WEBSITE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
MAX KAIZEN T/A CUSP

Last Updated: May 2026

Welcome to the website of MAX KAIZEN T/A CUSP ("CUSP", "we", "us", or "our"), accessible via https://maxkaizen.com ("the Website"). These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your relationship with the Website, our digital ecosystem, and any bookings, expeditions, or programs initiated through the Website.

Please read these Terms carefully before using the Website or engaging our services. By browsing, accessing, or utilizing any portion of this Website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms, which constitute a legally binding agreement between you and CUSP. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must immediately cease using the Website.

1. IMPORTANT CONSUMER NOTICE (SOUTH AFRICAN LAW)

PLEASE PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO SECTIONS WRITTEN IN BOLD TEXT. These sections contain provisions that may limit our liability, create risk or liability for you, compel you to indemnify CUSP, or serve as an acknowledgment of an important legal fact. These provisions are brought to your attention in compliance with Section 49 of the South African Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (CPA). By continuing to use this Website, you explicitly acknowledge that these specific limitations and allocations of risk have been read, understood, and accepted.

2. STATUTORY DISCLOSURES IN TERMS OF THE ECTA

In compliance with Section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002 ("ECTA"), the legal and contact details of the website owner are disclosed as follows:

Disclosure Requirement

Official Entity Details

Full Trading Name:

MAX KAIZEN T/A CUSP

Physical & Registered Address:

A1 Nottingham, 3 Fir Avenue, Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa, 8005

Legal/Domicilium Address:

A1 Nottingham, 3 Fir Avenue, Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa, 8005 (Where all legal documents and notices may be served)

Website URL: https://maxkaizen.com

Contact Email Address: hello@maxkaizen.com

3. NATURE OF SERVICE & DISCLAIMER OF ADVISORY LIABILITY

CUSP operates as an ecosystem dedicated to narrative foresight, professional expeditions, creative technology application, and leadership mentorship. The content, signals, research, narratives, and materials published openly on the Website are intended strictly for educational, informational, and inspirational purposes.

CRITICAL RISK LIMITATION: Under no circumstances does any content published publicly on this Website constitute formal business consulting, legal, financial, or investment advice. Narrative foresight explores potential future scenarios and strategic pathways, but does not provide guarantees of market conditions, outcomes, or performance. Any actions taken or reliance placed upon the information, foresight signals, or opinions expressed on this Website are executed entirely at your own individual risk. CUSP, its founder, and its affiliates accept no professional or financial liability for any strategic or operational decisions made by users based on public website materials.

4. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSING

CUSP balances open-source knowledge sharing for public foresight with strict protections for proprietary professional materials. Intellectual property on this Website is governed by the following dual framework:

4.1 Public Website Copy (Creative Commons License)

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all publicly visible text copy, articles, and signals published directly on the pages of the Website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Under this license, you are free to copy, share, redistribute, and adapt the text materials in any medium or format, subject to the following non-negotiable conditions:

Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests CUSP endorses you or your use.
Non-Commercial: You may not use the material for any commercial purposes, profit generation, or as part of a paid consulting or advisory service.

4.2 Closed Program Frameworks & Proprietary Materials

STRICT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RESERVATION: The CC BY-NC 4.0 license applies exclusively to public website copy. It does NOT apply to any materials, frameworks, toolkits, slide decks, strategic models, methodologies, or digital assets distributed within CUSP’s closed, premium, or private mentorship programs, expeditions, or private member portals. All closed-program distribution materials are strictly proprietary, confidential, and copyrighted. They remain the sole intellectual property of CUSP. Unauthorized reproduction, digital distribution, sharing, or modification of private program materials without express, prior written consent from MAX KAIZEN is strictly prohibited and constitutes a material breach of contract and intellectual property law.

5. USER INTAKE, CONTACT FORMS, AND PRIVACY (POPIA ALIGNMENT)

CUSP is committed to protecting your personal information in strict accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 ("POPIA"). Our operational rules regarding user data collected through this Website are as follows:

5.1 General Contact and Inquiry Forms

When you fill out our contact or intake form on the Website, we collect your name, email address, and any specific business context or inquiry notes you choose to share. This personal data is collected and processed for the sole purpose of direct, individual outreach, answering your inquiry, and setting up personal consultation calls.

CUSP guarantees that your contact form details will never be added to automated marketing lists, sold to third parties, or used for unsolicited direct marketing. Your data is treated as confidential and retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the operational purpose of our professional engagement.

5.2 Newsletter Subscriptions (Substack Decoupling)

CUSP does not host an internal automated email marketing list or distribute newsletters directly from this Website's databases. Our official newsletter subscription is hosted, managed, and executed entirely via the external platform, Substack.

If you choose to subscribe to our newsletter, you will do so via an integrated embed or a direct link transferring you to Substack's infrastructure. Your registration, subscription preferences, data tracking, and opt-out requests are subject entirely to Substack’s independent Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. CUSP accepts no structural liability for data management practices occurring on Substack's independent domains.

