QPN Catalyst Participant Guide
A reference for contributors to the QPN Catalyst Network — how to submit, response modes, what protections apply, and answers to frequently asked questions.
All submissions to the QPN Catalyst Network are governed by the Submission Terms. To get submission addresses, agree to the terms first.
How to Submit
What to record
Any communication that evidences a contribution to the network. Common examples:
- Introductions — you connected two people who went on to work together.
- Meetings — a substantive conversation that advanced an initiative, opportunity, or relationship.
- Partnerships — a collaboration, joint venture, or working arrangement you helped catalyze.
- Referrals — you directed someone to a role, investor, customer, or resource.
- Advocacy — you championed someone’s work, product, or candidacy in a way that moved it forward.
If you’re unsure whether something counts, record it. The system is designed to preserve first; attribution and allocation are decided later.
What to include in a submission email
Enough for a future reader — including you — to understand what happened, who was involved, and when. Useful fields:
- Who: names and affiliations of the other people involved.
- What: a one-line description of the contribution (the introduction made, the meeting held, the referral sent).
- When: use the date of the communication (if forwarding) or the date the event occurred (if describing something offline).
- Context: a sentence or two on what made this a contribution — what you did and what happened next.
You don’t need a template. A short note at the top of a forwarded email — “Forwarding my introduction of Alice to Bob, March 2026” — is enough.
Don’t overthink it — a short, clear description is enough.
How to send
All submissions are governed by the Submission Terms. Agree to the terms to receive your submission addresses.
After you agree to the Submission Terms, you’ll receive three submission addresses. All three store your submission the same way — the difference is what (if anything) is sent back to your inbox. See Response Modes Explained below for which one to pick.
- Forward an existing email (the usual case). Open the email you want to record, forward it to the submission address, add a short note at the top if the context isn’t obvious, and send. The forwarded email header preserves the original date and participants. Any attachments on the original email are preserved as part of the submission.
- CC or BCC in the moment. When you’re sending an email that is itself the contribution (an introduction, a referral), add the submission address to CC or BCC. The email gets stored at the same time it’s sent.
- Compose a new email when the contribution isn’t tied to an existing thread — for example, recording an in-person meeting or a phone call. Describe who, what, when, and why in the body.
Default: forward the original email and add one line of context at the top.
Good vs. too-vague
Good:
Forwarding my introduction of Alice Chen (ACME VP Product) to Bob Nguyen (Partner, Drayton Ventures), originally sent March 12, 2026.
Alice was looking for a Series A lead; Bob’s fund focuses on vertical SaaS.
They’ve had two follow-ups and are in diligence.
Too vague:
Met with David today. Good conversation.
The difference: the good version names the people, states what you did, anchors it in time, and captures enough context that the contribution is legible a year from now.
One more thing
Submissions are encrypted and treated as confidential business records from the moment of receipt. See Security & Trust for how submissions are protected, and the Submission Terms for your rights.
Response Modes Explained
QPN Catalyst offers three response modes because participants have different threat models. The key variable is whether your email inbox is itself a risk — for example, if an employer monitors your email, or if the mere existence of a receipt could reveal your participation. You choose a mode by sending to a different address; you receive those addresses after agreeing to the Submission Terms.
Silent Mode — maximum discretion
No reply is sent. No evidence of your participation appears in your inbox. The only record of the submission lives on the QPN Catalyst side, encrypted in storage.
When to use it: when you’re concerned about inbox monitoring (employer, shared device, forwarding rules), or when you want zero footprint on your end.
Tradeoff: you have no independent proof that you submitted. Your agreement to the Submission Terms — recorded when you first agreed — is what binds the submission to the terms; the submission itself leaves no trace in your inbox.
Acknowledgment Mode — timestamp only
You receive a short reply confirming that your submission was received, with a timestamp. The reply does not echo back the content of your submission.
When to use it: when you want independent proof of when you submitted, but you don’t want the content of your submission sitting in your inbox. This protects you if the reply is later intercepted or your inbox is compromised — an observer can see that a submission occurred and when, but not what.
What the reply contains: the timestamp, a notice that the submission is governed by the Submission Terms, and a link to the terms. Nothing else.
Evidentiary Mode — timestamp and full content
You receive a reply with a timestamp and an attachment containing your submission exactly as received. This is the strongest mode for your own records: independent, timestamped proof of both when and what.
When to use it: when you need a complete evidentiary record on your side, and your inbox is secure enough to hold the content.
Tradeoff: the full content of your submission now exists in your inbox. If that inbox is monitored, shared, or later compromised, the content is exposed there.
Why three modes, and not one?
Confidentiality is central to this system. A simpler design would collapse Acknowledgment and Evidentiary into a single “reply with receipt” mode, but that would force participants to choose between having a receipt at all and protecting the content of their submissions. The three-mode design exists specifically to avoid that choice: you can have a receipt without exposing content, or you can have both, or you can have neither — whichever matches your threat model.
Your Legal Protections
Contributions are covered by specific protections under the Submission Terms, including trade-secret treatment, a right of non-disclosure, and timeline attribution from the moment of first submission. For the authoritative language, see the Submission Terms; for how submissions are protected technically and operationally, see Security & Trust.
Compliance Guidance by Role
Contribution compliance depends on your specific role and obligations. For questions specific to your situation, we recommend consulting your own counsel.
The Deferred Activation model (see Submission Terms) is designed so that no value is created until compliance review and allocation occur — you can contribute without committing to activation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to create an account?
No. There are no accounts, passwords, or sign-ups. You agree to the Submission Terms by sending an email to the agreement address (provided on the submit page), and you submit by sending email to one of the submission addresses you receive in reply.
Is there a fee to participate?
No. Participation is free.
What happens to my emails after I submit?
They are encrypted at the moment they are stored. See Security & Trust for details on encryption, access controls, and audit logging.
Can my employer see that I submitted?
Only if your employer monitors your outbound email and you used a mode that leaves a record in your inbox. Silent Mode sends no reply — nothing in your inbox indicates you participated. Acknowledgment Mode leaves a short receipt. Evidentiary Mode leaves the full content of your submission in your inbox. See Response Modes Explained for the tradeoffs.
Am I obligated to activate?
No. Under the Deferred Activation model, submitting a contribution does not commit you to anything. Activation is a separate, later decision. See the Submission Terms for the authoritative language.
Can I withdraw a submission?
Submissions are retained as confidential business records and cannot be withdrawn through a self-service interface. Administrative deletion may be possible in specific cases; contact us at info@qpncatalyst.io. See Security & Trust for the full policy on retention and deletion.
Who can see my submissions?
Submissions are encrypted at the moment they are stored. Human access to email content is restricted and is not used for routine operations — it is limited to specific roles and workflows for incident investigation. See Security & Trust for the full access model.
Do I need permission from the other people in the email?
You should only submit communications you are authorized to share. The Submission Terms govern your rights and responsibilities.