The 10 Regulatory Pillars. Decoded.

The Definition

Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in your field of endeavor — distinct from the one-time major award standard.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Thiel Fellowship cohort selection
• Forbes 30 Under 30 inclusion
• Major hackathon victories (TechCrunch Disrupt, MIT $100K)
• Prestigious NSF, IEEE, or DARPA research grants

The Definition

Membership in associations in your field which require outstanding achievements of their members, judged by recognized experts.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Full membership in SIGGRAPH or ACM Fellow status
• IEEE Senior Member or Fellow grade
• Y Combinator founder cohort selection
• Exclusive founder masterminds with strict selection criteria

The Definition

Published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media — coverage that is about you and your work, not authored by you.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Dedicated profile features in TechCrunch, Wired, or Forbes
• Substantial interviews in Bloomberg or The Information
• Hacker News front-page analysis of your work
• Coverage in major domain publications (Nature, IEEE Spectrum)

The Definition

Participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specialization.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Program committee member for NeurIPS, ICML, or CVPR
• Peer reviewer for top-tier journals (Nature, ACM, IEEE)
• Judging major startup pitch competitions (TC Disrupt, SXSW)
• Technical advisor for accelerators or venture grant panels

The Definition

Original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in your field.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Widely adopted open-source frameworks or libraries
• Patents implemented at scale across industry
• Foundational research cited by peers and applied in products

The Definition

Authorship of scholarly articles in your field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Peer-reviewed publications in top-tier venues
• Highly cited technical papers (h-index milestones)
• Authoritative engineering blog posts widely referenced

The Definition

Display of your work in the field at artistic exhibitions or showcases — applies to designers, artists, and creative technologists.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Solo or curated exhibitions at recognized galleries
• Featured installations at major design or art festivals
• Showcased work in industry-defining showrooms

The Definition

Performance in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Founding engineer or staff+ at hyper-growth companies
• Executive leadership at recognized industry organizations
• Critical technical leadership on flagship products

The Definition

Commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services in relation to others in your field.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Top-decile compensation benchmarks (levels.fyi, BLS data)
• Equity grants materially above industry norms
• Documented consulting rates well above peer average

The Definition

Commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales.

Tech-Industry Examples

• Documented revenue, streaming, or distribution metrics
• Sustained chart performance or platform analytics
• Verified box office or ticketed performance receipts