The Kodiac affiliate handbook.

01

A welcome from us.

02

Our promise to you.

These are not policies. They are commitments. If we break one of these, you can hold us to it in writing.

1. We pay above market and we do not move the rate down on you.

   Your rate at approval is your floor. We may raise it. We will not lower it without 60 days of written notice and a real conversation about why. If we add new tiers, you climb the new ladder; you do not get reset.

2. We pay on time. Net 30 means Net 30.

   Payout for any calendar month goes out by the 30th of the following month. If we are late, we tell you why before the deadline, not after. We have never been late.

3. We do not claw back commission on legitimate orders.

   If an order ships and the customer is satisfied, your commission is locked. We only reverse commission for chargebacks, refunds, or orders we determine to be self-purchased or fraudulent. We tell you in writing if we reverse anything.

4. We do not silently change your code.

   Your code is yours. We do not rotate it, retire it, or hand it to someone else.

5. We read every email from you within two business days.

   If you do not hear back, assume the email got lost and resend. Both founders are on the affiliate inbox.

6. We do not poach your audience.

   Customers acquired through your code are tagged in our admin. We do not run separate retention campaigns that route them away from you, and we do not run ads against your name or branded terms.

7. We tell you the truth about the product.

   If a batch arrives that does not meet spec, you hear it from us before you hear it from a customer. If we discontinue a compound you have published about, we email you so you can update your content.

03

What an affiliate actually does.

If you have done affiliate work before, this section will surprise you. We are not asking for what other supplement or compound brands ask for.

You are not a salesperson.

You are a researcher, writer, podcaster, lab director, or community lead who already produces work your audience trusts. Affiliating with Kodiac does not change what you make. It changes the supplier you point people to when they ask where to buy the compound you just spent 20 minutes explaining.

A normal week.

• Publish something on a Kodiac compound when it fits. No quota. Most strong affiliates publish 2–6 Kodiac-relevant pieces per month, but volume is not the metric we care about.
• Drop your code in the right place. Pinned comment, description, show notes, link in bio. The labeling section below covers exactly where.
• Disclose the affiliate relationship. Once per piece, in the format we provide. FTC requirement, also just the right thing.
• Stay in research-use-only framing. No therapeutic claims, no dosing advice for human use, no positioning as a supplement or cure.
• Send signal back. If your audience keeps asking for a compound we do not stock, tell us. If a customer reports a problem, forward it.

What success looks like.

The affiliates we pay the most are not the ones with the largest audiences. They are the ones whose audiences trust their pharmacology coverage enough to actually click through, place a real research order, and stay customers. A 5,000-subscriber pharmacology newsletter outperforms a 500,000-follower wellness account in this program, every time, because the audience match is right.

You are doing well when the same customer keeps reordering and they tell us, unprompted, that they found us through you.

04

The pay structure, in full.

The three tiers.

How the tier applies.

The tier rate is applied to the full calendar month you triggered it in, not from the moment of trigger forward. If your code clears the Tier 2 threshold on the 28th of the month, every attributed order from the 1st of that month is paid at the Tier 2 rate. Same logic for Tier 3.

The next month resets. Tiers are calculated per calendar month, not lifetime, which is what lets us keep the structure honest and the math easy to verify on your dashboard.

What counts as attributed revenue.

Gross merchandise value (subtotal before shipping and taxes) on every paid order where the customer entered your code at checkout. We strip out the customer discount before calculating your commission, so your rate is on the discounted subtotal. Example, with default settings:

• Customer places a $200 order and applies your code.
• 10% customer discount drops the subtotal to $180.0.
• At Tier 1 (20%), you earn $36.0.
• At Tier 2 (25%), you earn $45.0.
• At Tier 3 (30%), you earn $54.0.

What does not count.

• Self-purchases (orders placed by you, anyone on your household billing address, or your business entity).
• Orders that get refunded or charged back. Commission reverses.
• Wholesale or institutional contracts negotiated separately by our operations team.
• Orders that ship to a country we cannot legally serve. We void those at checkout, so they should not show up, but if they do, they are excluded.

Payout cadence.

We close the books on the last day of each calendar month UTC. Your dashboard shows the locked total within 48 hours. Payouts go out by the 30th of the following month via the channel you selected during onboarding (ACH, wire, PayPal, or USDC on Base). Minimum payout is $50, and balances under that roll into the next month.

