Terms of service

Last updated May 28, 2026

These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of Mainstep. By creating an account or using the service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use Mainstep.

1. What Mainstep is

Mainstep is a verified peer network for small business owners. It is a place to share what is working, what is not, and what you would do differently, with peers who have been through it.

Mainstep is not a legal, financial, accounting, or business advisory service. Nothing on Mainstep constitutes professional advice. The people you hear from are small business owners, not licensed advisors. Rely on their experience at your own judgment.

Mainstep operates on two sides: owners participate for free; vendors pay for access to aggregated, anonymized insights about the owner community. Vendors never see identified member data.

2. Eligibility

To use Mainstep, you must:

Be at least 18 years old
Be a real, active small business owner operating in the United States
Complete our verification process and receive approval
Agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy

Mainstep is currently available only to business owners in the United States. Employees, consultants, vendors, or other non-owner roles are not eligible for a member account.

3. Verification

We verify that you are a real small business owner before granting access. Verification uses Google Places data and, where needed, manual review by Mainstep staff.

Submitting false, misleading, or fraudulent information during verification is grounds for immediate termination without notice. Mainstep may re-verify accounts periodically.

4. Member identity and anonymous posts

Other members normally see your first name and last initial (for example, Nora K.). If you choose to post anonymously, that post and your replies within it are labeled "Anonymous operator" instead.

If you voluntarily disclose your identity to another member, in any message or post, Mainstep is not responsible for how that information is received, shared, or used.

Mainstep does not guarantee perfect anonymity against all circumstances. We implement reasonable technical and organizational safeguards, but no system is infallible.

5. User obligations

By using Mainstep, you agree to:

Provide truthful, accurate information during and after verification
Not impersonate any person, business, or brand
Not harass, threaten, intimidate, or demean any member
Not solicit, advertise, or pitch commercial products or services in member conversations or posts
Not attempt to identify, expose, or dox another member's real identity without their consent
Not use Mainstep to gather competitive intelligence on behalf of a vendor or third party
Not post spam, unsolicited promotions, referral links, or off-topic commercial content
Not use automated tools, bots, or scrapers to access or extract data from Mainstep

These obligations apply to all content and activity on the platform, including posts, direct messages, and Elder advisory calls.

6. Content ownership and license

You own what you post. By submitting content to Mainstep (including posts, responses, and profile information), you grant Mainstep a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable license to use, store, display, reproduce, and aggregate that content for the purpose of operating and improving the service.

We may anonymize and aggregate your posts and profile data to generate insights for vendors. We will never sell your identified content to any third party.

You represent that you have the rights to any content you post and that it does not violate any law or third-party right.

7. Acceptable use

The following will result in account suspension or permanent termination:

Posting false or misleading information about yourself or your business
Attempting to identify another member without their consent
Soliciting or facilitating commercial transactions through the peer network
Creating an account with a fake, lapsed, or unowned business identity
Scraping, crawling, or extracting data from Mainstep by any means
Using Mainstep on behalf of a vendor to monitor competitor businesses or member sentiment
Posting content that is defamatory, obscene, or constitutes unlawful discrimination
Any other conduct that Mainstep reasonably determines is harmful to members or the integrity of the network

Mainstep reserves the right, but not the obligation, to monitor content and take action at our discretion.

8. Elder program

Owners with 15 or more years in business may apply to become Elders. Elders set their own advisory rate and availability for 1:1 calls with newer owners. Elder status requires ongoing verification and is subject to removal if a member no longer meets eligibility criteria or violates these Terms.

Any advisory calls or related transactions are directly between the Elder and the requesting member. Mainstep is not a party to those transactions and is not responsible for advice given, outcomes of calls, or any disputes arising between members.

9. Vendor relationships

Vendors pay Mainstep for access to aggregated, anonymized business owner insights. Vendors never see your name, email, business name, or any data that could identify you individually.

Mainstep does not accept payment from vendors to influence what members see, hear, or discuss. There is no pay-to-play visibility in the member network. Vendor payments do not affect which vendors are shown to members, in what order, or in what context.

If Mainstep changes this policy in any material way, members will be notified by email before the change takes effect.

10. Intellectual property

The Mainstep name, logo, brand, trade dress, and all associated trademarks are the property of Mainstep. You may not use them without prior written permission.

Mainstep owns all rights to the platform, its design, codebase, and proprietary data products. Nothing in these Terms transfers any intellectual property rights to you beyond the limited license to use the service as described here.

11. Termination

You may close your account at any time by emailing aj@mainstep.ai. We will process your deletion request within 7 days. See our Privacy Policy for what happens to your data after deletion.

Mainstep may suspend or terminate your account at any time, with or without notice, if we determine you have violated these Terms, if we have reason to believe your verification was fraudulent, or if continuing your access would harm other members or the integrity of the network. We are not obligated to provide a reason.

12. Disclaimers

Mainstep is provided "as is" and "as available." We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of harmful components.

Mainstep is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or usefulness of any content posted by members. Member posts represent the opinions and experiences of individual business owners. They are not Mainstep's recommendations.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Mainstep disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Mainstep and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to or use of Mainstep, (b) your violation of these Terms, (c) your violation of any third-party right, or (d) any content you post on Mainstep.

14. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Mainstep's total liability to you for any claims arising out of or related to these Terms or the service shall not exceed the greater of: (a) one hundred dollars ($100) or (b) the total amount you have paid Mainstep in the 12 months before the claim.

Mainstep is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, loss of data, loss of business opportunity, or harm to reputation, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

15. Dispute resolution

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of Mainstep will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, not in court. The arbitration will be conducted under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), in English, on an individual basis.

You waive your right to participate in any class action, class arbitration, or representative proceeding. Each party will bear its own costs unless the arbitrator determines otherwise.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-law provisions.

Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking emergency injunctive or other equitable relief from a court to protect intellectual property rights or prevent irreparable harm pending arbitration.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and notify members by email at least 14 days before the changes take effect.

Your continued use of Mainstep after the effective date of any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the service and may request account deletion.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at:

Email: aj@mainstep.ai