Foundry Academy · Funding Readiness · Lesson 3 of 6

Compare financing economics

Compare net proceeds, payment burden, and ownership effects without presenting a nominal rate as total cost.

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01 · Explanation

Compare financing economics

Objective: Compare net proceeds, payment burden, and ownership effects without presenting a nominal rate as total cost.

Compare financing on the same decision sheet: gross principal, cash fees, net proceeds, payment dates, total scheduled repayment, collateral or personal exposure, and what happens if sales arrive late. For an ordinary fully amortizing loan, payment is P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r) to the power of −n), where r is the periodic interest rate and n is the installment count. This formula is not valid for every product. A factor rate, daily withdrawal, variable rate, balloon, or revenue-based share needs its actual cash-flow schedule. A nominal annual rate is not automatically an APR or an all-in comparison.

For fictional Loan C, r = 0.12/12 = 0.01 and n = 36. A $51,000 principal produces a monthly installment of about $1,693.93. The 2% withheld fee is $1,020, so only $49,980 arrives: $1,020 less than the stated $51,000 need. Scheduled repayments total about $60,981.47 using unrounded payments; timing, taxes, and missing terms are not included. The $3,000 ordinary monthly operating deficit means affordability cannot be inferred from this payment calculation. In the simplified equity example, $200,000 divided by the $1,000,000 post-money value is 20% new-investor ownership before excluded instruments and terms. Avoid calling that the actual dilution or a fair price. Finance and legal review are needed before a real commitment.

Before you begin

  • Read the source facts and preserve their fictional status.
  • Keep estimates and absent evidence visible.
  • Use no private records or live application systems.

Original overview module anchor →

02 · Compare the artifacts

Supported work. Visible uncertainty.

Fictional training case. No real company, funder, offer, application, deadline or outcome is represented. Do not submit, contact, sign, upload private records, or treat calculations as financial/legal advice.

Canyon Sensor Works — from funding wish to reviewable packet

A Utah industrial-sensor startup wants a pilot milestone funded within six weeks. Its budget contains both estimates and an engineering estimate; ordinary operations consume more cash than they generate. Two simulated grants and two simulated financing structures create tempting but flawed shortcuts. Your job is to produce six traceable artifacts, preserve missing evidence, and prepare a human-review handoff—not to obtain funding.

Supported example — reference only

Scenario
Loan C net cash
Calculation and input
$51,000 × (1 − 0.02); F07
Result
$49,980; $1,020 below F03 need
Excluded terms or risk
No guarantee, collateral, default or affordability assessment
Review decision
Finance reviewer — not an approval

A well-handled evidence gap

Scenario
Equity D ownership
Calculation and input
$200,000 / ($800,000 + $200,000); F08
Result
20% in simplified example
Excluded terms or risk
Options, convertibles, rights and legal offering pathway not supplied
Review decision
Securities counsel — terms unresolved

Flawed approach — do not copy

Call 12% the total borrowing cost and say a $51,000 loan solves a $51,000 need. Withheld fees leave insufficient proceeds, and a payment formula does not show ability to repay.

Repair: Separate the nominal rate from fees: $51,000 × 2% is $1,020 withheld, leaving $49,980 and a $1,020 shortfall against the $51,000 need. Calculate the monthly installment using r = 0.01 and n = 36, about $1,693.93, then compare it with the existing $3,000 operating shortfall instead of asserting affordability. Label 20% equity ownership as a simplified scenario, list the missing loan and ownership terms, and obtain qualified finance and legal review before a real commitment.

Full case record, ambiguities and all assignments →

03 · Bounded practice

Build the financing scenario comparison.

Calculate Loan C net proceeds and scheduled installments; compare them with the milestone gap and ordinary cash shortfall. Compute the simplified Equity D ownership percentage and list the omitted terms.

Deliverable: A scenario comparison with calculation assumptions, net-cash gap, affordability warning, dilution limitations, and professional-review questions.

Use only the cited fictional inputs. Label estimates, proposals and missing evidence. No real outreach, submission, signature, offer acceptance, data transfer, or credential claim is authorized by this exercise.

Exact supplied inputs for this assignment
  • M03-I01 · F03 — The planning allowance is 10% of the $60,000 incremental milestone budget. Cash in the fictional record is $24,000; the founders propose keeping $9,000 untouched as an operating reserve. No other funds are committed.
  • M03-I02 · F04 — Monthly ordinary cash receipts are $6,000 and ordinary cash expenses are $9,000. Receipts are not signed future orders. The case does not supply a month-by-month collection schedule or forecast.
  • M03-I03 · F07 — Training Loan C is fictional: $51,000 principal, 36 equal monthly installments, 12% nominal annual interest compounded monthly, and a 2% origination fee withheld from proceeds. No actual offer, lender underwriting, default terms, collateral, or guarantee terms are supplied.
  • M03-I04 · F08 — Training Equity D is fictional: $200,000 new cash at an $800,000 pre-money valuation. The simplified example excludes options, convertibles, fees, preferences, taxes, and other investor rights. No investor commitment is supplied.

