Terms of Service – Robert Donaldson

Effective November 4, 2026. Last updated November 11, 2026.

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) apply to memberships, simulators, messages, meetings and retainers offered on rwdonaldson.com (the “Services”). The Services are provided by Robert Donaldson, a sole proprietor based in New York (“I”, “me”). By creating an account, buying a membership, or using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you are signing up for a company or team, you confirm you are authorized to accept these Terms on its behalf.

1. Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and give accurate information when you sign up.
Individual memberships (Demo and Game Versions, Full Simulator Access, Mentoring, Early Career Mentoring) are for one person. Please don’t share your login.
Retainers (Advisory and Full) cover one company or team. Messages and meetings may involve your team members, but billing and allowances are shared under one account.
You are responsible for activity on your account and for keeping your password secure.

2. Membership levels

Every paid level includes access to the full simulators and the demo and game versions. Mentoring, Early Career Mentoring and the retainers also include the features listed for that level. Contacting me directly is not included in the Demo and Game Versions or Full Simulator Access levels. Prices are in US dollars, billed monthly. The Advisory and Full Retainers are by invitation only: after a free intro call, I send a private sign-up link, and the monthly price we agree is shown at checkout. Early Career Mentoring is for current students and people within 12 months of graduating, and runs for up to 6 months. After that you can move to Mentoring or cancel.

Level	Price	Included each month	Reply time
Demo and Game Versions	Free	Demo and game versions of the simulators	—
Full Simulator Access	$49 / month	Individual access to the full simulators	—
Mentoring	$325 / month	Two 60-minute 1:1 video sessions (one every two weeks), a personal roadmap, reviews of your work, and 6 async messages	Within 2 business days
Early Career Mentoring	$175 / month	One 60-minute session, 3 messages, a starter roadmap and simulator access (up to 6 months)	Within 2 business days
Advisory Retainer	Agreed in writing; shown at checkout	Up to 20 advisory emails and two 60-minute meetings; extra emails and meetings billed at the agreed hourly rate	Within 1 business day
Full Retainer	Agreed in writing; shown at checkout	Up to 24 hours of working time, including weekly 60-minute meetings and priority direct email; extra meetings and hours billed at the agreed hourly rate	Same business day

Current prices and inclusions are also shown on the Simulators and Membership Levels pages. If those pages and these Terms ever differ, the price you were charged at checkout applies to that billing period.

3. Messages and meetings

Monthly allowances (messages and meetings) reset on the 1st of each month at midnight US Eastern time. Unused allowance does not carry over.
One message is one new question or topic sent through the member message form (or, for retainers, by email). Short follow-ups that clarify the same question are part of the same message. A new or unrelated question counts as a new message.
Going over the allowance: Mentoring and Early Career Mentoring members can’t go beyond their monthly allowance until it resets. Retainer members can keep emailing and booking; anything beyond the monthly allowance is billed at the hourly rate agreed in writing (see section 6).
Full Retainer members have unlimited direct email, subject to fair use and the monthly hours in section 6.

4. Response times

Reply times are measured in business days: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm US Eastern time, excluding US federal holidays.
A message received after 3 pm Eastern, or on a non-business day, counts as received the next business day. “Same business day” for Full Retainer means messages received by 3 pm Eastern on a business day.
A reply means a substantive answer or, for larger questions, an acknowledgment with a plan and an expected date.
If I am away (for example vacation or conference travel), I will post or email notice in advance where possible, and reply times pause for that period. Retainer clients get at least 5 business days’ notice of planned time off.
The Services are not an emergency or on-call service. Reply times are targets I work hard to meet, not guarantees; missing one does not entitle you to a refund, but you can always email me if something is urgent.

5. Meetings

Meetings are 60 minutes by video and are booked through the scheduling link in your member area.
You can cancel or reschedule up to 24 hours before the start time and the meeting credit is returned. Cancellations with less notice, and no-shows, use the credit.
If you join late, the meeting still ends at its scheduled time. If I need to cancel or reschedule, your credit is always returned.
Mentoring and Early Career Mentoring: meetings beyond your monthly allowance aren’t available until it resets. Retainers: meetings beyond your monthly allowance are billed at the hourly rate agreed in writing (each 60-minute meeting counts as one hour).