When you can request a custom arrangement.

If you are running an institutional procurement deal, a large bulk order, or a content sponsorship that does not fit the standard structure, email us. We are willing to do flat-fee deals, hybrid retainer plus commission, or one-off bonuses for content we directly commission. The defaults above are the floor of what is possible, not the ceiling.

05

Voice, ethics, and the RUO line.

Kodiac sells research compounds, not supplements and not therapeutics. Everything you publish on our behalf needs to honor that. This is the single hardest rule in this handbook, and the one that gets affiliates paused fastest.

What research-use-only means in your content.

• You can discuss mechanism: how a compound binds, what it modulates, what pathways it touches.
• You can discuss preclinical and clinical literature: what the papers show, what the limitations are, what the open questions are.
• You can discuss your own protocol as a researcher, framed as research.
• You cannot recommend a compound to your audience as treatment, cure, supplement, or self-administered therapy.
• You cannot give dosing advice for human use. Reference the literature on dosing in studies; do not turn that into a recommendation.
• You cannot make medical claims. "Lowers anxiety" is a claim. "5-HT1A partial agonism has been associated with anxiolytic effects in rodent models" is a citation.

The voice we hope you adopt.

If you read the monographs on kodiac.org, you will get a feel for it. The voice is: technical, sober, citation-first, allergic to hype. We assume the reader is smart and has google. We never oversell. We frame uncertainty as uncertainty. We use precise language about doses, half-lives, and receptor affinities. We never use exclamation points.

You do not have to mimic us. Your voice is yours and is the reason your audience listens. But content that reads as wellness influencer copy will not perform in this niche and will draw the wrong audience to our checkout. Stay in your lane.

Things we will never ask you to do.

• Pretend you are a customer when you are not.
• Hide that you are an affiliate.
• Run negative content about competitors. Pick us on merit or not at all.
• Use stock "happy patient" imagery.
• Imply that a compound has FDA approval when it does not.

06

FTC disclosure done right.

Every piece of content where you mention Kodiac and your code needs a disclosure. The FTC enforces this. It is not a tone preference. Below are the lines we recommend.

Short form (under 280 characters: X, Instagram caption, TikTok).

Long form (YouTube description, blog post, newsletter footer).

Spoken (podcast, video).

Where disclosure goes.

• YouTube: first line of the video description AND a verbal disclosure inside the first 60 seconds of the video.
• Podcast: spoken in the first 90 seconds. Also written in the show notes.
• Newsletter: above the fold in any issue that mentions us, or in the standing footer if it is in every issue.
• Blog post: above the fold, before the first link or code reference.
• Instagram and TikTok: in the caption (not just the bio). Tag the post #ad or #affiliate.
• X / Twitter: in the same post as your code. Not "see thread" or "see bio".

07

Video content training.

Video drives the majority of attributed revenue across the program. This section is the one to read carefully even if you skim the rest.

Title formulas that work.

Treat the title as a promise of what the viewer will learn. Avoid hype words and avoid making the title about Kodiac. The compound is the hook, we are the supplier reference.

Titles to avoid.

• "INSANE results from [compound] (must watch)" reads as wellness clickbait and tanks credibility with this audience.
• "I tried [compound] for 30 days" frames it as self-administration. Reframe as "I ran a 30-day protocol with [compound]: what the lab work showed."
• "[Compound]: the best supplement of 2026" is a compliance violation by itself.
• "Kodiac review" buries the compound. Lead with the science.

The hook (first 15 seconds).

The hook is the only place where you cannot afford to be slow. Three hook patterns we have seen work:

1. Counterintuitive claim. "Most people who run tropisetron expect it to be a nausea drug. The data on attention and learning is the part that surprised me."
2. Concrete result. "I just got back the COA on lot 042. The HPLC trace is the cleanest I have seen in this class. Here is what that means and why it matters."
3. Question the audience has. "Three of you asked me this week whether the new BPC-157 oral formulation has any real bioavailability. I read the paper. Here is what I found."

Video structure (8 to 14 minute long form).