Operating procedure

  1. Record principal, periodic rate, installment count and fee timing separately.
  2. Calculate the fee and net proceeds before comparing cash received with cash needed.
  3. Use the monthly amortization formula and keep unrounded values until display.
  4. Compare the new installment with the existing cash shortfall and mark affordability unresolved.
  5. Calculate simplified equity ownership from pre-money plus new cash.
  6. List omitted rights, options, convertibles, security, default and guarantee terms.
  7. Write finance and legal-review questions rather than accepting either simulated offer.
Field-by-field guidance
Scenario
Record scenario with a source or explicit assumption. Example: Loan C net cash Keep an absent value marked not supplied.
Calculation and input
Record calculation and input with a source or explicit assumption. Example: $51,000 × (1 − 0.02); F07 Keep an absent value marked not supplied.
Result
Record result with a source or explicit assumption. Example: $49,980; $1,020 below F03 need Keep an absent value marked not supplied.
Excluded terms or risk
Record excluded terms or risk with a source or explicit assumption. Example: No guarantee, collateral, default or affordability assessment Keep an absent value marked not supplied.
Review decision
Record review decision with a source or explicit assumption. Example: Finance reviewer — not an approval Keep an absent value marked not supplied.
Financing scenario comparison · learning draft
ScenarioCalculation and inputResultExcluded terms or riskReview decision

Start with 6 rows; the complete workbook specifies 6 stable rows for this artifact. Add rows here or use the full download. No action is saved until you explicitly choose saving above.

Download complete six-module workbook (.md) · Structured case packet (.json)

Keep private client data, unpublished inventions, personal identifiers and credentials out of these public learning tools.

Module 3 · 2-item formative check

Compare financing economics

Choose an answer and request feedback. Read why each option does or does not fit the evidence. Answers stay in this tab unless you choose device-only saving; they are never submitted.

Question 1 of 2 · MODULE 3 · scenarioHow much cash arrives from the fictional $51,000 loan after its 2% withheld fee?
Question 2 of 2 · MODULE 3 · scenarioWhat can the simplified Equity D calculation establish?

Answer either question to review its reasoning.

Inspect the artifact, not just your quiz answers

  • The $1,020 fee and $49,980 net proceeds remain separate from interest
  • The payment formula states monthly rate and 36 installments; affordability is not asserted
  • 20% is identified as a simplified ownership illustration, not complete investor economics

Stop: Stop if a material source, authority, or applicable eligibility condition is absent or contradicted.

Go: Go only to the next bounded learning artifact after the supplied facts and limits are represented accurately.

Escalate: Route actual financing, tax, legal, technical, safety and program-specific decisions to qualified reviewers; do not infer approval.

04 · Evidence to keep

Leave with usable work.

A scenario comparison with calculation assumptions, net-cash gap, affordability warning, dilution limitations, and professional-review questions.

Download your artifact CSV and, if wanted, export the learning-work JSON above. Neither export is a reviewed submission or certificate. Device-only saving is optional; you must press Save my work now after edits.

When all six artifacts are ready, compare the full packet against the track rubric. Qualified human review is still required before real-world decisions.

Funding readiness specialist reviewing a document with business statistics.
Learn the standard. Practice the work.
Founder reviewing and signing a prepared business funding document.
Leave with evidence you can inspect.

Sources, scope and review boundaries

Curriculum 2026.10.08-learning-paths-1. External source dates below are record checks, not continuing guarantees. Verify current requirements before consequential use.

sba-loans · Official guidance

Loans — U.S. Small Business Administration

Official overview of SBA-backed lending and provider-specific eligibility. It does not substantiate the fictional offer, rate or company qualification.

Open reviewed external source ↗

sec-capital · Official guidance

Capital-Raising Building Blocks — SEC

SEC staff educational resources on readiness, securities and offering pathways. Staff resources are not legal rules; securities counsel must review an actual offering.

Open reviewed external source ↗

ws-funding-evidence-standard · Academy internal operating standard

Wealth Synergy funding evidence and readiness teaching standard

Academy-authored screening, arithmetic, evidence-index, privacy and no-submission exercises. All case rates, company facts and programs are fictional. This is not externally validated instruction or individualized financial/legal advice.

Version 2026.10.08-1 · reviewed 2026-10-08 · owner: Foundry Academy curriculum owner

A future Wealth Synergy private professional-development certificate would be issued only after its assessment, capstone, identity, reviewer, retention, access, deletion, appeal, and issuance controls pass quality review. No credential is currently issued. Any future certificate would not be an accredited academic qualification, professional license, or government certification.