Deal Intake — [DEAL NAME]

One per opportunity. Sam's repeatable way to work a deal/client/relationship so (a) nothing valuable is given away unbounded, (b) the value + the money question is answered up front, (c) it doesn't cannibalize the near-term cash lanes. Reusable for Arsen, Project SWU, and every future one. Part of the underwriting-method / Hook Street Services. Copy this block per deal into docs/deals/<name>.md.

1. The cast & relationship
- Principal / who it's for:
- Counterparty / deal-side:
- Referred by / how I'm in:
- The relationship I actually want out of this:

2. The deal in one line + the ask
- What it is (one line):
- What they want from ME:
- Stage / lender / round (Truist? seed? Series?):

3. My role — pick one (don't blur):
☐ Vet-for-investor (Arsen-type underwrite) ☐ Position/narrative-for-founder (help tell the story to investors) ☐ Full underwrite (model + DD) ☐ Thinking-partner ☐ Pass

4. What I need to see (docs / numbers):

5. The value I bring (specific — what they can't do themselves):

6. Money
- Payer (founder / investor / none-relationship):
- Free (capped to ___ hrs, logged as relationship/marketing) OR paid (fee $ / advisory $/mo):
- When to ask: ☐ after value shown ☐ on the full-underwrite ask ☐ never (friend) ☐ now

7. Cash-now test (the guardrail): Does this fund near-term cash (5609) this quarter? Y / N.
- If N → it's a relationship/optionality play, NOT the meal. Time-box it. Do not let it eat hours owed to the cash lanes (Arsen · Eden $20K · STR · HSS Bottleneck Review).

8. Next action + time-box + due:

Example — Project SWU (the live one, 2026-06-26)

1. Cast: Principal/investor = Mark (Menachem Ruvel) — friend, weighing the investment. Deal-side = Yehuda Moskowitz — a COFOUNDER raising the round. In via the fundraiser; Mark handed it to me, Yehuda sent the IM direct + we swapped contacts.
   - Relationship I want: trusted vetter for Mark + thinking-partner/positioning for Yehuda.
2. Deal: "Project SWU" — Yehuda's company, raising (Truist involved); IM is on v75 (46pp). The ask: tell Mark if it's real + how to play it.
3. My role: TWO at once — vet-for-investor (for Mark) + position/narrative-for-founder (for Yehuda). NOT books/CFO — Yehuda's clean, has done seed rounds.
4. Need to see: IM v75 (Yehuda's), Valuation Memo 13Jun2025 (Mark's). [pending files]
5. Value: for Mark — is the valuation/structure sound, the risks. For Yehuda — help him describe what he needs to investors (the narrative/positioning he noticed I'm good at; we speak the same language).
6. Money: Mark = friend, don't bill (relationship). Yehuda = possible paid positioning/advisory — but EARN into it, don't ask day one. When to ask: after value shown / if it becomes ongoing.
7. Cash-now test: N. Does not fund 5609 this quarter. → relationship/network play. Time-box. Don't let it eat Arsen/Eden/STR/HSS.
8. Next: Sam sends v75 + valuation memo → Claude does the read + fills this → Sam reviews + hands Mark the read at the Mon 6/29 backyard. Time-box Sam's own hours: review, not raw-read.