On a less serious (but perhaps profound?) note: Some guys I know recently decided to use AI for the first time in their lives, while setting up a new company. By golly, they were determined to create the best, most organized shared drive ever for the new company. They spent a couple weeks with Claude on this effort. They were positively thrilled with the results (the Maintenance SOP at the end is peak!):

CRE Debt Fund Drive Build-Out SOP

Standard operating procedure for building and maintaining the shared drive hierarchy for the Growth Market Investors debt fund platform.

1. Rules Before Building

· Use numbered folders so they remain fixed in order and can scale as the platform grows.

· Create folders first and migrate files second. Do not drag legacy files into the new structure until the hierarchy is complete.

· Each primary folder must contain a 00_Shared Templates folder specific to that business function.

· Do not mix investor reporting, live loan files, corporate records, and marketing materials across the three main folders.

2. Top-Level Folder Build

Create the root folder and the three primary folders exactly as shown below.

Growth Market Investors├── 01_Sales & Marketing├── 02_Corporate & Admin└── 03_Operations

3. Build Sheet — 01 Sales & Marketing

Purpose: this folder holds all outward-facing activity, including loan sourcing, investor sourcing, track record packaging, and market-facing content.

01_Sales & Marketing├── 00_Shared Templates├── 01_Loan Sourcing├── 02_Investor Sourcing├── 03_Presentations & Marketing Materials├── 04_Track Record & Case Studies├── 05_Origination & Relationships└── 06_Market-Facing Content

Folder	Purpose / Contents
00_Shared Templates	Outreach templates, teaser templates, investment summary templates, track record slide templates, and standardized email language.
01_Loan Sourcing	Deal intake forms, broker outreach, sponsor outreach, referral sources, market visit notes, and pipeline tracker inputs tied to origination.
02_Investor Sourcing	Investor target lists, family office outreach, capital partner materials, investor meeting notes, and fundraising support files.
03_Presentations & Marketing Materials	Firm overview deck, debt strategy decks, loan product summaries, one-pagers, branding assets, and presentation drafts.
04_Track Record & Case Studies	Track record summaries, realized case studies, tombstones, performance summary materials, and portfolio highlight slides.
05_Origination & Relationships	Broker contacts, sponsor database, title companies, legal contacts, lender-side market contacts, and relationship mapping files.
06_Market-Facing Content	Articles, newsletter drafts, LinkedIn materials, conference support materials, and thought leadership content.

4. Build Sheet — 02 Corporate & Admin

Purpose: this folder holds firm-level infrastructure only. No live investment underwriting, draw files, or servicing files should be stored here.

02_Corporate & Admin├── 00_Shared Templates├── 01_Corporate Documents├── 02_Legal & Compliance├── 03_Finance & Accounting├── 04_Banking & Treasury├── 05_Internal Operations└── 06_Strategic Planning & Board Materials

Folder	Purpose / Contents
00_Shared Templates	Board memo templates, internal memo templates, legal request templates, recurring report templates, and administrative checklists.
01_Corporate Documents	Entity formation documents, governance records, insurance, service provider files, and permanent corporate records.
02_Legal & Compliance	Regulatory filings, compliance policies, insurance requirements, loan document templates, intercreditor templates, guaranty templates, and pref/mezz agreement templates.
03_Finance & Accounting	Accounting, AP, AR, audit and tax support, fund-level financial statements, recurring close files, and administrative finance workpapers.
04_Banking & Treasury	Bank account records, treasury controls, authorized signer information, banking instructions, and internal treasury reference materials.
05_Internal Operations	Team compensation, internal operating memos, HR/admin procedures if applicable, and back-office process documentation.
06_Strategic Planning & Board Materials	Strategic planning files, annual plans, board materials, partner meeting materials, and internal planning outputs.

5. Build Sheet — 03 Operations

Purpose: this folder is the execution engine for the debt fund platform. It houses fund platform files, live and closed loans, underwriting, construction administration, asset management, portfolio reporting, and research.

