§ · Founding Document
The Charter of Refusals
Ten refusals. One House.
This text does not list what we will accept.
It lists what we will never accept. A House stands by its refusals. They are its immunity. They are what remains true when the pressure to grow is felt. They are the instrument that allows, one day, others than the founder to decide without betraying him.
We inscribe these ten refusals on August 15, MMXXVI, before the delivery of the first tube. We record them in the register. We publish them here without comment. We will abide by them.
§ I
We will never promise to fix a life.
§ II
We will never disguise a promotion as an emergency.
§ III
We will never pay someone to feign conviction.
§ IV
We will not multiply products to fill a calendar.
§ V
We will not turn a member's vulnerability into a commercial opportunity.
§ VI
We will never speak louder to compensate for lack of substance.
§ VII
We will never collect data that we do not know how to protect.
§ VIII
We will never publish what we do not want to find in our archives.
§ IX
We will never confuse belonging with obedience.
§ X
We will never sacrifice trust to accelerate a quarter.
This Charter is not a marketing text. It is a governance instrument. All major decisions of the House will be submitted to it. It will be reread once a year, in silence, by the founder.
If you hold a copy of the First Edition, this page belongs to you as much as it does to us. It is up to you to remind us if one day we stray from it.
Andreas Cousouras
Founder · Brussels · MMXXVI
