Terms of service

1. Scope

These terms of service ("Terms") apply to every use of the Tessara website and platform ("Platform"), operated by Tessara, eine Marke der Lyo GmbH (see Imprint), by companies ("Companies") and independent fractional leaders ("Leaders"), together "Users".

By creating an account or otherwise using the Platform, a User accepts these Terms in full. Deviating terms of a User apply only if confirmed in writing by Tessara.

2. Description of services

Tessara operates a self-service marketplace that connects Companies with verified Leaders. The Platform lets Companies browse Leader profiles, request contact, and, once a Leader confirms mutual interest, unlock the Leader's full contact details in exchange for a one-time fee.

Every Leader profile is reviewed before publication ("Verification"). See the Verification Policy for details. Verification is a review carried out to the best of Tessara's knowledge and belief, based on the documents and information the Leader provides. It is not a guarantee of the Leader's suitability, availability or performance for any specific mandate, and Tessara accepts no liability for the outcome of a Leader's work.

Tessara does not participate in, deliver, supervise or invoice the mandate between a Company and a Leader. Once contact details are unlocked, the terms of any engagement (scope, duration, day rate, place of work) are agreed exclusively between the Company and the Leader.

3. Registration and accounts

Using core features of the Platform requires an account. Users must provide accurate, current and complete information during registration and keep it up to date.

Accounts are personal to the individual or the company they were created for. Users are responsible for keeping login credentials confidential and for all activity under their account.

4. User obligations

Users undertake to provide truthful information, in particular about identity, professional experience, references and company details, and to promptly correct information that is no longer accurate.

• Companies and Leaders must not exchange contact details (email address, phone number, or similar) outside the Platform before a contact has been properly unlocked, where doing so is intended to avoid the unlock fee.
• Users must not use the Platform to post unlawful, misleading or infringing content, or to solicit Users for purposes unrelated to fractional leadership mandates.
• Users must not attempt to circumvent Verification, impersonate another person or company, or interfere with the technical operation of the Platform.

5. Contact unlock and price

Browsing verified Leader profiles and sending a contact request are free of charge. A Company owes Tessara a one-time fee of CHF 2'900 only once a Leader has confirmed mutual interest in a specific contact request and the Company chooses to unlock that Leader's full contact details.

All prices are quoted excluding value added tax; Swiss VAT is added at checkout where applicable. The fee is charged once per unlocked profile via the payment provider integrated into the Platform (Stripe) and is due immediately. The fee applies per unlocked Leader profile, regardless of company size or the scope of the eventual mandate.

Fractional Leaders never pay a fee to Tessara for creating a profile, receiving requests or being unlocked.

6. No commission, no follow-on fees

Beyond the unlock fee described in section 5, Tessara charges no commission, percentage of the day rate, subscription, renewal fee or success fee, neither to Companies nor to Leaders, regardless of the scope, duration or value of a mandate that results from a match.

7. Tessara's role

Tessara operates exclusively as a technical intermediary providing a marketplace, verification and a paid contact-unlock mechanism. Tessara is not a staffing agency or temporary employment business, does not employ Leaders, and is not a party to any mandate or contract of engagement concluded between a Company and a Leader. The competent authority confirmed on 3 August 2026 that, for the model described to it, Lyo GmbH needs no private employment placement licence and that Tessara does not constitute the hiring-out of personnel under the Swiss Federal Act on Employment Services and the Hiring-out of Personnel (Arbeitsvermittlungsgesetz, AVG). That assessment rests on one condition: the Platform is open only to Leaders who are self-employed or who conclude mandates through their own company. Leaders confirm this on registration and Tessara verifies it. Leaders seeking an employment relationship, and Companies looking to fill a permanent role, fall outside the purpose of the Platform.

8. Limitation of liability

Tessara provides the Platform and the introduction between two independent parties, and nothing beyond that. Tessara is not a party to the mandate between a Company and a Leader and gives no warranty for the suitability, qualifications, availability, integrity or performance of a Leader, for the conduct, solvency or payment behaviour of a Company, or for the accuracy of the information Users publish about themselves. Users assess each other and decide on their own responsibility whether to enter into a mandate.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the liability of Tessara is excluded. This covers in particular indirect and consequential damage, loss of profit, lost business opportunities, loss or corruption of data, and any damage arising from a mandate between a Company and a Leader or from the failure of such a mandate. Tessara is likewise not liable for interruptions, errors or unavailability of the Platform, nor for the acts and omissions of third parties, including auxiliary persons and service providers it engages.

Swiss law sets a floor that no contract can go below, and we name it rather than hide it: liability for unlawful intent and gross negligence cannot be excluded in advance (Art. 100 para. 1 of the Swiss Code of Obligations), and neither can liability for injury to life, limb or health or liability under other mandatory statutory provisions. Those cases remain, and the exclusions above apply only as far as the law allows. Where liability nevertheless arises and may lawfully be limited, it is limited to the amount of the unlock fee paid for the match concerned.

Tessara does not guarantee that a contact request will lead to a confirmed match, that an unlocked profile will lead to a signed mandate, or that the Platform will be available without interruption.

9. Suspension and termination

Tessara may suspend or terminate a User's account with immediate effect if the User seriously or repeatedly breaches these Terms, in particular by providing false information, attempting to circumvent the unlock fee, or misusing the Platform.

Users may close their account at any time by contacting support@tessara.ch. Section 5 (fees already due) and any provisions that by their nature survive termination remain unaffected.

10. Changes to these terms

Tessara may amend these Terms from time to time, in particular to reflect changes to the Platform, legal requirements or these business terms. Material changes will be communicated in advance, for example by email or a notice on the Platform. Continued use of the Platform after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the amended Terms.

11. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

These Terms are governed exclusively by substantive Swiss law, to the exclusion of its conflict-of-law rules and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

The exclusive place of jurisdiction is Zürich (Switzerland), the registered seat of Lyo GmbH, subject to mandatory statutory places of jurisdiction, in particular for consumers.