Kevin Ellerton spent ~2 months building Fundini into a powerful product capable of disrupting the revenue-based finance brokerage industry. The product works (though with some wrinkles to iron out), has massive potential, and is at the MVP stage. It is launchable today.

Kevin is exploring partnership options because:

• Kevin's core expertise and passion is in meditation and psychology. He is considering a PhD in psychology and wants to dedicate his life's work to that field.
• During Q1 2026, when Kevin shifted his focus to building Fundini, his meditation businesses (Meditation Magazine, Meditation University) began to flounder and accumulate debt.
• Splitting attention across two completely different industries creates significant inefficiency, stress, and reduced effectiveness in both.
• Kevin prefers less money and more personal fulfillment — his fulfillment comes from psychology and meditation.
• Kevin has commitments to his meditation businesses and his family that he cannot abandon.

Ben Sanders, David Yomtobian, Joe Zavulonov, and the team at AFB are the right people to lead Fundini long-term — they are passionate about finance and committed to the industry. Kevin wants to ensure the work he put into Fundini reaches its full potential in the right hands.

• Time: Kevin spent ~2 months building Fundini
• Direct Fundini expenses (since Apr 10): ~$8,795
• Additional capital from Kevin & David: $8,035 — Kevin and David put $3,000 each toward Dave Coven consulting (most of which has not yet been delivered), and Kevin put an additional $2,035 of his own money toward covering expenses (WF balance top-ups, AMEX minimum payments)
• Total investment to date: ~$16,830
• Current AMEX balance: ~$3,943 (needs to be paid off)

See the Expenses Detail section under Deep Dive for the full line-by-line breakdown with account screenshots.

V1 proposed $36,000/month. Per the June 1 meeting, the target is now $30,000/month.

Months 1 & 2 (June & July): $30,000/month

Month 3+ (August onward)

• People/development cost drops (maintenance mode once product is stable)
• The $6,000/month Interim Project Lead role may be phased out — responsibilities can be absorbed into the AI Systems / Product Engineer role, or that budget can be redirected toward additional developers to improve the product further
• Ad budget may increase if ROI justifies scaling
• Freed-up budget reallocated to marketing or retained as profit

Ben Sanders / AFB — Funder & Financial Partner

Ben provides the capital investment, strategic guidance, and industry connections through AFB. Ben is the financial partner funding the operation and bringing funder relationships to the table.

Kevin Ellerton — Interim Project Lead

Kevin serves as Interim Project Lead, overseeing marketing, operations, broker coordination, and day-to-day business decisions. Kevin receives $6,000/month base + 10% commission override on funded deals.

Simon Bengen — AI Systems / Product Engineer

Simon owns the technical side: AI agent development, codebase improvements, system reliability, and new channel integrations (FB Messenger, IG DMs). Simon receives $6,000/month base compensation.

Meeting Cadence with Ben

• 1 meeting per week if Kevin or Simon can attend in person
• 2 virtual meetings per week in any week that neither Kevin nor Simon can attend in person

V1 proposed a flat equity purchase. Per the June 1 meeting, equity will now vest on a front-loaded (logarithmic) schedule over 6 months, with Ben/AFB reaching equal partnership (50%) by month 6.

Current Ownership

• Ben/AFB: 14% (already granted for early contributions)
• Kevin & David: remaining equity (split equally)

Vesting Structure

• Ben/AFB acquires an additional ~36% over 6 months to reach 50% total
• The vesting follows a front-loaded (logarithmic) curve — more capital invested by Ben in early months, tapering off
• Kevin receives proportionally more compensation in early months (when Kevin/David own more of the company)

Proposed Vesting Schedule

Ben/AFB is purchasing an additional 36% equity to move from 14% to 50% ownership. At the ~$239,444 company valuation, 36% = $86,200 total payout.

Below are three vesting curve options. All reach 50/50 by month 6.

Ben to select preferred option. Kevin recommends Option B as a balanced approach.

