Terms and Conditions

1. About these terms

These terms govern your purchase and use of EM Accelerator's products offered at emaccelerator.com: the EM Accelerator 90-day program, bought as a one-off purchase (the "Program"); the EM Accelerator membership, available monthly or annually (the "Membership"); and the EM Playbook course bought on its own as a one-off purchase (the "Course"). The Program is also sold as a higher tier, the VIP Tier ("VIP"), which adds three months of 1-1 mentoring and direct messaging access. VIP is a way of buying the Program rather than a separate product, so every reference to the Program in these terms applies to VIP too, except where a section says otherwise. By placing an order, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not purchase. Except where these terms say otherwise, references to the Membership apply equally to the Course.

The Program and the Membership are separate products at separate prices. Buying one does not give you the other. Where a section below applies to only one of them, it says so.

EM Accelerator is operated by Ryan Murphy Ltd, a limited company registered in England and Wales (referred to in these terms as "we", "us", or "our"). You can contact us at ryan@emaccelerator.com.

We also offer team workshops, and 1:1 coaching outside the Program, on a bespoke basis. Those are not sold through the website and are not covered by these terms. Where you engage us for them, the scope, fees, and terms will be agreed separately in writing. The mentoring included in the Program and in VIP is different: it is sold through the website and it is covered by these terms, as set out in section 3.

2. The Membership

EM Accelerator is a membership for software engineering managers and aspiring engineering managers, available on a monthly or annual basis. It is delivered in the members area at members.emaccelerator.com, which we build and run ourselves and which holds the courses, the community, the interview library, the Q&A library, the AI Manager Simulator and your saved quiz history.

The membership includes the EM Playbook course and the wider course library, new courses released during your membership, the AI Manager Simulator, monthly live office hours, the expert interview library, the Q&A library, monthly deep-dive articles, the worksheet and template bundle, a private community, and access to Ryan through that community.

You can also buy the EM Playbook course on its own as a one-off purchase (the "Course"). The Course gives you permanent personal-use access to the EM Playbook course content only. It does not include the wider course library, new course releases, the AI Manager Simulator, live office hours, the interview or Q&A libraries, the deep-dive articles, the community, or access to Ryan.

The contents and features of the membership may change over time as we improve the offering. We will not materially reduce the value of what you purchased during your active membership term.

A monthly membership renews each month, and an annual membership runs for 12 months and renews annually, in each case until you cancel. The Course is a one-off purchase with no recurring charge.

What you keep when your membership ends:

• Monthly membership. When you cancel, your access continues until the end of the month you have paid for, and then ends. You do not retain access to course content after that point.
• Annual membership. Once your purchase is past the 14-day refund period in section 6, you keep permanent personal-use access to the EM Playbook course, even after your membership ends. You will lose the private community, live office hours, future content releases, the wider course library, the interview library, the Q&A library, the deep-dive articles, and the AI Manager Simulator. If you cancel and refund within the 14-day period, this permanent access does not carry over.
• The Course, bought on its own. You keep permanent personal-use access to the EM Playbook course content.

3. The Program

The Program is a 90-day, self-paced program for engineers in their first management role, bought as a single one-off payment. It is not a subscription and there is nothing to cancel.

The Program includes the EM Playbook course (nine modules, 48 lessons), the expert interview library, the AI Manager Simulator scenarios, the quizzes and assessments, the Q&A library, the community, two 1-1 mentorship sessions, a marked capstone and a certificate of completion.

The two 1-1 mentorship sessions. One is available when you finish the first stretch of the Program and one when you finish the second. Each is a video call with an expert mentor, who may be Ryan or another experienced engineering leader working with us. You book them yourself when you reach them rather than on a fixed date. Bookings need at least 24 hours' notice. We can sometimes take a session sooner, but only by arrangement and only where your mentor happens to be free, so please do not count on it. They do not expire, but they are personal to you and cannot be transferred, resold or shared. VIP replaces these two sessions with the arrangement described below.

The VIP Tier. VIP includes everything in the Program, and replaces the two mentorship sessions with unlimited 1-1 sessions with your expert mentor for three months, together with direct messaging access to that mentor over the same three months. The three months runs from the day you pay, not from the day you start the Program. Nothing renews at the end of it. You keep the Program and everything in it permanently, on the same terms as any other buyer, and you may buy a further three-month block afterwards at the price published at that time.

What "unlimited" means. There is no cap on the number of sessions and we do not count them. Sessions are booked by you, one at a time, from the availability your mentor publishes, and run for the standard length shown when you book. They cannot be banked, bulk-booked, carried past the three months, transferred, resold or shared, and time you do not use is not exchangeable for a refund or a credit. Direct messaging access is a line to your mentor between sessions, not a support desk: we do not offer a guaranteed response time and it is not staffed around the clock. We may decline or withdraw access where use is automated, abusive, or plainly outside the spirit of this section, and section 11 applies to it in full.

