A CRE debt fund team proudly documents how they used Claude to design a meticulous shared-drive hierarchy and maintenance SOP, treating the AI-generated folder structure and rules as a serious business win.
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.
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