1. 0:00 to 0:15 — Hook. See above.
2. 0:15 to 0:45 — Disclosure + frame. Drop your FTC disclosure verbally. State what the viewer will learn. Establish that this is research framing.
3. 0:45 to 3:00 — Mechanism. What the compound is, what it binds, what pathways it touches. Slide or visual is useful here.
4. 3:00 to 7:00 — Evidence. Walk through 2 to 4 key papers. Name the journal, year, and sample size. Show the figures. Be honest about limitations.
5. 7:00 to 10:00 — Context. Half-life, route of administration as discussed in the literature, what to compare it against in the same class.
6. 10:00 to 12:00 — The supplier note. Why you reference Kodiac for this compound. Mention the COA, the lot verification system, the price relative to the class. Read your code on screen and verbally. Show the code overlay for at least 8 seconds.
7. 12:00 to end — Open questions and next steps. What you would want to see studied next. Invite the viewer to share their own data.

The pinned comment.

The pinned comment is the highest-converting placement on YouTube. Use it. Format:

B-roll suggestions.

• The product photography from our asset library, on a clean surface. Avoid implying lab settings you do not actually work in.
• Receptor binding diagrams (use BioRender or your own). Cite the source if you pull from a paper.
• HPLC trace from a real COA. We can provide cleaner exports on request.
• Hand-drawn structure diagrams on paper or whiteboard. Performs surprisingly well.

08

Three full sample scripts.

These are not for copy-paste. They are templates that show the structure, voice, and disclosure placement working together. Adapt freely.

Script 1: Mechanism deep dive (8 minute YouTube video).

Script 2: Paper review (5 minute video or written post).

Script 3: Newsletter section (Substack or email).

09

Platform-by-platform labeling.

Every platform has its own surface area for titles, descriptions, captions, tags, and disclosure. Here is exactly what to put where.

YouTube.

• Title: 50 to 65 characters. Lead with the compound or topic, not Kodiac. Use the formulas in section 07.
• Description, line 1: Affiliate disclosure (the long form from section 06).
• Description, line 2: Code and link. KODIAC-YOURNAME · https://kodiac.org/discount/KODIAC-YOURNAME
• Description, lines 3-8: One-paragraph summary of the video, with cited paper DOIs.
• Description, lines 9+: Chapter timestamps. YouTube auto-generates chapters from 0:00 Intro, 2:30 Mechanism, etc.
• Tags: Compound name, mechanism keyword, "research compound", and 5 to 10 related compound names. Do not stuff.
• End screen: Subscribe + your most-watched relevant video. Do not link to Kodiac through the end screen; the pinned comment and description handle that.
• Pinned comment: See section 07. Always pin it within 5 minutes of upload.
• Thumbnail: Compound structure, paper screenshot, or COA detail. Avoid your face overlaid with shock expressions.

Instagram (reels and grid posts).

• Caption first line: Affiliate disclosure (short form from section 06).
• Caption body: 4 to 8 lines on the compound. End with: "Code KODIAC-YOURNAME at kodiac.org, link in bio."
• Hashtags: 8 to 15. Mix of compound-specific (#tropisetron, #bpc157), category (#nootropics, #peptides), and audience-relevant (#pharmacology, #biohacking). Avoid #weightloss, #wellness, #supplement.
• Bio link: https://kodiac.org/discount/KODIAC-YOURNAME (or your Linktree pointing there).
• Alt text: Describe the image for accessibility.
• Post tag: Tag the post as paid partnership or branded content per Instagram's tools.

TikTok.

• Caption: Short disclosure + code. Example: Affiliate. Code KODIAC-YOURNAME = 10% off at kodiac.org.
• On-screen text: If you mention the code on screen, hold it visible for at least 4 seconds.
• Disclosure toggle: Enable TikTok's branded content disclosure toggle. Required if you are over 10k followers.
• Sounds: Use trending sounds sparingly and never let the sound undercut the seriousness of the science framing.
• Bio: Your discount URL.

X / Twitter.

• Single post + code: Disclosure and code in the same post. Example: Affiliate disclosure. Code KODIAC-YOURNAME for 10% off at kodiac.org.
• Threads: Disclosure in the first post of the thread, not buried in the last. Code can repeat in post 1 and the final post.
• Quote tweets of your content: If you boost your own post with a quote, repeat the disclosure.
• Pinned post: If your account regularly references us, pin a post with your code and a one-line explanation of why you stand behind Kodiac. Keep it updated.

Newsletter / Substack.