The capstone. You write a 90-day plan for your own team and submit it. One of our experts reads it and returns it with written feedback. There is no pass or fail; where a plan is not yet there, it comes back with notes so you can revise it. We aim to return marked capstones within a reasonable period and will tell you if that will take longer than usual.

The certificate. Issued once you have completed the modules and submitted a capstone. It records completion of the Program. It is not an accredited or regulated qualification and we make no claim that any employer will recognise it.

The free week. Before buying, you can take the first week of the Program free. No card is required, and nothing is charged at the end of the seven days unless you choose to buy. The free week gives limited access to the week-one material only, and we may change what it contains.

What you keep. The Program is yours permanently for personal use, including material added to the Program after you buy. That does not extend to separate products we may sell in future which are not part of the Program. We may add to or improve the Program over time, and will not materially reduce the value of what you bought.

Delivery and pace. The 90 days is a suggested pace, not a deadline or a condition. Nothing locks and nothing expires. Weeks open in order, so working faster means doing the work faster rather than skipping ahead.

4. Buying the Membership

Purchases are made through our checkout provider. Once payment is confirmed, you will receive access to the members area via email. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for the accuracy of the information you provide at checkout.

We sell to customers in the UK and internationally. We reserve the right to refuse or cancel any order at our discretion, including where we have reason to believe the order is fraudulent, in breach of these terms, or where we are unable to provide the membership in your jurisdiction for legal or operational reasons.

We take on a limited number of new members each month so that the personal support included in the membership stays useful. Where we are at capacity, joining may be held over to the following month.

5. Pricing, payment, and renewal

Prices are displayed in US dollars on the website and at checkout. Payment is processed by our payment provider in the currency selected at checkout. Where you pay in a currency other than US dollars, the conversion is handled by the payment provider at the rate they apply at the time of purchase.

If you are based in a country where we are required to charge VAT or other sales tax, this will be added at checkout.

The Program is a single one-off payment at the published price shown at checkout, with no recurring charge and nothing to cancel. VIP is sold the same way, at its own published price: one payment, no recurring charge, and nothing to cancel at the end of the three months. Any promotional or launch price is the price at the time you buy; we may change the published price at any time, and a change does not affect a purchase already made.

The Membership is available monthly or annually, each at the published price shown at checkout. A monthly membership is charged each month and renews monthly until you cancel. An annual membership is charged once a year and renews annually, at the published price in effect at the time of renewal, until you cancel. The EM Playbook course, bought on its own, is a single one-off payment with no recurring charge.

You may cancel your renewal at any time before the next charge is processed by emailing ryan@emaccelerator.com. We will email you in advance of an annual renewal to confirm the renewal price and date.

If a renewal payment fails, we will contact you by email to give you an opportunity to update payment details. If payment cannot be processed within a reasonable period, your membership will lapse and the end-of-access terms in section 2 will apply.

6. The No Quibble Guarantee

The Program: seven days. You have seven days from the day you pay to change your mind about the Program. Email ryan@emaccelerator.com within those seven days and we will refund you in full, with no administration fee deducted, normally within 5 working days. No reason is needed and it does not matter how much of it you have worked through. This sits on top of the free week described in section 3, so you have a fortnight in total before any money is at risk.

VIP is not refundable. The seven days above is for the Program bought on its own. If you bought VIP there is no refund, because your mentor's availability is reserved for you from the day you pay. Your statutory rights below are unaffected.

The Membership and the Course: fourteen days.

Our refund policy. We offer a 14-day refund guarantee on your initial purchase of an annual membership, or of the EM Playbook course bought on its own. Join, sign in, look around, and decide whether it is the right support for you. If it is not, email ryan@emaccelerator.com within 14 days of your purchase date and we will refund you, normally within 5 working days.

What you get back. Your refund is the amount you paid less a 10% administration fee.

Monthly memberships are not refundable. A monthly membership is charged one month at a time, so instead of a refund window you can cancel at any point before your next payment is taken. Your access then continues to the end of the month you have already paid for, as set out in sections 2 and 5.

There are no conditions attached to the guarantee. It does not matter how much of the course you have watched, how many interviews you have looked at, whether you have posted in the community, or whether you have joined office hours. You do not have to give a reason. No awkwardness, no hard sell, no hoops.

Refunds are not available on renewal payments, whether monthly or annual. You can cancel your renewal at any time before it is processed (see section 5). For annual members, the permanent access to the EM Playbook course described in section 2 applies once the 14-day refund period has passed; it does not carry over if you refund within that period.

The one thing we reserve is the right to decline a refund where a purchase is made in obvious bad faith, for example buying, systematically downloading the library, and then requesting a refund, or repeatedly buying and refunding the membership.

Your statutory rights. Under UK consumer law you have a 14-day right to cancel digital purchases, which you would normally waive by choosing to start access immediately. Where that statutory right does apply to you, it takes precedence over this section, including where this section says a purchase is not refundable: you will be refunded in full, with no administration fee deducted. Our guarantee above is offered on top of that, and applies regardless of how much of the membership you have used. Nothing in these terms affects your other rights under consumer law.