03_Operations├── 00_Shared Templates├── 01_Fund Platform├── 02_Investment Strategy & Templates├── 03_Deal Pipeline├── 04_Underwriting & Risk├── 05_Construction Loan Administration├── 06_Investor Reporting├── 07_Portfolio Management└── 08_Market Research

Folder	Purpose / Contents
00_Shared Templates	Master deal checklists, IC memo templates, closing checklists, reporting templates, draw templates, and portfolio dashboard templates.
01_Fund Platform	Fund I, future funds, governing documents, fund model, capital calls, distributions, investor communications, financial statements, audit & tax, and track record support files.
02_Investment Strategy & Templates	Strategy-specific models and templates for first-position construction, bridge, acquisition, industrial / merchant build, hotel construction, multifamily value-add, preferred equity, mezzanine, participation, and sidecar structures.
03_Deal Pipeline	Active deals, under review, passed deals, closed loans, and realized investments. Each live deal should include executive summary, underwriting, IC memo, third-party reports, legal, and closing subfolders.
04_Underwriting & Risk	Master underwriting standards, LTV/LTC guidelines, debt yield standards, stress testing framework, risk rating system, market assumption library, and sensitivity templates.
05_Construction Loan Administration	Draw request forms, lien waivers, inspection reports, budget tracking, interest reserve tracking, disbursement authorizations, and default / workout files.
06_Investor Reporting	Quarterly reports, annual reports, portfolio snapshots, if-sold analysis, capital account statements, distribution notices, and capital call notices.
07_Portfolio Management	Portfolio dashboard, NAV tracking, portfolio metrics, risk watchlist, ongoing reporting for closed loans, and asset-management level monitoring files.
08_Market Research	Research organized by state and by asset type, including supply pipeline, sales comparables, rent comparables, economic drivers, and market-specific reference materials.

5.1 Required Operations Subfolder Templates

Build the following standard templates inside Operations so analysts and admins can create repeatable deal files and fund files.

03_Operations├── 01_Fund Platform│ ├── Fund I│ ├── Fund II (Future)│ ├── Track Record│ └── Portfolio Dashboard├── 03_Deal Pipeline│ ├── Active Deals│ ├── Under Review│ ├── Passed Deals│ ├── Closed Loans│ └── Realized Investments└── 08_Market Research├── By State└── By Asset Type

5.2 Standard Active Deal Folder Template

Every live loan opportunity in Active Deals must use the same folder template and naming convention.

· Naming convention: YYYY_MM_ProjectName_AssetType_City_State

YYYY_MM_ProjectName_AssetType_City_State├── 01_Executive Summary├── 02_Underwriting├── 03_IC Memo├── 04_Third Party Reports├── 05_Legal├── 06_Closing└── 07_Ongoing Reporting

6. Build Order for Analyst or Admin

· Create the root folder and the three primary folders first.

· Inside each primary folder, build 00_Shared Templates before building any other subfolders.

· Complete all permanent infrastructure folders next: Corporate & Admin first, then Sales & Marketing, then Operations.

· Only after the full hierarchy is created should legacy files be migrated into their permanent location.

· Move active loans and fund files last so they are placed into the final structure instead of being reorganized multiple times.

7. Quality Control Checklist

· All three primary folders are created and numbered correctly.

· Each primary folder contains a 00_Shared Templates folder.

· No live deal or servicing files are stored in Corporate & Admin.

· Track record, decks, and market-facing materials are stored under Sales & Marketing, not Operations.

· Fund platform, underwriting, pipeline, portfolio, reporting, and research files are stored under Operations.

· Every active deal folder uses the standard naming convention and subfolder template.

· Closed loans and realized investments are separated from active pipeline files.

· Research materials are organized consistently by state and by asset type.

8. Maintenance SOP

Weekly

· Move completed drafts into final folders.

· Confirm new active deals follow the naming convention.

· Archive superseded models and duplicate versions.

Monthly

· Move closed opportunities from Active Deals to Closed Loans or Passed Deals as appropriate.

· Review investor reporting folders and portfolio dashboards for completeness.

· Clean loose files from root-level folders.

Quarterly

· Review folder permissions and access controls.

· Confirm templates are current.

· Audit portfolio management, reporting, and construction administration folders for consistency.

9. Final Build Standard

The final drive should support the full debt fund lifecycle: origination, underwriting, closing, construction administration, portfolio management, investor reporting, and firm infrastructure.