# Culture: Hand up, not hand out

**Applies to:** TrueTerm, seedsOS portfolio, partners, facilities, and internal UW  
**Status:** Living culture doc — pitch, product, and capital expectations must stay aligned

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## North star

**We offer a hand up, not a hand out.**

We all see what happens when things are given away for free: they are not taken seriously. TrueTerm is a **serious for-profit business**. Customers repay real obligations. Capital partners can earn. Households leave better than they started — with credit designed to end and optional **Paid In Full Credit** on completion.

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## What this means in practice

| We do | We do not |
|-------|-----------|
| Fair, non-predatory APRs that still support durable unit economics | Ridiculous rates that “paper over” losses by screwing the customer |
| Fixed-term installment with a real payoff date | Revolving min-pay traps dressed up as help |
| Earn access through on-time payback (internal UW) | Advertise free credit, forgiveness gimmicks, or gift economics |
| Weight **payback behavior** more than blind bureau score | Pretend FICO alone is destiny for middle-class repair |
| Invite traditional facilities into for-profit industries that help people | Treat impact as charity cosplay with broken economics |
| Start small ($1M product + $1M loan pool), learn, then scale | Raise huge warehouse day one before UW is tight |

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## Capital expectations (public narrative)

1. **Seed pilot** — **$1M** to build the product fully + **$1M** loan pool for the first book.  
2. **Prove & tighten** — Fund first loans (~**$2,500** average), measure real payback, tighten Dual Look / Clearask UW.  
3. **$25M facility** — After learning; draw as book grows; traditional partners welcome.  
4. **$100M facility** — After vintages and ops are institutional; **bookend** with traditional facility funding.  

Book capital ≠ product OpEx. Equity builds the company and seeds the first pool; facilities fund scale.

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## Underwriting expectations (internal — not customer marketing)

These rules shape risk and culture. **Do not publish step-up ceilings to customers as a product promise.**

| Stage | Amount (cap / avg) | Gate |
|-------|--------------------|------|
| Starter book | **~$2,500** average first loans | ATR, Clearask purpose, Dual Look |
| After **6 months** on-time | Up to **$5,000** | Proven payback; behavior weight ≫ blind FICO |
| After **another 6 months** (12 mo total on-time path) | Up to **$7,500** | Sustained payback + plan adherence |

**Payback to us carries larger weight than a blind credit score.** Scores still matter for compliance and facility tapes; they do not outrank lived on-time performance for earned capacity.

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## Policy alignment (tone for pitch)

Public interest in **limiting abusive APRs** is the same problem we design for: credit that is serious, repayable, and fair. We are building the product that proves fair-priced installment credit can work at scale — the kind of story that belongs in front of policymakers and presidents, not because we lobby for handouts, but because the economics and the dignity match.

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## Customer Benefit

**Customer Benefit — it is in everything we do.**  
Investor and facility materials sell revenue and risk. Culture still requires leaving the customer better than they started.

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## Related sources of truth

- `FLS-SeedsOS/docs/pitch/model/proforma_assumptions.json` — capital ladder, growth, UW philosophy  
- `FLS-SeedsOS/docs/pitch/README.md` — pitch package  
- Living Pitch Deck: `/lpd/trueterm/`  
- Data room ask: generated from `frontend/v2/hub/build-product-pages.js`  

*Illustrative planning culture — not a securities offer, credit decision, or consumer disclosure.*