Terms & Conditions

Last Updated: May 15, 2025

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you (“you,” “your,” “Subscriber”) and Category Pirates LLC (“Category Pirates,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). These Terms govern your access to and use of our digital publications, courses, and associated services, including the Category Pirates Substack newsletter, The Category Design Academy, Strategy Therapy, and Creator Capitalist.

By accessing or using any Category Pirates sites, products, or services, you indicated that you have read and understand these Terms and Conditions and agree to abide by them at all times. These Terms include everything in this document, as well as those in the Privacy Policy. If you don’t agree to all of the following, do not use or access Category Pirates in any manner.

You represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract (or if not, that you’ve received your parent’s or guardian’s permission to use Substack and that your parent or guardian agrees to these Terms on your behalf).

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 or entity’s behalf and bind them to these Terms (in which case, the references to “you” and“your” throughout this document refer to that organization or entity).

For questions or concerns, email us at hello@categorypirates.com.

Intellectual Property

All content provided by Category Pirates is owned by us and protected under intellectual property laws. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, or transmit any part of our content, trademarks, logos, and other intellectual property without explicit written permission.

All content published and made available by Category Pirates is the property of Category Pirates. This includes, but is not limited to images, text, logos, documents, downloadable files, and anything that contributes to the composition of our website, newsletter, courses, or community.

Product Descriptions

  • Category Pirates Newsletter: Our digital Substack newsletter includes paid and free content. Free subscribers receive previews of paid content and occasional free posts. Paid subscribers receive weekly digital publications including full-length mini-books, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos.
  • Courses:
    • The Category Design Academy: A multi-month digital training experience.
    • Strategy Therapy: A self-paced feedback-based strategy design course.
    • Creator Capitalist: A self-paced digital course focused on personal category design.

Substack Newsletter Payment & Subscription Terms

All Category Pirates newsletter subscription payments are managed by Substack and processed by Stripe

Billing process: You are responsible for managing billing via your Substack account settings. By subscribing, you authorize Category Pirates to charge your card on a recurring basis according to your subscription plan (monthly or annually). Charges will occur automatically on the same day of the month or year that you initially subscribed.

Subscription Management: You can manage your subscription at any time through your Substack account settings, including updating payment information and canceling your subscription. Instructions on how to manage your subscription are included in every payment receipt email. You may cancel your subscription at any time, and access to paid content will continue until the end of the current billing cycle. 

Cancellation requests must be made before the renewal date to avoid being charged for the next billing cycle. Subscribers are responsible for ensuring they cancel their subscription before the renewal date. If you fail to cancel and are charged, no refund will be issued.

Refund Policy: No prorated refunds will be provided after cancellation. Paid subscription refunds are available within 30 days of purchase for subscribers who have not accessed more than 3 paid mini-books or who can demonstrate dissatisfaction with the content. Refunds do not apply if more than 3 paid mini-books have been accessed. Refunds may not apply if substantial content has been accessed or consumed.

Refunds will not be granted for partial subscription periods or for access to content once it has been delivered. Access to paid content will be granted until the end of the current billing cycle, but no refunds will be issued once content has been consumed, even if the subscription is canceled mid-cycle.

Chargeback process: If you initiate a chargeback on a payment, you understand that Stripe will charge a $15 fee for processing the dispute. We will make every effort to resolve the situation promptly, but by initiating a chargeback, you may lose access to the subscription content, and additional fees may apply. 

Failure to cancel before renewal is not a valid reason for a chargeback. In the event of a chargeback due to the subscriber’s failure to cancel their subscription, Category Pirates reserves the right to contest the chargeback and provide evidence of the subscriber’s responsibility for managing their account. Subscriptions are clearly stated as recurring, and detailed instructions on how to cancel a subscription are provided in every payment receipt email. 

Responsibility for Subscription Cancellation: By subscribing to Category Pirates, you agree that it is your responsibility to manage your subscription, including the cancellation of your subscription before the next billing cycle. Category Pirates is not responsible for any charges incurred due to a subscriber's failure to cancel their subscription before the renewal date. All subscriptions are automatically renewed unless canceled by the subscriber.

Course Payment & Terms

Refunds: Due to the digital nature of our courses:

  • The Category Design Academy and Strategy Therapy are non-refundable, unless otherwise explicitly stated at the time of purchase.
  • Creator Capitalist offers a 14-day money-back guarantee only if fewer than 50% of the course content has been accessed. You may be asked to provide evidence of implementation if requesting a refund after accessing the course materials.

We reserve the right to deny refund requests that do not meet these criteria.

Third-Party Services & Links

We may offer or link to third-party services. We are not responsible for their content, quality, or security. Review their Terms before engaging with them.

Privacy

We take your privacy seriously. For more details, view our Privacy Policy

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) requires that online service providers obtain parental consent before they knowingly collect personally identifiable information online from children. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personally identifiable information from children under 16; if you are a child under 16, please do not attempt to register forCategory Pirates or send any personal information about yourself to us. If we learn we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 16 may have provided us with personal information, please contact us at hello@categorypirates.com.

We do not knowingly collect data from users under the age of 16. If such data is discovered, it will be deleted promptly.

Indemnity

Except where prohibited by law, by using this Site you indemnify and hold harmless Category Pirates and our directors, officers, agents, employees, subsidiaries, and affiliates from any actions, claims, losses, damages, liabilities, and expenses, including legal fees arising out of your use of our site, products, or services or your violation of these Terms and Conditions.

Limitation of Liability

Except where prohibited by law, Category Pirates is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the site, content, or services, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, or business opportunities.

Force Majeure

Category Pirates will not be held liable for any failure or delay in the performance of its obligations under these Terms due to unforeseen events outside of its reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, acts of government, technology failure, or acts of war.

Governing Law

Any disputes arising under these Terms will be governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, and any legal action or proceeding under these Terms will be brought exclusively in the courts located in Cook County, Illinois.

Changes to Terms

These Terms and Conditions may be amended from time to time in order to maintain compliance with the law and to reflect any changes to the way we operate our website, newsletter, and products and the way we expect users to behave on our website, newsletter, and products. We will notify users by email of changes to these Terms and Conditions or post a notice on our Site.

Severability

If at any time any of the provisions set forth in these Terms and Conditions are found to be inconsistent or invalid under applicable laws, those provisions will be deemed void and will be removed from these Terms and Conditions. All other provisions will not be affected by the removal and the rest of these Terms and Conditions will still be considered valid.

Dispute Resolution

In the event of a dispute, the parties agree to attempt informal resolution through direct communication. If the dispute cannot be resolved informally, the parties agree to submit the dispute to binding arbitration. 

Additional Terms

All rights reserved. No part of this Site or the Category Pirates newsletter, services, or products may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this content, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

Category Pirates asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Category Pirates has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to on this Site or within the Category Pirates publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used on the Site and within the Category Pirates publication are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the books are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in the books. None of the companies referenced within the books have endorsed the books.

Contact Us

For support, email us at hello@categorypirates.com.

© Category Pirates, LLC. All rights reserved.