7. The Confidence Guarantee

For the Program. If you complete the Program, including submitting your capstone, and still feel you got nothing from it, you will receive one further 1-1 mentoring session with an expert mentor at no extra cost. To claim it, email ryan@emaccelerator.com within 30 days of finishing and tell us where you are still stuck.

VIP. The Confidence Guarantee does not apply where you bought VIP. What the guarantee gives is 1-1 time, and VIP already includes unlimited 1-1 time with your mentor for three months, so there is nothing further of that kind for us to give you.

For the Membership and the Course.

If you do the work and it does not land, we will work with you directly rather than leave you with a refund and nothing else.

If, after 30 days of following the course, you still do not feel clear and confident handling a real people-management situation, you will receive four weekly 1:1 sessions with Ryan at no extra cost. To claim it, email ryan@emaccelerator.com within 45 days of your purchase date, having completed the modules of the EM Playbook course, and tell us where you are still stuck.

8. The AI Manager Simulator

The AI Manager Simulator lets you practise a difficult conversation against a character played by an AI, and then gives you a written debrief. It is a practice tool, and these terms apply to it specifically.

• It is AI, not a person. The character is generated by an AI model. It is not a real employee, not a real situation, and nobody is on the other end of it.
• It is not advice. The simulator's replies and its debrief are generated automatically and can be wrong. They are not HR advice, legal advice, or a professional assessment of you or anyone you work with. Section 13 applies to it in full.
• Do not put confidential or personal information into it. Please do not type real names, contact details, or confidential information about colleagues, your employer, or anyone else. Describe the situation, not the person's identity.
• Your conversations are stored. We keep the conversation, the debrief, and the verdict so you can revisit past attempts, and Ryan can access them through our admin tools to improve the scenarios. Our Privacy Policy sets out what happens to that data, including how to have it deleted.
• Fair use. The simulator costs us money per conversation, so it runs within limits. Each attempt is capped at a set number of messages before it moves to the debrief, and each member has a monthly usage budget. If you reach that budget, the simulator pauses for you until it resets at the start of the next month. Which AI model answers you may vary depending on usage.
• No automated or abusive use. You may not access the simulator by script or automated means, attempt to extract the underlying scenario prompts or system instructions, or use it to build or train a competing product.

9. Your access to the members area

The members area at members.emaccelerator.com has no password. You sign in with a one-time code emailed to the address on your account, so keep access to that inbox secure. Access to the Program is permanent as set out in section 3. VIP's 1-1 and messaging access runs for three months from the day you pay, as set out in section 3; when it ends, your permanent Program access carries on unchanged. Access to Membership content is tied to your membership being active. Either way it is for you alone. Sharing your link or your account with anyone else is a breach of these terms.

10. Intellectual property

All content within the Membership (including videos, written materials, worksheets, frameworks, slides, and supporting documents) is owned by us or licensed to us. You receive a personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to access and use the materials for your own learning and professional development.

You may not:

• Share, resell, redistribute, or republish the Membership materials in any form.
• Share your account login with anyone else.
• Use the Membership materials to create competing courses, training programmes, or content.
• Remove, alter, or obscure any copyright, trademark, or other notices.

You may use the frameworks, ideas, and approaches taught in the Membership in your own work as a manager. The licence covers your personal use of the materials themselves.

11. Acceptable use

You agree to use the Membership in good faith. You agree not to interfere with or disrupt the platform, attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of it, or use the Membership for any unlawful purpose. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access without refund if you breach this section materially.

12. Membership updates and changes

We may update, add to, or remove parts of the Membership over time. We will not materially reduce the value of what you purchased during your active membership term. Where we replace or remove substantial content, we will keep the original available for a reasonable period or provide an equivalent alternative.

13. Limitation of liability

The Membership is provided for general professional development purposes. It is not specific advice for your particular workplace, situation, or career. You are responsible for how you apply what you learn.

This applies with particular force to the AI Manager Simulator. Its replies and debriefs are generated automatically, can be inaccurate, and are not HR, legal, or professional advice. Do not rely on them as a basis for a real decision about a real person.

Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be limited under applicable law. Subject to that, our total liability to you in connection with the Membership is limited to the amount you paid for it in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the liability.

14. Privacy

Our handling of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms by reference.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The current version will always be available at emaccelerator.com. The version that applies to your current membership term is the one that was in effect when you bought or last renewed your membership, except where we are required by law to apply updated terms (for example to comply with a change in consumer law). Updated terms may apply to renewals; we will give you reasonable notice of any material changes before your renewal date.

16. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, except where mandatory consumer protection law in your country of residence gives you the right to bring proceedings in your local courts.

17. Contact

For any questions about these terms, your purchase, or to request a refund under section 6, contact ryan@emaccelerator.com.