• Subject lines: Lead with the compound or topic. Avoid "DEAL" or "10% OFF" framing.
• Above the fold: Disclosure on any issue that references us.
• Footer: Standing line. Example: This newsletter is reader supported. I have an affiliate relationship with Kodiac biolabs. Code KODIAC-YOURNAME for 10% off.
• Link format: Use https://kodiac.org/discount/KODIAC-YOURNAME so the code auto-applies. Cleaner UX, higher conversion.

Blog / personal site.

• Disclosure block: Above the first link to us, in a clearly demarcated box or italics. Long form from section 06.
• Rel attributes: Add rel="sponsored nofollow" on outbound affiliate links. Google requires this; not doing it can hurt your own SEO.
• Canonical content: Do not republish our monographs verbatim. Quote, paraphrase, and link back. Duplicate content hurts both of us.

Discord / community.

• Channel: Confine affiliate references to a clearly labeled #recommendations or #affiliates channel unless server rules explicitly allow otherwise.
• Disclosure: Per message. Do not assume members know.
• Pinned post: Your code and the standing disclosure live in the channel pins.

10

Written content (newsletter, blog, X).

X thread structure (7 to 12 posts).

1. Hook + disclosure + code. The disclosure cannot wait for post 7.
2. The claim or question. What does this thread argue?
3. Background. What does the reader need to know to follow?
4. Mechanism. One post, one diagram if relevant.
5. Evidence post 1. One paper, one screenshot of the key figure, one sentence of takeaway.
6. Evidence post 2. Same format.
7. Caveats and limitations. This is what separates you from the wellness account next door.
8. The supplier note. Why you reference Kodiac specifically. Repeat your code and link.
9. Open question or invitation to discuss.

Newsletter section format.

If you are publishing a multi-topic newsletter, treat each compound section as a self-contained mini-essay: 200 to 500 words, one cited paper, one takeaway, one place to learn more. End with a single inline mention of the code, not a giant CTA banner.

Blog post outline (1,500 to 2,500 words).

1. Disclosure block.
2. Opening: the question or claim. 100 to 200 words.
3. Background and mechanism. 300 to 500 words.
4. Evidence section. 600 to 1,000 words. Cite 3 to 6 papers with DOIs.
5. Context: where this compound fits in its class, half-life, dosing as discussed in the literature. 200 to 300 words.
6. Supplier note: 100 to 200 words on why you reference us. One link with your code.
7. Open questions and further reading. 100 to 200 words.
8. References list with full citations.

11

Audio (podcast, interviews).

Episode structure.

Cold open hook (15 to 30 seconds) then spoken disclosure (10 to 15 seconds) then intro and content. Disclosure inside the first 90 seconds is the FTC bar; we recommend the first 60.

Where to mention us.

• If you are doing a full episode on a Kodiac compound: Disclosure in the first 60 seconds. Code mention once mid-episode and once at the end.
• If you are doing a guest interview: Code mention at the standard mid-episode ad break point, framed as a personal recommendation.
• If you are doing a sponsor read style: Treat it like a regular sponsor read but keep the language research-framed. Avoid wellness sponsor read tropes.

Show notes.

• Top of notes: written disclosure (long form from section 06).
• Followed by: your code + link.
• Then: episode timestamps and references cited.

12

The non-negotiables.

Doing any of these gets your affiliate access paused on first occurrence, with the chance to discuss. Doing them twice is grounds for removal from the program. None of these are subjective.

1. Marketing compounds as therapeutics, treatments, cures, or supplements for human use.

   Includes language like "treats depression", "cures inflammation", "the best supplement for sleep", or any phrase that positions a compound as something other than a research material.

2. Targeting audiences primarily under 21.

   If your audience demographic skews under 21, this is not the program for you. We pause without discussion in this case.

3. Failing to disclose the affiliate relationship.

   FTC requirement. We grep for this in spot checks.

4. Running paid ads against the Kodiac brand name, our product names, or our domain.

   You cannot bid on "Kodiac biolabs" in Google Ads, run Meta ads targeting our brand searches, or buy traffic to a URL that just redirects to ours with your code appended. Organic content is what we are paying you for.

5. Self-purchasing through your own code.

   If you want to order from us, email and we will set up a 25% personal account discount that does not route through commission. This protects both of us.

6. Implying medical advice or FDA approval that does not exist.

   "FDA approved" is reserved for compounds that actually are. "FDA cleared", "doctor recommended", or "clinically proven" should never appear in your Kodiac content unless you can cite the specific approval.

