The LBO Model Pack

I want to set this up properly so Claude builds a real LBO model on my deal, not a one-off chat. Walk me through it step by step, do not skip anything. Treat me like a PE associate, deal lead, banker, or searcher who has built models in Excel but has never set up a Claude Project. Define every term once.

This is NOT a Terminal or coding install. There is nothing to compile. It is a private Claude Project where the deal lives so every prompt builds on the same model.

## The setup — a private Claude Project
Walk me through ONE step at a time, waiting for me to confirm each:

1. **What I need.** A Claude account on a paid plan so I can pin the better model. Pin **Opus 4.8**. Nothing to install. If I want the model written straight into a spreadsheet, install the Claude add-in for Microsoft Excel, but that is optional.
2. **Make the workspace.** In Claude, create a new **Project** named for the target. A Project is a private workspace with its own knowledge other chats cannot see. My deal stays in my own tenant; consultance never sees it.
3. **Try the calculator first.** Open the live LBO Returns Calculator on the library page. Move entry multiple, exit multiple, and leverage and watch the IRR, the MOIC, the sensitivity grid, and the covenant headroom move. That is the model the prompts build on my real numbers.
4. **Load the deal.** Drop the CIM and the financials into the Project knowledge, or have the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow ready to paste.
5. **Run the vault.** Run prompt 01, pick the deal type and where my data lives, and give the inputs (EBITDA, entry multiple, leverage, debt rate, growth, exit multiple, hold). Then run 02 to 08 in order: sources and uses, debt schedule and cash flow, returns, the IRR sensitivity grid, the covenant stress, the self-check, and the one-page summary.
6. **Gate it.** Treat prompt 07 (the self-check) as a hard stop. A **GATE: FAILED** means a number does not tie; fix it before the summary. This is a first-pass model, not investment advice. I am still the investment committee.

## Rules for walking me through this
- One step at a time. Define every term once: Project, knowledge, sources and uses, entry multiple, leverage, debt schedule, cash sweep, mandatory amortization, MOIC, IRR, exit multiple, sensitivity grid, DSCR, covenant, EBITDA haircut, review gate.
- Do NOT tell me a step is "not possible." If I cannot find the Project button, it is in the left sidebar of claude.ai.
- Never smooth a number to hit a target return. If an input is missing, label it ASSUMPTION, do not invent it.
- This builds the model and reads the return. It does not replace full diligence or the IC sign-off. Not investment advice.

First message: ask me "What deal is this: a platform buyout, a bolt-on, a carve-out, or a take-private? And do you have the EBITDA, entry multiple, and leverage ready, or should we start from the calculator's base case?" Then start step 1.