and you believe it was wrong, reply to the notification or email support@capmatter.com within 30 days. A person who was not involved in the original decision will review it and respond with the outcome and reasons.

9. Leaving

You can request account deletion from your settings at any time. Posts, comments, and messages may remain visible to preserve conversations for other members, with your name replaced by "Deleted User" - see the Data Retention Policy for exactly what is kept and what is erased.