7. Negative content about competing suppliers.

   Compare on merit. Cite the COA. Discuss the differences. Do not attack.

8. Publishing fake reviews or sock-puppet engagement.

   Self-explanatory. We will catch this.

13

Brand assets and product photography.

What you can use.

• Kodiac wordmark, full color and monochrome variants.
• Product photography (vial shots, packaging, COA crops).
• HPLC trace exports from any in-market COA.
• Monograph excerpts up to 200 words with attribution and link back.

How to request the asset bundle.

Email loganp@kodiac.org or logand@kodiac.org with the subject line "Asset bundle request" and your affiliate code. We send a Dropbox link within 24 hours. The bundle includes logos in SVG and PNG, product shots in JPG at multiple sizes, and a usage guideline one-pager.

What we will not provide.

• Pre-written scripts you can publish as your own. We want your voice, not ours pretending to be yours.
• "Lifestyle" imagery of fake researchers in fake labs.
• Permission to alter the wordmark, recolor it, or place it inside another logo.

14

Payouts, taxes, and operations.

Payment methods.

• ACH (US): Free. 2 to 3 business day clear. Default.
• Domestic wire (US): Free if you prefer it. Same day for amounts over $1,000.
• International wire: Free up to one transfer per month. Additional transfers: $25 fee deducted from the payout.
• PayPal: Free, available globally where PayPal operates.
• USDC on Base: Free, instant. Recommended for international affiliates.

Tax forms.

• US-based affiliates earning over $600 in a calendar year: W-9 required. We issue a 1099-NEC by January 31.
• Non-US affiliates: W-8BEN (individual) or W-8BEN-E (entity) required before first payout.
• We use a third-party tax form intake (HelloSign). No paper.

Disputes and adjustments.

If your dashboard total looks wrong, email both founders within 60 days of the month closing. We have full order-level logs and will reconcile inside 5 business days. Approved adjustments are paid with the next regular payout, or sooner if you prefer.

Leaving the program.

You can leave at any time. Email either of us. We pay out any remaining balance on the next normal cycle and keep your historical data accessible for as long as you have an account. We do not require you to remove past content or revoke disclosure; we simply stop crediting future orders to your code.

15

FAQ.

Can I have more than one code?

We issue one primary code per affiliate. If you run distinct properties (a podcast and a newsletter, for example) and want separate attribution to compare performance, we will issue a second code on request. Three is the cap.

Can I gift my code to a friend who is a researcher?

Yes. That is the point of a referral code. Sharing it with people who would actually order is what we are paying you for. Just keep your disclosure honest.

What if a customer asks me a technical question about the product?

Answer to the limits of your own expertise, and route specifics to us. Forward the email to loganp@kodiac.org or logand@kodiac.org and we will respond within 2 business days. Do not invent a spec you are not sure about.

How do I move up to Tier 2 or Tier 3?

You do not have to do anything. The dashboard recalculates automatically at month close and pays at the right tier rate. You will see the tier badge update on your account.

What if my content gets a paper or claim wrong?

Issue a correction or pinned comment on the original. We do not penalize you for honest mistakes. We will quietly stop crediting an affiliate who routinely misrepresents the literature, because that hurts both of us.

Can I run a giveaway or sweepstakes using a Kodiac product?

Email us first. Giveaways in this category have legal considerations we want to walk through. Usually we say yes with a couple of adjustments.

Can I get the product wholesale to resell?

The affiliate program is not a wholesale program. If you want to discuss wholesale or white-label arrangements, email us separately. The two structures do not overlap.

What happens to my commission if a customer returns the product?

Reversed on the returned line item. Net commission on the rest of the order stands. You see this on the dashboard within 48 hours of a return.

Are there exclusivity requirements?

No. You can affiliate with as many research suppliers as you choose, including ours and theirs in the same piece of content. We compete on merit.

Will you provide a sample for me to review?

Yes, on request and on a limited basis. Email and tell us which compound and what content you are planning. We send the sample with the usual COA. Disclose the sample status in the resulting content (FTC requires this on top of the affiliate disclosure).

16

Your direct line to us.

No ticket system, no support tier, no chatbot. You email one of us and one of us answers. Both of us cover the same things; pick whichever address is in your contacts.

If we ever do not get back to you inside two business days, ping the other founder. If neither of us responds inside five business days, something has gone wrong. Email support@kodiac.org and the wider team will surface it.