The short version. You can play without an account, and the game sets no cookies and runs no advertising or tracking scripts. We only collect what you choose to send us (a score, feedback, or a Pro waitlist sign-up), plus anonymous counts of how far people get. We never sell your data.
The 12-Week Accelerator is made by Matt Ainsworth, The Lean CPTO (“we”, “us”). Questions or requests about your data: hello@theleancpto.com.
| When | What | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Playing the game | Nothing that identifies you. Your saved game, leaderboard nickname, an anonymous leaderboard ID and sound settings are kept in your own browser's storage, not on our servers. | So you can resume a run and keep one leaderboard entry. |
| Usage counts | Anonymous tallies of game checkpoints (started, reached week 4, Demo Day, and so on), with the startup played and the date. No IDs, no cookies, nothing that links a count to you. | To see where players get stuck and improve the game. |
| Posting a score | Your nickname, score, startup, outcome, milestones, evidence and cash, and a one-way scrambled version of your anonymous browser ID. Your connection's IP address is used briefly to limit posts to one a minute, then discarded. | To run the leaderboard. Your nickname and score are public on it. |
| Bug reports and feedback | What you type, your email if you give it, and the game's state (startup, week, numbers, recent calls), your screen size and browser type. | To fix bugs and improve the game, and to reply if you asked us to. |
| Pro waitlist | Your email, what you're building, its stage and type, and whether you want Matt's notes. | To tell you when Pro opens and to shape what we build. Your idea is never shared. |
| Payments (flat whites, Pro pre-orders) | Handled entirely by Stripe. We receive your name, email and the payment record; we never see your card details. | To take the payment and provide what you bought. |
We only add you to Matt's mailing list if you tick the box asking for his notes. Every email has an unsubscribe link, or email us.
When Pro launches, your idea will also be sent to an AI provider (Anthropic) to generate your run. API data is not used to train their models. We'll update this policy before that happens.
You can ask to see, correct or delete anything we hold about you, or object to how we use it, by emailing hello@theleancpto.com. We'll reply within 30 days. If you're in Australia you can also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. If you're in the UK or EU, you have the rights set out in the GDPR, including complaining to your local data protection authority.
The game is made for adults: founders and product managers. It isn't intended for anyone under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their information.
If we change what we collect, we'll update this page and the date at the top before the change takes effect.