6. ONLINE BOOKINGS, TRANSACTIONS, AND GATEWAYS

CUSP allows clients to book specific mentorship sessions, open programs, or deposit places for expeditions directly through the Website's integrated digital transaction features.

6.1 Payment Gateways

All online transactions are processed through authorized, secure third-party payment gateways, specifically PayFast (primarily for South African Rand ZAR transactions) and PayPal (primarily for international or foreign currency transactions). By initiating a transaction on our Website, you agree to be bound by the respective terms of service and processing rules of PayFast or PayPal.

CUSP does not store, capture, or have access to your full credit card, debit card, or bank login details. All transaction data is encrypted and managed within the highly secure sandbox environments of the respective gateways.

6.2 Currency and Processing Adjustments

Depending on your geographical location and choice of payment gateway, transactions may display or process in South African Rand (ZAR) or United States Dollars (USD). You acknowledge that CUSP cannot control and is not liable for foreign exchange conversion rates, currency fluctuations, or additional cross-border processing fees levied by your issuing bank or financial institution.

6.3 Binding Nature of Digital Bookings

A digital booking through the Website is considered tentative until funds have cleared successfully and a formal settlement confirmation is issued by the payment gateway. CUSP reserves the right to cancel or void any booking or registration if the payment gateway flags the transaction for fraud prevention, authorisation failure, or chargeback risk.

7. CANCELLATION, REFUND, AND EXPEDITION RULES

CUSP coordinates highly specialised, structurally complex mentorship schedules and field expeditions. To protect operational capacity and ensure fairness, we enforce a strict refund and cancellation threshold for all online bookings made via the Website.

7.1 The 7-Day Cancellation Window

Full Refund Eligibility: You are entitled to receive a full (100%) refund of transaction fees paid through the Website if you submit an express, written cancellation request to CUSP at least 7 (seven) full days prior to the official commencement date of the booked session, program, or expedition.
Late Cancellations & Non-Refundability: If you cancel, request a reschedule, or fail to attend a booked engagement within fewer than 7 (seven) days of its scheduled start time, you acknowledge and agree that the booking becomes strictly non-refundable. Within this 7-day threshold, CUSP incurs administrative lock-ins, slot allocation costs, and resource commitments that cannot be reclaimed.

7.2 Physical Expeditions and Travel Risks

COMPREHENSIVE LIABILITY ACCEPTANCE FOR EXPEDITIONS: For bookings involving physical travel, field trips, or geographic expeditions coordinated by CUSP, you acknowledge that participation involves inherent physical risks, logistical changes, and variable environmental factors. CUSP coordinates educational and foresight contexts but is NOT a licensed commercial travel agency or carrier. You are entirely responsible for securing your own comprehensive travel insurance, medical covers, passports, visas, and liability protections. CUSP accepts zero financial or legal liability for injury, loss of property, delays, transport cancellations, state actions, or unexpected operational alterations occurring during an expedition.

8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY

LIMITATION OF DAMAGE CLAIMS: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable South African law (including the CPA and ECTA), CUSP, its founder (Max Kaizen), employees, agents, or consultants shall under no circumstances be liable to you or any third party for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of your use of this Website, your reliance on its content, your interaction with online payment gateways, or your participation in any digital or physical programs booked here. This limitation applies to claims rooted in contract, delict (tort), strict liability, or gross negligence, even if CUSP has been advised of the theoretical possibility of such damages.

USER INDEMNIFICATION: You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold completely harmless MAX KAIZEN T/A CUSP from and against any and all claims, financial damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to legal fees on an attorney-and-own-client scale) arising directly from your breach of these Terms, your unauthorized commercial exploitation of our content, or your violation of any third-party intellectual property or privacy right.

9. GENERAL PROVISIONS

9.1 Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms, your use of the Website, and any contractual relationship or dispute arising therefrom shall be governed by, interpreted, and enforced in strict accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. You explicitly consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Western Cape High Court, Cape Town (or the relevant Magistrate's Court with local jurisdiction) for the resolution of any legal disputes.

9.2 Severability

If any single provision, clause, or sub-clause within these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or legally unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that specific provision shall be severed from the remainder of the contract. The remaining clauses of these Terms shall continue in full force and effect as legally valid and binding.

9.3 Variations and Updates

CUSP reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify, update, or replace these Terms at any time without prior personalized notice. The "Last Updated" date at the absolute top of this page will reflect the revision cycle. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of any changes constitutes formal, binding acceptance of those updated terms.

10. CONTACT AND COMPLAINTS

If you have any questions regarding these Terms, require clarification on our Creative Commons framework, or wish to lodge a formal complaint regarding Website operations under ECTA, please reach out to us directly via our legal address or email at: