House Rules

Last updated 27 August 2026 · These are contractual terms, not suggestions

One warning. Then you’re out. For most things you get a single written warning. Some things end your membership on the spot, with no refund. They’re marked below.

A room full of founders only works if everyone can say the real number out loud. That takes a short list of rules and someone willing to enforce them. We publish both, because a rule nobody enforces isn’t a rule.

What the floor is for

Bring a real problem. The specific thing on your desk this week, with the actual numbers. Vague questions get vague answers.
Answer someone else’s. Membership isn’t a subscription to other people’s time. If you only ever take, the room notices.
Say the uncomfortable thing. Kindly, but say it. Nobody joined to be agreed with.
Assume everything you hear is confidential, because it is.

What will get you a warning

Pitching. Do not sell to the room. Do not sell to a member in a DM off the back of meeting them here. If someone asks what you do, answer, and stop there.
Recruiting. Do not use the club to source candidates, clients, investors or affiliates.
Promoting. No links to your funnel, your newsletter, your course, your event or your podcast, unless somebody asks for it.
Taking a seat and never turning up. If you’re not using it, we’ll offer it to someone who will.
Turning a room into a monologue. Ask, listen, leave room for other people.
Bringing a guest. Your seat is yours. Not your co-founder’s, not your assistant’s.

What ends your membership immediately

No warning, no refund, access revoked the same day.

Breaking confidentiality. Repeating what a member said, in a way that identifies them or their company, outside the club. Including screenshots.
Recording a room without the express consent of everyone in it.
Harvesting the member list. Scraping, exporting or compiling members into a list, or adding members to a mailing sequence without their permission.
Harassment or abuse of any member, in any room or any direct message.
Sharing your seat or your login.
Lying on your application about who you are, what you run, or your revenue.

How enforcement actually works

Anyone can report something to hello@thefoundersfloor.com. Reports are handled privately.
We speak to the people involved before deciding anything.
For a first breach of the warning list, you get one written warning naming the behaviour.
A second breach of any rule ends your membership.
For anything on the immediate list, we remove you and tell you why.
You can respond in writing. We will read it. Our decision is final.

What we owe you

To enforce this consistently, including on people we like and people who pay us.
To keep the room mixed, so you are not sitting with your direct competitors.
To keep your application answers private. Nobody in the room sees your revenue.
To tell you straight if this isn’t a fit, rather than take your money.

These rules form part of the Terms of Membership. See also the Privacy Policy.