Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of these Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you and [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], a company organized under the laws of [STATE OF INCORPORATION] ("Helmsmen Lab," "we," "us," or "our"). By accessing helmsmenlab.com, subscribing to our newsletter, or purchasing any of our products, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the website or buy our products.

2. Description of the service

Helmsmen Lab publishes educational digital products on the neurobiology of timing, stamina, and autonomic regulation in men. Products include written ebooks, workbooks, audio companions, optional community access, and related materials (collectively, the "Service"). The Service is provided on an "as-is" basis as further described below.

3. Account and eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to use our Service. By using the Service you represent that you are 18 or older and able to enter into binding contracts under applicable law.

Helmsmen Lab is intended for adult men interested in education about autonomic and behavioral regulation. The content addresses topics such as sympathetic activation, recovery, sleep, breath, and related performance subjects in a research-informed but plain-language way. It is suitable for any adult reader regardless of gender, but it is written for a male audience and from that perspective.

You are responsible for keeping any account credentials secure, including the personal download links we email you. Do not share those links publicly.

4. Purchases and payment

All prices are listed in U.S. Dollars (USD) unless otherwise specified and are inclusive of any applicable digital-services tax we are required to collect.

• The Letter — one-time purchase, USD 29.
• The Manual — one-time purchase, USD 79.
• The Captain — one-time purchase, USD 249.
• The Crew — recurring subscription, USD 14 / month or USD 99 / year.
• Implementation Companion — one-time purchase, USD 29.

Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. By submitting a payment you authorize Stripe to charge your selected payment method. We do not store full card numbers on our servers. Sales tax, VAT, GST, or similar may be added at checkout based on your location. If your payment fails, we may suspend access until payment is received.

We reserve the right to change product prices at any time. Price changes will not apply to purchases already completed. For active subscriptions, we will notify you at least 30 days before any price change takes effect.

5. License to content

When you purchase a digital product, Helmsmen Lab grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use the content for your personal, non-commercial use. This license is granted to you as an individual reader. It does not transfer ownership of the content.

You may:

• Download the content to as many personal devices as you reasonably own.
• Print one personal copy for offline reading.
• Quote short excerpts (under 200 words) in reviews or articles, with attribution.

You may not:

• Resell, sublicense, rent, lease, or otherwise commercially distribute the content.
• Share, upload, or post the content on any public, private, or paid forum, including but not limited to file-sharing networks, cloud-drive folders made accessible to others, Telegram channels, Discord servers, or piracy sites.
• Strip, modify, or obscure any copyright notice or watermark.
• Use the content or any derivative of it to train, fine-tune, or otherwise inform machine-learning models without our prior written permission.
• Use the content to provide professional services to third parties (such as coaching) without a separate commercial license from us.

Helmsmen Lab may revoke this license if you materially breach these Terms.

6. The Crew — recurring subscriptions

The Crew is a recurring subscription giving you access to ongoing letters, the anonymous community space, and supplementary materials. The following terms apply specifically to subscriptions.

• Billing cycle. Monthly subscriptions renew every month on the same calendar day you first subscribed. Annual subscriptions renew every 12 months on the anniversary date.
• Automatic renewal. Subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel. By subscribing, you authorize us to charge your payment method at each renewal.
• Cancellation. You may cancel at any time from your customer portal or by emailing support@helmsmenlab.com. Cancellation stops future renewals but does not retroactively refund the current paid period unless you are within the refund window described below.
• Access after cancellation. You retain access until the end of the paid period; you keep any non-time-limited materials you have already downloaded.
• Reactivation. You may resubscribe at any time at the then-current price.

7. Refund policy

Helmsmen Lab offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on every paid product, no questions asked. Full details, eligibility, and the request process are described in our Refund Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Terms.

8. Intellectual property

All content on helmsmenlab.com and within our products — including text, illustrations, charts, diagrams, audio recordings, photographs, logos, trade dress, methodologies, and the "Helmsmen Lab" name — is owned by Helmsmen Lab or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws in the United States and abroad.

Except for the limited license described in Section 5, no rights are transferred to you. Any unauthorized use of our intellectual property may result in termination of your license and legal action.

If you believe content on our site infringes your copyright, please send a written notice under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to legal@helmsmenlab.com, including the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3).

9. Acceptable use and user conduct

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service, our servers, or any networks connected to the Service.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service or related systems.
• Use any automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to access the Service except for well-behaved search-engine crawlers respecting our robots.txt.
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
• Harass, threaten, or otherwise harm other users in any community feature we make available.
• Submit false, misleading, or fraudulent payment information.

10. Important — not medical advice

Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before starting, stopping, or modifying any health-related practice, especially if you are experiencing symptoms, have a medical condition, take medications, or have any concern about your physical or mental wellbeing. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you read in our materials. If you think you may be experiencing a medical emergency, call your local emergency services immediately.

Individual results vary. References to outcomes from internal cohorts, self-reported surveys, or published research are descriptive of those groups under those conditions and do not guarantee any particular result for you.

11. Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Service and all content are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise. Helmsmen Lab disclaims all warranties, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any warranties arising out of course of dealing or usage of trade.

Helmsmen Lab does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or that defects will be corrected; that the content is accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free; or that any specific outcome, result, or benefit will be achieved through your use of the Service.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties; in those jurisdictions the exclusions above apply only to the maximum extent permitted by law.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall Helmsmen Lab, its officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors, or licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, revenue, data, business opportunity, goodwill, or reputation, arising out of or related to your use of, or inability to use, the Service or any content, even if Helmsmen Lab has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Helmsmen Lab's total cumulative liability arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability, or any other legal theory, shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid Helmsmen Lab in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) USD 100.

The foregoing limitations apply to the maximum extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction; nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for fraud, gross negligence, willful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Helmsmen Lab and its officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors, and licensors from and against any claim, demand, damage, loss, liability, cost, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to (a) your breach of these Terms, (b) your misuse of the Service or content, (c) your violation of any law or third-party right, or (d) any content you submit through any community or feedback feature.

14. Third-party services

The Service may link to or rely on third-party websites and services (such as Stripe, ConvertKit, MailerLite, Amazon Web Services, and others). Helmsmen Lab is not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of any third-party service. Your use of any third-party service is governed by that third party's terms.

15. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

Any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in New Castle County, Delaware, and you and Helmsmen Lab consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts. Either party may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect its intellectual-property rights.

Individual basis. You and Helmsmen Lab agree that any dispute shall be brought on an individual basis only, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, or representative action. The parties waive any right to a jury trial to the maximum extent permitted by law.

If you are a consumer in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction whose laws grant you mandatory consumer rights, nothing in this Section limits any non-waivable rights you have under those laws.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make a material change, we will update the "Effective" and "Last updated" dates and, where the change is significant, notify active customers and subscribers by email at least 14 days before the change takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, your sole remedy is to stop using the Service and, for an active subscription, cancel and request a pro-rated refund where required by law.

17. Termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, abused refund or chargeback processes, or engaged in conduct that may expose us or other users to legal or operational risk.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including Sections 5 (license restrictions), 8 (intellectual property), 10–13 (disclaimers, liability, indemnification), 15 (governing law), and this Section 17.

18. Contact

For legal notices and questions about these Terms: