How EO and YPO members can introduce peer companies without breaking forum confidentiality

The short answer for EO and YPO members

Keep forum and introductions apart. What a forummate shares in forum stays there; an introduction to SourceX happens only outside forum, only after the peer says they want it, and only with a plain disclosure that you may earn a referral reward. For your own company, skip the referral route and apply directly.

Forum formats rely on confidentiality, and that trust is what makes forum work. A conversation about data licensing can sit alongside it safely as long as it never draws on forum content. Your organization's published protocol and your forum's own working agreement come first; where they are stricter than this page, follow them.

Forum confidentiality versus an outside introduction

The test is where you learned what you know. If it came from a forum meeting, a retreat or a forummate's presentation, it cannot be the starting point for an introduction.

When in doubt, ask the member whether they want the topic raised at all. A no ends it.

Door one: your own company

If you run a US company with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), apply for it directly at sourcex.si/apply. No one needs to refer you. Whether any partner reward could apply to a company you own or run is a question for the program terms, not something to assume.

After you apply, SourceX checks size, history, data breadth and rights; your team lists systems and years of history in a data inventory; price and terms are agreed before buyers review; and nothing binds the company until you sign. You keep ownership, the data is licensed rather than sold, and the company receives one all-in price as a one-time payment, typically within about 60 days of invoicing once a buyer selects the data.

Members who want to see what the inventory step looks like before committing can review the metadata-only inventory template, which records system details without any customer content.

Door two: a peer's company

A peer's company is worth mentioning when the basics line up, and you can usually learn them in an ordinary conversation without asking for anything confidential.

A peer who owns or runs the company is already an authorized sponsor, which removes the usual hunt for the decision-maker. Members who want to think through their own position first can work from the coaching questions on hidden assets.

The ask, disclose, step back rule

Use this rule for every peer introduction. It protects the relationship as much as the referral.

• Ask: the peer raised the subject or agreed to hear about it, and the conversation happened outside forum.
• Disclose: you told them you are a SourceX referral partner who may earn a share of SourceX's fee if a deal closes, and that it never reduces what their company receives.
• Check your source: nothing you plan to pass along came from a forum meeting or retreat.
• Let them choose the route: they apply themselves with your referral link, or they let you submit their name and sponsor contact through the referral form.
• Pass only fit basics: company name, sector, approximate peak headcount and who can authorize; no description of their records.
• Step back: the peer works with SourceX directly from the first call.

If you recommend SourceX more publicly, for example in a post on a member platform or on LinkedIn, the FTC's Endorsement Guides are the reference point; section 255.5 covers disclosure of material connections between an endorser and the business being promoted. State plainly that you are paid for referrals. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel before acting.

How a peer introduction moves forward

Once the peer opts in, the work runs between their company and SourceX.

1. You register as a partner and send the peer your referral link, or submit the company through the referral form with their agreement.
2. SourceX qualifies the company with the peer or their CFO: size, history, breadth of records and rights.
3. The peer's team builds the data inventory; no records change hands at this stage.
4. SourceX and the company settle price and terms first; AI labs and data buyers see the opportunity only after that.
5. If a buyer selects the data, the agreement is signed, the de-identification and redaction rules agreed earlier are applied, and delivery happens with the company's authorization.
6. The company is paid, and your reward follows once SourceX has received its fee.

What to say outside forum

Keep it short enough that saying no is easy.

How rewards work when you refer a peer

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 cumulative per referred company, and rewards become payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee.

Two points matter between members. The reward comes out of SourceX's fee, so your peer's proceeds are identical whether or not you are involved. And no reward is guaranteed: a peer who qualifies may still decide not to sign, and you need to be comfortable with that before you raise it.

When to hold back

Hold the introduction when any of these apply:

• The only reason you know about the opportunity is something said in forum.
• The peer is in a sale process. Their M&A advisor and counsel should hear about it first, and business valuation advisers on the deal may want to know about any license before it is signed.
• The company runs mainly on clients' data, as many agencies and outsourcers do, and those clients have not consented.
• Most of what the company holds is consumer personal data or protected health information.
• The company is outside the US. Partners can be based anywhere, but the companies they introduce must be US companies.
• Mixing business into the relationship would strain your forum.

On rights questions, the peer's own counsel is the right first stop; attorneys who want to make introductions themselves have their own page on referral opportunities for business attorneys.

Next step

Think through which companies in your circle might pass the basics with the network opportunity finder and the who qualifies baseline. Then register as a partner so a link is ready when a peer asks, or apply for your own company at sourcex.si/apply.