6. Retainers

Advisory Retainer

Covers advice, design and architecture reviews, code and SQL reviews, and guidance for your team, through up to 20 emails and two 60-minute meetings a month. It does not include hands-on build or implementation work; that is quoted separately on request. You can keep emailing and booking after you reach the monthly limits; emails and meetings beyond them are billed at the hourly rate agreed in writing when you join.

Full Retainer

Includes up to 24 hours of my working time per calendar month. Design, reviews, hands-on build work, team guidance, meetings and time spent on email all count toward these hours.
Time is tracked in 15-minute increments. You can ask for a summary of hours used at any time.
Unused hours do not roll over to the next month.
Meetings beyond the four included each month, and any time (including email) beyond the included 24 hours, are billed at the hourly rate agreed in writing when you join. I’ll get your approval (email is fine) before doing project work beyond the 24 hours.
Larger projects with a defined scope may be handled under a separate written proposal instead of retainer hours.

Both retainers

I keep your non-public business information confidential and use it only to provide the Services. I am happy to sign a mutual NDA on request.
Once paid for, deliverables I create specifically for you (such as designs, documentation and code) belong to you. I keep ownership of my pre-existing tools, templates and general know-how, and you get a license to use any of them included in your deliverables.
You are responsible for giving me the access, information and decisions I need; delays on your side do not extend the month’s hours or allowances.

7. Simulators

Your membership gives you a personal, non-transferable license to use the simulators available at your level while your membership is active.
You may not copy, resell, scrape, or redistribute the simulators or their content (including their code, tool catalogs and pricing data), share access with others, or try to reverse engineer the simulators or get around the membership checks that protect them.
Designs and results you create in a simulator are yours. You can save and export them and use them in your own work, including for your employer or clients.
Cost estimates in the simulators (for example in Pipeline Architect) are based on published list prices as of the date shown and are for planning and learning. Actual vendor and cloud charges can differ, so confirm current pricing with the vendor before making purchasing decisions.
Simulators are being actively developed. Content, features and availability may change, and some simulators may be listed as “coming soon”.

8. Billing

Paid memberships and retainers are charged monthly in advance by card through Stripe and renew automatically until you cancel.
Retainer time beyond the monthly allowance (extra emails, meetings or hours) is billed at the hourly rate agreed in writing. It is added to your next monthly payment and charged to your payment method on file at your next renewal. I’ll email you each time a charge is added, before it is collected.
I may change prices with at least 30 days’ notice by email. The new price applies from your next billing date after the notice period; you can cancel before then.
If a payment fails, access to paid features may be paused until payment is updated.
Prices do not include any taxes that may apply.

9. Cancellation and refunds

You can cancel any time from your account page or by emailing rob@rwdonaldson.com.
When you cancel, you keep access until the end of the month you have already paid for. There are no refunds for partial months.
Monthly allowances are non-refundable, whether used or unused.
For retainers, billable time beyond the allowance that has already been used is still billed if you cancel; if there is no further monthly payment to add it to, I’ll send a separate invoice.

10. Acceptable use and termination

Please be respectful and use the Services lawfully. I may suspend or close an account for abuse, harassment, sharing access, fraud, or attempts to break or misuse the site. If I close an account for any other reason, I will refund any prepaid amount for the unused part of the current month.

11. Advice and responsibility

Mentoring, advice, reviews and simulator content are professional and educational guidance based on my experience. You remain responsible for your own decisions, your systems and data, and how you apply the guidance. I do not guarantee specific outcomes such as job offers, promotions, cost savings or system performance. Nothing in the Services is legal, financial or tax advice.

12. Limitation of liability

The Services are provided “as is”. To the fullest extent allowed by law, I am not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for lost profits, revenue or data. My total liability for any claim relating to the Services is limited to the amount you paid me in the three months before the claim arose.

13. Privacy

I collect only what is needed to run your account, take payments (handled by Stripe; I never see your full card number), schedule meetings and reply to you. See the Privacy Policy for details.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be handled in the state or federal courts located in New York, and both of us agree to their jurisdiction.

15. Changes and contact

I may update these Terms. For material changes I will email members at least 14 days before they take effect; continuing to use the Services after that means you accept the updated Terms. Questions? Email rob@rwdonaldson.com.