Terms of use.

Who you are dealing with

This site is operated by Merlin Studio, the venture practice of Leantonio Nelson. Merlin works as a venture partner and, selectively, on commissioned projects. Leantonio’s personal and professional archive is at leantonio.me.

What this site is

Merlin Studio is a selective venture partner. The site explains that model, shows current ventures and lets you describe an opportunity. Nothing here is an offer, a promise of investment, or a commitment to work together. A conversation, however it is arranged, does not create a partnership. Any venture is agreed separately in writing.

The opportunity evaluator

The evaluator is an AI assistant. It asks questions, records what you tell it and marks its own interpretations as inferences rather than facts. It can still be wrong, and it is not advice: commercial, legal, financial or otherwise. Decisions you take remain yours.

Your conversation is stored in your own browser so you can return to it, and it is cleared when you choose Start over. Sending a summary or an email passes it to Merlin.

Your ideas and confidentiality

Please do not send anything you consider secret, and do not send other people's confidential information. What you submit is read by Merlin to assess whether a venture is worth discussing. It is not published, sold, or shared with third parties beyond the service providers listed in the cookie policy. Merlin works across many markets and may already be exploring, or may later explore, something similar. Submitting an opportunity does not restrict that, and does not create any obligation of confidence unless a separate agreement says so.

What you submit

You confirm that what you send is yours to send and is accurate as far as you know. You keep ownership of your material. You grant Merlin permission to read, store and internally discuss it for the purpose of assessing the opportunity and replying to you.

Fair use

Please do not attempt to break, overload or automate against this site, extract data at scale, or use the forms to send unsolicited or unlawful material. Submissions are rate limited and obvious automation is discarded. Access may be refused where any of this happens.

Personal data

The forms collect a name and an email address so Merlin can reply, and store them with an email provider. Analytics are optional and are only loaded if you accept them. You can ask what is held about you, ask for it to be corrected, or ask for it to be deleted, by emailing the address in the footer. Details of the providers involved are in the cookie policy.

Availability

The site and the evaluator are provided as they are. Features may change, and the AI may be unavailable. Where the evaluator will not work, the email route beside it reaches a person directly.

Liability

Merlin is not liable for losses arising from decisions taken on the basis of anything the evaluator produces, or from the site being unavailable. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and its courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Changes

These terms may be updated. The date above says when they last were.