Scouts
What should a scout ask about eligible carry on an early marketplace startup?
an early marketplace 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 company connects independent repair businesses with commercial property managers. Initial transactions happen in one city. The founder reports total booking value, but revenue depends on completed jobs and the platform's actual take.
Supply listings are not the same as available, reliable capacity. Booking value, collected revenue, cancellations, and repeat demand must be separated.
Carry arithmetic after an explicitly assumed base
For this fictional example only, assume the applicable agreement defines $25,000.00 as distributable net carry and allocates half of that amount to the scout. Multiplication gives $12,500.00. 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.
Supply listings are not the same as available, reliable capacity. Booking value, collected revenue, cancellations, and repeat demand must be separated. 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 | $25,000.00 |
| Assumed share for this exercise | 50% |
| Multiplication under those assumptions | $12,500.00 |
| 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
- Which bookings completed?
- What brings a buyer back?
- How much local support does each market need?
Inspect completed transaction cohorts, cancellation reasons, provider retention, and contribution costs by market. Obtain permission before contacting participants or sharing their transaction details.
A concrete next test
Choose one completed match and one cancelled booking. Trace acquisition, fulfillment, payment, and support costs for each. Ask what would bring both sides back without an incentive so the inquiry separates transaction volume from a repeatable local marketplace.
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 a completed, repeatable match with the current alternative. Separate demand acquisition from the work needed to fulfill and support each transaction.
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.