Simon Bengen — Equity Vesting New in V2

For every month that Simon is working as AI Systems / Product Engineer, he vests equity drawn from Kevin & David's shared equity pool. The amount vested each month depends on which performance tier is achieved that month:

• Simon's equity is drawn equally from Kevin's and David's shares
• Vesting continues until Simon reaches parity with Kevin & David (equal three-way split of the non-Ben equity)
• If the partnership ends at the 3-month checkpoint, Simon keeps all equity vested to that date

3-Month Checkpoint New in V2

At the end of month 3, both parties evaluate whether the partnership is working:

• If conservative performance targets are NOT met → either party may exit with 2 weeks' notice
• If conservative targets ARE met → partnership continues through month 6
• Clean split: If the partnership ends at the 3-month mark, all parties walk away cleanly — no money is owed or repaid by either side, and all equity percentages remain with their respective owners as-is at that date

Intellectual Property New in V2

All intellectual property — including the Fundini codebase, AI agent systems, funder database, and brand assets — is owned by Fundini LLC in proportion to each partner's equity stake. IP ownership follows equity percentages at all times.

6-Month Soft Commitment New in V2

The partnership has a hard 3-month commitment and a soft 6-month commitment. Continuation beyond month 3 is contingent on hitting at least the conservative performance targets.

Revenue Split Per Funded Deal

Notes

• Kevin receives his 10% creator/project lead override on every funded deal
• Ben/AFB receives 10% off the top on every funded deal as the financial partner, regardless of involvement in the specific deal
• Broker allocation: any human broker who personally helps close a deal earns 30%. If multiple brokers work a deal, they split the 30% among themselves as agreed.
• If no human broker is involved in a deal, the 30% broker allocation flows into the operating account
• Profit distributions: at the end of each month, profits remaining in the operating account are distributed to all partners by equity percentage.

Deal Economics

• Average deal size: ~$45,000
• Average commission per funded deal: ~10% of deal size = ~$4,500 per deal
• Target: pursue deals over $100,000 for maximum revenue ($10,000+ commission per deal)

Renewal Rates (industry data)

• 30% of deals renew at least once
• 20% of deals renew at least three times
• 10% of deals renew more than five times
• Weighted average lifetime value multiplier: ~2.1x per new deal
• Lifetime value per new deal: $4,500 × 2.1 = ~$9,450

Baseline Comparison — Traditional FB Ads

Performance Tiers Changed in V2

Performance is measured on two independent axes: Cost per Acquisition (CAC) — how efficiently the Fundini intake system generates qualified applications, and Close Rate Improvement — how much Melvin (AI submissions manager) improves the close rate above the previous Mindful Funding baseline.

Baseline CAC from traditional FB lead forms: $323–$429 per qualified application. All CAC targets below reference the best-performing baseline ($323).

Baseline close rate: The MCA industry standard close rate from qualified application to funded deal is approximately 10–15%. Close rate improvement targets below measure Melvin's impact above this baseline.

3-Month Checkpoint Evaluation

At the 3-month mark, performance is evaluated against the above tiers using actual CAC and close rate data compared to the Mindful Funding baseline.

Bonus Structure New in V2

These bonuses are paid in addition to the regular commission split and base compensation.

Partnership Continuation Rules

• Below conservative targets at month 3 → either party may exit
• At or above conservative targets → partnership continues through month 6
• Same evaluation framework applies at month 6 for long-term continuation

June — Launch Ads, Close Deals, Form the Entity

Priority #1: Revenue — Launch Ads & Close Deals

• Launch Meta Ads to the existing MVP immediately — starting at $100/day on weekdays, ramping to full $7,000/month budget as creatives and audiences are validated
• Optimize CAC relentlessly — test creatives, audiences, and intake flows
• Add Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM as intake channels to reduce friction and lower CAC
• Fix issues as they arise from real merchant, funder, and broker interactions — real-world feedback drives development priorities
• Activate the broker team (David Yomtobian, Lee Gelsky) — brokers jump on every lead that comes through so deals actually close

Priority #2: Business Formation & Contracts

• File Fundini LLC in New York
• Open a business bank account
• Sign ISO agreements with funders from the Funders Forum contacts
• Finalize partnership agreement and settle initial capital per this proposal

Development (ongoing, secondary to revenue)

• Hire a developer to begin improving the codebase (original MVP stays running)
• Create clean architecture documents with full flows for each agent
• Integrate with a CRM (GoHighLevel, Pipedrive, or similar) for deal tracking

