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Groups Code of Conduct
Introduction
Since our inception, Republic has remained steadfast in our mission to open doors to those who have previously been left out of the startup ecosystem—by enabling everyday people to make their first investment and offering alternative investment opportunities to underrepresented founders.
We are proud that our community represents a wide range of identities, experiences, cultures, and backgrounds. To continue our commitment to inclusivity, we have established this Code of Conduct to ensure that all of our investors are treated with respect and feel safe engaging within Groups, our community spaces. Groups are online spaces dedicated to allowing a diverse range of Republic users to connect around areas of interest and discuss deals, share resources, and build community. We are explicit in laying out these terms in order to set clear expectations for community participants in Groups, and to provide avenues for correction when there is a violation.
Community Expectations
There are no stupid questions: Republic supports investors at every phase of their investment journey—from first-timers to angels to professionals, everyone was once “new.” To that end, we urge members of each Group to ask questions and request resources from others when needed. Remember: it is likely that you are not the only one with a particular question. The whole community will benefit from the many perspectives provided by more seasoned investors and community partners.
We also strongly encourage our experts to share their knowledge and resources. By doing so, you will experience the unique opportunity to support and train the next generation of investors on Republic.
Acknowledge people’s time: Many people within the Republic ecosystem spend their valuable time providing resources and insights to the Group. If someone takes the time to engage with you, be sure to acknowledge their comments, thank them, and pay it forward when you can.
Respect privacy: Groups are private spaces on Republic. Please do not share content outside of the Group without the explicit permission from the poster.
Provide value: Republic Groups exist to provide high quality content, resources, and conversations for our investors. Members who consistently provide quality content may be invited to take on additional leadership roles in the Group. If a member regularly creates posts or comments that receive negative scores, they may be blocked from posting additional content.
Community care: Each community member plays a role in building an inclusive Group. While our Hosts and Leads are vigilant about reviewing the community’s content, they may not see every post or comment or may miss a violation. We empower Group members to flag content that breaks our Code of Conduct or reach out to our Hosts to discuss your concerns.
We recognize that Hosts may make mistakes: if you believe that there has been a mistake, you can email communities@republic.com at any time for an additional review.
No harassment, hate speech, or violence: We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for all members. If you experience harassment or see another Group member being harassed, please flag the post or reach out to your Group Hosts.
“Harassment” includes:
Threats of violence.
- Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging members to engage in self-harm.
- Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviors and unwelcome sexual behaviors.
- Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, appearance, body size, race, country or origin, or religion. Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices.
- Sustained disruption of conversations.
- Repeated one-to-one communication after requests to cease.
- Publication of non-harassing private communication.
- Stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes.
Deliberately “outing” any aspect of community members identity without their consent.
- Deliberate use of “dead” or rejected names or incorrect pronouns.
Intentionally ignoring or protecting abusers or offenders within the community.
Disclose Company Affiliation: If you are an affiliate (founder, advisor, promoter, employee, contractor, etc.) of a company (an "issuer") that has raised, is currently raising, or is planning on raising money through Republic's platform, you are legally obligated to disclose this affiliation in any related conversations. If you are being paid by either the issuer or Republic, you are required to disclose both the nature of your relationship and payment structure. If you have a relationship with an issuer and you fail to disclose that relationship in related posts, you will be banned indefinitely from Republic Group and may be in violation of securities rules and regulations.
Disclose prior investments/ incentives: If you are already invested in a deal discussed in a Group (privately, or through Republic), you must disclose that you have a financial conflict any time you make a comment or endorsement related to the deal within the Group. If you comment on a deal, and subsequently invest in the same, please update communities@republic.com so that we could enable modification of your post to reflect the proper disclaimer. If you fail to update Republic, you will be banned.
No actively raising founders: Due to public access regulations, founders or “covered persons*” who are in the process of onboarding/launching an offering on Republic, testing the waters, or have an active offerings are strictly prohibited from discussing their campaigns in Groups. This includes, without limitation, discussing the opportunity generally, and references to or specifics of your offering within groups. If you have a question for a founder, please visit their public deal page to ask them directly.
Reporting a Problem
Republic is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone regardless of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, age, national origin, citizenship status, religion, race, body size, socioeconomic status, ability, physical appearance, veteran status, etc. We do not tolerate harassment of any investor, Host, Lead, or staff member in our communities.
Due to the wide range of lived experiences and cultural contexts in our community, in most cases we will contact anyone who has violated the rules and give them the opportunity to correct their behavior. We welcome everyone to learn from interpersonal accidents as we cultivate understanding of one another’s experiences. However, after a second strike, the investor will be banned from Republic.
Founders, “covered persons*” and those who are affiliated with an issuer and fail to disclose their affiliation will be banned immediately.
Furthermore, we maintain the the sole, unfettered discretion to ban a member with no warning. Republic, in its sole discretion, will
determine on a case-by-case basis if it is rationale for removal will be provided.
The Communities team at Republic acknowledges that messages and conduct may be interpreted differently. In the interest of growth and collaboration, we invite anyone who has questions, concerns, or suggestions about the Code of Conduct to email us at communities@republic.com
*“Covered persons” include the issuer, directors, officers, general partners or managing members of the issuer, beneficial owners of 20% or more of the issuer’s outstanding voting equity securities, and those who possess the functional equivalent of those roles (i.e., have any control over the Issuer). It also includes: (1) those who act in the capacity of a director, officer, general partner or managing member; (2) those who routinely perform similar functions to that of a director, officer, general partner, or managing member; (3) those who have control over the issuer; (4) those who direct policies fo the issuer; and (5) those who are held out as being a controlling individual on the offering page or offering materials.
Groups are hosted by Republic Core LLC a wholly owned subsidiary of OpenDeal Inc. dba Republic. Groups are not facilitated by or endorsed by any FINRA-member.
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