Scouts
What should a scout ask about eligible carry on a climate software startup?
a climate software startup: Eligible carry requires an agreement, a defined base, and the events that can create distributable amounts.
Eligible carry requires an agreement, a defined base, and the events that can create distributable amounts. A headline percentage does not specify deductions, timing, follow-ons, vesting, or termination treatment. A sourced investment can produce no carry.
Start with the decision
Map the actual agreement's conditions and use fictional arithmetic only to explain the mechanism. Include a zero-distribution case. Ask qualified advisers about legal and tax terms and avoid treating future carry as expected income.
The illustrative scenario
This is an educational workbook. The company or fund and all numerical inputs below are fictional. They are not ADIN results, customer claims, market benchmarks, or a forecast.
The fictional product helps building operators reconcile energy data. A facilities team uses the dashboard, while a finance manager approves spending. Deployments depend on meter access and consistent records across properties.
A claimed environmental benefit is different from a measured change attributable to the product. Separate data quality, operational action, and any externally verified result.
Carry arithmetic after an explicitly assumed base
For this fictional example only, assume the applicable agreement defines $20,000.00 as distributable net carry and allocates half of that amount to the scout. Multiplication gives $10,000.00. The difficult question precedes the multiplication: whether the deal qualifies and whether the defined distributable base ever exists.
A paper valuation, a completed introduction, or the fund's first investment does not establish that payment is due. Eligibility, attribution, deductions, follow-on treatment, vesting, and payment timing need the actual agreement. The zero-base row is as important as the positive row because an investment may never create distributable carry.
A claimed environmental benefit is different from a measured change attributable to the product. Separate data quality, operational action, and any externally verified result. Keep company evaluation separate from compensation expectations. ADIN's GPs make the final investment decision, and the public scout page should be read together with the applicable agreement. This example is an explanation of arithmetic and questions, not a projection of income or a legal interpretation.
| Item | Illustration |
|---|---|
| Invented distributable net carry base | $20,000.00 |
| Assumed share for this exercise | 50% |
| Multiplication under those assumptions | $10,000.00 |
| Share if eligible net carry is zero | $0.00 |
Use this worksheet
Answer the questions with a source, date, owner, and next action. Mark an unknown as unknown. Use public or permissioned information and involve a qualified specialist when a question requires expertise beyond the team’s competence.
- What amount is the percentage applied to?
- What deductions come first?
- Which investment qualifies?
- When can payment occur?
- What survives leaving the program?
Questions specific to this scenario
- Who supplies reliable data?
- Which savings are actually measured?
- How long does a property rollout take?
Inspect permissioned meter samples, installation requirements, operator references, and the method used for claimed savings. Keep comparison periods and missing readings visible.
A concrete next test
Trace one claimed operational saving from raw meter data to a documented action and comparison period. Ask which part is measured and which part is inferred. Keep missing readings and unrelated changes visible before using the claim in an investment discussion.
Interpret the result
A multiplication example does not predict an exit or describe every waterfall. ADIN's public program copy and the applicable agreement should be read together, with GPs retaining the final investment decision.
Compare the full deployment process with the operator's current reporting. A useful dashboard still needs someone able to act on its findings.
Sources and method
These primary resources provide background for the concepts. The fictional scenario, calculations, and worksheet are ADIN educational examples; the sources do not report or validate those invented results. Reviewed October 11, 2026.