STORY VENTURES MANAGEMENT, LLC
TERMS OF USE
Effective date: January 8, 2024
General
Please read the following Terms of Use (collectively, with the Privacy Policy and the Copyright Dispute Policy, the “Terms”), which are a binding contract between you and Story Ventures Management, LLC (collectively, with our affiliates, “Story,” “we” or “us”). They govern your use of our website(s) (the “Site”) and any associated services, including Story-affiliated blog posts, quarterly updates, newsletters, podcasts, social media and other content, whether distributed via this website or other content distribution platforms (collectively with the Site, the “Services”). By accessing or using the Services in any manner, you agree to be bound by the Terms. We may update the Terms from time to time, and any modifications will be effective immediately upon posting unless we indicate otherwise. If you use the Services after any modifications have been posted, your use will constitute your agreement to such modifications. We suggest that you review these Terms periodically for changes.
You represent and warrant that you are an individual of at least eighteen (18) years of age. If you’re agreeing to these Terms on behalf of an organization or entity, you represent and warrant that you are authorized to agree to these Terms on that organization’s or entity’s behalf and bind them to these Terms (in which case, the references to “you” and “your” in these Terms, except for in this sentence, refer to that organization or entity).
Your use of or participation in certain Services may also be subject to additional policies, rules and/or conditions (“Additional Terms”), which are incorporated herein by reference, and you understand that by using or participating in any such Services, you agree to also comply with these Additional Terms.
Please read these Terms carefully. These Terms include information about future changes to the Services and these Terms, limitations of liability, a class action waiver and resolution of disputes by arbitration instead of in court. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR USE OF AND ACCESS TO OUR SERVICES ARE SUBJECT TO THESE TERMS; IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING, YOU MAY NOT USE OR ACCESS THE SERVICES IN ANY MANNER.
ARBITRATION NOTICE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER: EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES DESCRIBED IN THE ARBITRATION PROVISION BELOW, YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION.
Except as otherwise noted on the Services, all content and material on the Services – including information, photos, podcasts, blog or social media posts, videos, graphics, icons, design and overall appearance – are the property of Story and should not be used, modified or reproduced without our prior written consent. All trademarks, trade names and logos displayed on the Services are the property of Story, its affiliates or their third-party owners, and the Services grant no license to them.
The Services are intended solely to provide general information related to Story. The Services are not directed at and should not be relied upon by any investor or prospective investor in any investment fund or other investment vehicle managed by Story. Story does not intend to solicit or make its investment advisory services available to the general public.
Under no circumstance should any information provided via the Services be considered an offer soliciting the purchase or sale of any security or other interest in any investment fund or other investment vehicle managed or mentioned by Story, nor should any such information be construed as an offer to provide investment advisory services. Any such offer or solicitation will be made separately and only by means of confidential offering documents specific to the relevant investment fund or other investment vehicle to investors that, among other requirements, meet certain qualifications under federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that Story’s investment strategies will be successful or that Story’s investment objectives will be achieved. Any investment in a fund or other investment vehicle managed by Story involves a high degree of risk, including the risk of a complete loss of investment.
Any Story portfolio companies or other investments described or referenced via the Services are not representative of all investments of the funds managed by Story, and there can be no assurance that the investments described or referenced will be profitable or that future investments will have similar character or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Story as the primary investment advisor is available here. Story makes no representation or warranty about the accuracy or completeness of this list. Further, this list is updated periodically and as such may not reflect the most recent Story investments.
Any opinions expressed via the Services reflect the views of the individual posters and are subject to change. Certain information available via the Services has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of investment funds managed by Story. While taken from sources we believe are reliable, Story has not independently verified all such information, and Story makes no representation or warranty about the accuracy of such information or its suitability for any purpose. The opinions expressed via the Services are not intended to constitute investment, accounting, tax or legal advice; nothing in the Services is a recommendation that you purchase, sell or hold any security or other investment or that you pursue any particular investment strategy. The content available via the Services is presented on an “as is” basis without any warranty, express or implied, of any kind.
Certain statements made or other information disseminated via the Services by individual Story personnel may constitute “forward-looking statements” under the Privacy Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To the extent any information made available via the Services constitutes a forward-looking statement (which may be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “upside,” “potential,” “project,” “estimate,” “intend,” “forecast,” “target,” “believe” or similar terminology), please note that actual events, results or performance may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated by such statement. Story disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement in the event it later turns out to be inaccurate, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets or opinions expressed via the Services are subject to change without notice and may differ from opinions expressed by others.
Past results of Story’s managed investment funds or other investment vehicles are not necessarily indicative of future results.
