These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Functional Intelligence (“ƒi”, “we”, “us”), including the website at funcimarket.com, The Board, briefs, and related services (together, the “Service”). By using the Service you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
1. What Functional Intelligence is
Functional Intelligence is an editorial publication with two offerings: a free weekly brief funded through a research marketplace, and paid research services. In the research marketplace, readers submit topics to a public board and may make voluntary payments to prioritize which topic we cover next; each week the most-backed topic is published as a short explanatory brief (Tuesdays, 7am ET), free to read. The Service is a way to prioritize and commission editorial content. It is not a financial product, security, investment, deposit, wager, lottery, or game of chance.
2. Payments: backing and research retainers
- Backing is a voluntary payment that adds to a topic’s total to help it rank higher on the board. Multiple people may back the same topic; totals are cumulative.
- Research retainers (Custom Blueprint and Custom Blueprint+) are recurring monthly subscriptions for custom implementation blueprints and related research, based on peer-reviewed literature. They renew automatically until cancelled; you may cancel at any time to stop future charges.
- All payments are voluntary and non-refundable except as described in our Refund Policy. Backing confers no odds, no payouts, and no financial, ownership, equity, or other return of any kind.
- Funding a topic does not guarantee that it will be covered, nor any particular result, quality, length, accuracy, or publication date. Editorial decisions are ours.
3. How the research marketplace works
Topics on the board are ranked by total backing. Each week the highest-backed topic is selected to be published as a brief, typically the following Tuesday at 7:00 AM ET. Topics that are not selected keep their backing and remain on the board until covered, removed, or superseded. We may adjust the schedule, mechanics, or selection at our discretion.
4. Your submissions
When you submit a topic, question, link, or other content, you represent that you have the right to do so and that it does not violate any law or third-party right. Do not submit confidential, proprietary, personal, or export-controlled information you are not free to share. You grant us a worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and create editorial works based on your submission. We may decline, edit, or remove any submission for any reason. Publicly displayed backer names are optional and provided by you.
5. Not professional advice
Briefs are general educational and journalistic content. They are not, and must not be relied upon as, financial, investment, legal, medical, scientific, or other professional advice. Always consult a qualified professional before acting on any topic covered.
6. Acceptable use
You agree not to misuse the Service, including by attempting to gain unauthorized access, disrupting the Service, scraping at scale, submitting unlawful or infringing content, or using the Service to launder money or evade payment-processor rules. We may suspend or terminate access for any violation.
7. Intellectual property
The Service, briefs, and all related content are owned by Functional Intelligence or its licensors and are protected by intellectual-property laws. Briefs are free to read; you may share links but may not republish, resell, or create derivative works without permission.
8. Third-party services
Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. and are subject to Stripe’s terms; we do not receive or store your full card details. We use Supabase for data storage. Your use of the Service is also subject to those providers’ terms and privacy practices. See our Privacy Policy.
9. Disclaimers
The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any topic will be covered.
10. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Functional Intelligence and its operators will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits or data, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us in the three months before the claim or fifty U.S. dollars ($50).
11. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Functional Intelligence and its operators from any claims, damages, and expenses arising out of your submissions, your use of the Service, or your violation of these Terms.
12. Changes
We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “Last updated” date above. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.
13. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. The exclusive venue for disputes is the state and federal courts located in New York, New York.
14. Contact
Questions about these Terms? Email contact@funcimarket.com.