Disclosure & Editorial Policy — StarForge Advisors

Plain English: this site is free to read. Every guide, calculator, and analysis stays free — permanently, no exceptions. We sustain the project through three clearly labeled revenue streams, and we run an explicit editorial firewall so commercial relationships don't shape what we publish.

1. Brand sponsorships

Companies that serve our audience can sponsor the newsletter, an original research report, or a defined section of the site. Sponsorships are always disclosed in the issue, report, or surface they appear on. Sponsors get an explicit slot; they don't get editorial influence over the surrounding content. We turn down sponsors whose product isn't a fit for our reader.

2. Partnerships

Lenders, Quality of Earnings providers, acquisition-focused law firms, insurance brokers, and operating tools we'd genuinely point a friend toward can become listed partners. Where a partner appears in editorial — a comparison table, a recommendation in a guide, a directory listing — we disclose the relationship in-context.

The rule we hold ourselves to:

We only list partners we'd recommend to a friend, regardless of the partnership.
We name the alternatives we considered, including non-partners, so readers can compare.
Where we don't have first-hand experience with a provider, we say so and base the recommendation on public reputation and practitioner consensus.

Categories where partnerships currently exist or are expected:

SBA lenders
Quality of Earnings providers
Acquisition-focused law firms
Insurance brokers (rep & warranty, key-person, cyber)
SaaS for SMB operators (payroll, accounting, ERPs)

3. Advertising

Clearly labeled ad placements appear in the newsletter, in select reports, and where appropriate on the site itself. Every ad is identified as advertising — visually distinct from editorial, with a disclosure label. Advertisers do not select, shape, or preview editorial content.

4. What we don't do

No paywalls or login walls on educational content. Everything you can read on this site stays free.
No paid coaching, paid courses, paid community, or paid Slack.
No advisory engagements or consulting. StarForge is a publication, not a consulting firm. We don't take clients or sell strategic reviews.
No selling or renting your email address. The newsletter list is used only for the newsletter.
No undisclosed paid placements. If a placement was paid for, it's labeled.
No editorial dictation in exchange for sponsor, partner, or ad revenue. Period.

5. Corrections

If you spot a factual error, an outdated fact, or a recommendation that's no longer valid, email [email protected]. We update in place and note material corrections at the foot of the affected guide.

6. Not professional advice