Additional important information about Story, including our Form ADV, is available at the SEC’s website, http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov
Third Party Accounts
You may be required to use your account credentials from other services (each, a “Third Party Account”), such as those offered by Medium, or otherwise be able to use such a Third Party Account, to access the Services, or certain parts or features of the Services. By using the Services through a Third Party Account, you represent and warrant that you have all rights and authorizations necessary to do so and you permit us to access certain information from such account for use by the Services. You are solely responsible for any activity associated with your Third Party Account and any other access tools or credentials in connection with the Services.
Third Party Websites
The Services may include content created, prepared or otherwise made available by third parties or a link to or integration with websites operated by third parties and such third party content may be subject to additional terms and conditions. Story has no control over any such content or websites and shall have no liability related to such content or websites. The existence of any such content, link or other integration does not constitute an endorsement of the relevant content, website or third party. You hereby release and hold Story harmless from any and all liability arising from your use of any third party content, website or service.
Restrictions on How You Use the Services
You represent, warrant, and agree that you will not provide or contribute anything to the Services, including any Content or User Submissions, as those terms are defined below, or otherwise use or interact with the Services, in a manner that:
- infringes or violates the intellectual property rights or any other rights of anyone else;
- violates any law or regulation, including, without limitation, any applicable export control laws, privacy laws or any other purpose not reasonably intended by Story;
- is dangerous, harmful, fraudulent, deceptive, threatening, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable;
- attempts, in any manner, to obtain the password, account, or other security information from any other user;
- violates the security of any computer network, or cracks any passwords or security encryption codes;
- runs Maillist, Listserv, any form of auto-responder or “spam” on the Services, or any processes that run or are activated while you are not logged into the Services, or that otherwise interfere with the proper working of the Services (including by placing an unreasonable load on the Services’ infrastructure);
- “crawls,” “scrapes,” or “spiders” any page, data, or portion of or relating to the Services or Content (through use of manual or automated means);
- copies or stores any significant portion of the Content; or
- decompiles, reverse engineers, or otherwise attempts to obtain the source code or underlying ideas or information of or relating to the Services.
A violation of any of the foregoing is grounds for termination of your right to use or access the Services.
What are my rights in the Services?
The materials displayed or performed or available on or through the Services, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, data, articles, photos, images, illustrations, User Submissions (as defined below) and so forth (all of the foregoing, the “Content”) are protected by copyright and/or other intellectual property laws. You promise to abide by all copyright notices, trademark rules, information, and restrictions contained in any Content you access through the Services, and you won’t use, copy, reproduce, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform, upload, display, license, sell, commercialize or otherwise exploit for any purpose any Content not owned by you, (i) without the prior consent of the owner of that Content or (ii) in a way that violates someone else’s (including Story’s) rights.
Subject to these Terms, we grant each user of the Services a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable and non-transferable license to use (i.e., to download and display locally) Content solely for purposes of using the Services. Use, reproduction, modification, distribution or storage of any Content for any purpose other than using the Services is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from us. You understand that Story owns the Services. You won’t modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as expressly provided in this Section), create derivative works based on, or otherwise exploit any of the Services. The Services may allow you to copy or download certain Content, but please remember that even where these functionalities exist, all the restrictions in this section still apply.
What about anything I contribute to the Services – do I have to grant any licenses to Story or to other users?
User Submissions
Anything you post, upload, share, store, or otherwise provide through the Services is your “User Submission”. Some User Submissions may be viewable by other users. You are solely responsible for all User Submissions you contribute to the Services. You represent that all User Submissions submitted by you are accurate, complete, up-to-date, and in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations.
You agree that you will not post, upload, share, store, or otherwise provide through the Services any User Submissions that: (i) infringe any third party's copyrights or other rights (e.g., trademark, privacy rights, etc.); (ii) contain sexually explicit content or pornography; (iii) contain hateful, defamatory, or discriminatory content or incite hatred against any individual or group; (iv) exploit minors; (v) depict unlawful acts or extreme violence; (vi) depict animal cruelty or extreme violence towards animals; (vii) promote fraudulent schemes, multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, get rich quick schemes, online gaming and gambling, cash gifting, work from home businesses, or any other dubious money-making ventures; or (viii) that violate any law.
Due to the large number of business plan ideas and related materials that Story reviews, and the similarity of many such plans and materials, we cannot agree to obligations of confidentiality, non-use, or non-disclosure regarding any User Submission or any other information or materials submitted or provided to or otherwise shared with us, except as set forth in the Terms (including, for the avoidance of doubt, the Privacy Policy). By providing User Submissions, you (or anyone acting on your behalf) agree that any such User Submissions will not be considered confidential or proprietary, and that Story is free to use User Submissions subject to these Terms. In no event will Story be limited in, or restricted from, the pursuit of any opportunities, either alone or with third parties.
