RUV Labs is a place for founders, engineers, designers, and investors to find each other and build real things. These guidelines keep it useful and trustworthy. They are part of our Terms of Service.
1. Be real
- Use your real identity. Verify your identity before posting or messaging.
- One person, one account.
- Do not impersonate anyone or misrepresent your role, employer, education, investments, revenue, or funding.
- Portfolio items must be your own work, or clearly describe your role in a team project.
2. Post with purpose
- Choose the right category: Co-founders, Hiring, Open to Work, Investing, or Insights.
- One posting action per day on the free plan (a new post or a Bump). Pro members get more.
- Never repost the same thing. If you want your post seen again, use Bump. Posting the same or nearly the same text again is blocked; trying to get around this leads to suspension.
- Fundraising goes in the Deal Room, not the feed.
- Insights should add something: data, experience, or analysis. Cite your sources.
3. Contact happens in DMs
- Do not put email addresses, phone numbers, messaging-app handles or links (such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Kakao, Line, WeChat, Signal), or QR codes in posts, profiles, portfolio items, Deal Room listings, or message requests.
- Do not try to get around this with spacing, symbols, spelled-out numbers, images, or hints.
- Once someone accepts your message request, you may share contact details inside that conversation.
4. Respect people's inboxes
- Message requests should be personal and relevant. Copy-paste outreach to many people is treated as spam.
- If someone declines or does not reply, move on.
- No harassment, threats, hate speech, sexual content, or discrimination based on protected characteristics.
5. No scams or schemes
Not allowed:
- "Side income," multi-level marketing, pyramid schemes, or "work from home" recruitment
- Guaranteed returns, crypto or forex "signals," or other get-rich-quick promotions
- Requests for upfront fees to "hire" or "fund" someone
- Phishing, malware, or links designed to steal information
- Selling accounts, badges, or followers
6. Investing responsibly
- RUV Labs is not a broker, funding portal, or adviser. Do your own due diligence.
- Founders: keep Deal Room listings accurate and comply with the securities laws that apply to you.
- Investors: do not misrepresent your fund, your capacity, or your intentions.
- Expert Reviewers: disclose conflicts of interest.
7. Respect intellectual property and privacy
- Post only content you have the right to share.
- Do not share other people's personal information or private messages without permission.
- Copyright complaints follow our Copyright & DMCA Policy.
8. Enforcement
We use automated filters and human review. Content that breaks these rules may be blocked before it posts or removed afterward.
| Violation | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evading duplicate-post limits / spam | 7-day posting suspension | 30-day suspension | Permanent ban |
| Evading contact-information rules | 7-day posting suspension | 30-day suspension | Permanent ban |
| DM spam or harassment | 7-day messaging suspension | 30-day messaging suspension | Permanent ban |
| Fake portfolio item | Item removed + warning | 7-day suspension | 30-day suspension |
| Schemes and scam promotions | 30-day suspension | Permanent ban | — |
| Forged documents, impersonation, fraud | Immediate permanent ban and removal of all badges | — | — |
Violations count over a rolling 12-month period. We may act more strictly when there is risk of harm.
When we take action, we tell you what happened and why.
9. Reporting and appeals
- Report any post, profile, portfolio item, listing, or message with the report button, or email abuse@ruvlabs.com.
- Appeal a decision within 14 days in Settings or by emailing appeals@ruvlabs.com. A person will review it.