Licenses
In order to display your User Submissions on the Services, and to allow other users to enjoy them (where applicable), you grant us certain rights in those User Submissions (see below for more information). Please note that all of the following licenses are subject to our Privacy Policy to the extent they relate to User Submissions that are also your personally identifiable information.
By submitting User Submissions through the Services, you hereby do and shall grant Story a worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable and transferable license to use, edit, modify, truncate, aggregate, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, perform, and otherwise fully exploit the User Submissions in connection with this site, the Services and our (and our successors’ and assigns’) businesses, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of this site or the Services (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels (including, without limitation, third party websites and feeds), and including after your termination of your account or the Services. You also hereby do and shall grant each user of this site and/or the Services a non-exclusive, perpetual license to access your User Submissions through this site and/or the Services, and to use, edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display and perform such User Submissions, including after your termination of your account or the Services. For clarity, the foregoing license grants to us and our users do not affect your other ownership or license rights in your User Submissions, including the right to grant additional licenses to your User Submissions, unless otherwise agreed in writing. You represent and warrant that you have all rights to grant such licenses to us without infringement or violation of any third party rights, including without limitation, any privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other intellectual property or proprietary rights.
Certain features of the Services allow you to share information with others, including through your social networks or other Third Party Accounts. When Content is authorized for sharing, we will clearly identify the Content you are authorized to redistribute and the ways you may redistribute it, usually by providing a “share” button on or near the Content. If you share information from the Services with others through your Third Party Accounts, such as your social networks, you authorize Story to share that information with the applicable Third Party Account provider. Please review the policies of any Third Party Account providers you share information with or through for additional information about how they may use your information. If you redistribute Content, you must be able to edit or delete any Content you redistribute, and you must edit or delete it promptly upon our request.
Finally, you understand and agree that Story, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users (including you), may need to make changes to your User Submissions to conform and adapt those User Submissions to the technical requirements of connection networks, devices, services, or media, and the foregoing licenses include the rights to do so.
Copyright Dispute Policy
We respect others’ intellectual property rights, and we reserve the right to delete or disable Content alleged to be infringing, and to terminate the accounts of repeat alleged infringers; to review our complete Copyright Dispute Policy and learn how to report potentially infringing content, click here.
Limitation of Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, TORT, CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE) SHALL ANY OF THE STORY PARTIES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON FOR (A) ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, ACCURACY OF RESULTS, OR COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, (B) ANY SUBSTITUTE GOODS, SERVICES OR TECHNOLOGY, (C) ANY AMOUNT, IN THE AGGREGATE, IN EXCESS OF ONE-HUNDRED ($100) DOLLARS OR (D) ANY MATTER BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CONTROL. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL OR CERTAIN OTHER DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Arbitration
Any dispute or claim arising out of or related to these Terms, or breach or termination thereof, will be finally settled by confidential binding arbitration in New York, New York, United States pursuant to the International Arbitration Rules and Procedures of the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service, Inc. (“JAMS”) then in effect by a single JAMS arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving complex commercial contract disputes. Judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The arbitrator will apply New York law to the merits of any dispute or claim, without reference to rules of conflict of law, and shall have the authority to award any and all available remedies, including legal and equitable relief. The parties may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or other interim or conservatory relief, as necessary, without breach of this arbitration agreement and without any abridgment of the powers of the arbitrator. The arbitral proceedings and all pleadings and written evidence shall be in the English language. Any written evidence originally in a language other than English shall be submitted in English translation accompanied by the original or true copy thereof. The prevailing party will be entitled to receive from the non-prevailing party all costs, damages and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the prevailing party in connection with that action or proceeding, whether or not the controversy is reduced to judgment or award. The prevailing party will be that party who may be fairly said by the arbitrator(s) to have prevailed on the major disputed issues. You hereby consent to the arbitration in the State of New York in the county of New York.
Miscellaneous
The failure of either you or us to exercise, in any way, any right herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. If any provision of these Terms are found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated, to the minimum extent necessary, so that these Terms shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. You and Story agree that these Terms are the complete and exclusive statement of the mutual understanding between you and Story, and that these Terms supersede and cancel all previous written and oral agreements, communications and other understandings relating to the subject matter of these Terms. You hereby acknowledge and agree that you are not an employee, agent, partner or joint venture of Story, and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind Story in any respect whatsoever. Except as expressly set forth in the section above regarding the arbitration provision, you and Story agree there are no third-party beneficiaries intended under these Terms.