July–August — Scale + Prove

• Scale ad spend based on proven CAC and close rates
• Developer continues improving the codebase; transitions to maintenance once product is stable
• Broker team fully ramped — consistent deal flow and closings

Revenue Projections (conservative, total deal volume funded)

• July: $50,000 in funded deal volume (~$5,000 in commission revenue)
• August: $100,000 in funded deal volume (~$10,000 in commission revenue)

September Onward — Aggressive Scaling

• Product stable, system proven, bugs resolved
• Scale ad spend aggressively based on proven ROI
• Revenue grows to potentially millions per month
• After ~one year of sustained scaling: potentially millions per month in profit

The Bigger Picture

This proposal is structured around operating Fundini as an automated ISO shop — and the performance targets, commission splits, and budgets all reflect that model. But the technology we're building has value far beyond a single business model. There are many other avenues for profit:

1. Whitelabel Fundini for Funders

License the full Fundini system to funders who want their own AI-powered intake pipeline. Each licensee gets a sandboxed deployment with their own branding. Pricing: $50,000 setup + ~$10,000/month + a percentage of commissions generated.

2. AI Automation Services for Funders & ISOs

Simon can provide AI automation consulting and custom development as a service — helping funders improve their lead acquisition, streamline underwriting, automate document collection, and modernize their operations. This is a high-margin consulting business that leverages the exact capabilities we're already building.

3. Melvin as a Standalone Product

Some of the biggest wins from the system so far have come from Melvin — replying to incoming leads, following up with merchants, collecting documents, routing submissions to funders, and handling all the email and paperwork that you'd normally need to pay a live broker for. The time and labor savings are enormous. Melvin can be marketed independently to ISOs and brokers as an AI deal closer — branded as its own product (e.g., melvin.io).

4. Outbound Outreach & Reactivation

Fundini and Melvin can be deployed for outbound outreach — cold leads, aged leads, existing customers due for renewals. Instead of waiting for inbound traffic, the AI agents proactively reach out via text, email, or messaging to generate new deal flow from lists and databases. This turns the system into a revenue engine that doesn't depend on ad spend.

5. Custom AI Solutions for AFB

The AI capabilities we're building can be deployed directly for AFB itself — automating parts of AFB's own operations, improving deal processing speed, or building custom tools that give AFB a competitive edge in the market.

A Personal Note from Kevin

David has been one of my closest friends since high school, and my friendships with everyone involved here matter deeply to me. I built this proposal with that in mind — fair targets, honest numbers, and a structure designed for everyone to win.

I'm aiming for the Rocketship targets, and I'll work toward them every day. But whatever happens, I'll do my best to make this a win for all of us — whether through the ISO model, one of the alternative revenue paths above, or some combination of both.

Fundini Expenses — $8,795

• 🤖 Anthropic (AI API credits)$6,604
• 📊 GoHighLevel CRM (50% allocation)$487
• 👨‍💻 Upwork freelancers (50% allocation)$358
• 💬 BlueBubbles/Blooio (iMessage gateway)$356
• ☁️ Google Cloud / other$345
• 📢 Meta/Facebook Ads (Fundini portion)$250
• 🖥️ MacWeb server$198
• 📧 Google Workspace (20% allocation)$121
• 🧠 OpenAI (AI API credits)$46
• 🏦 Bank fees$15
• 🔧 Kie AI$15

Additional Capital Invested

• 📋 Kevin → Dave Coven consulting$3,000
• 📋 David → Dave Coven consulting$3,000
• 💵 Kevin → personal funds to cover expenses (WF balance, AMEX minimums)$2,035

Account Screenshots

Wells Fargo Business Checking — posted transactions:

American Express Blue Business Plus — current balance $3,943.18:

What Is Fundini?

Fundini is a fully automated MCA (Merchant Cash Advance) brokerage powered by a team of AI agents. A merchant texts a phone number, has a natural conversation with Fundini (the "funding wizard"), provides their business details, signs an electronic authorization, uploads bank statements, and receives funding offers — all without ever speaking to a human broker.

Behind the scenes, a pipeline of specialized AI agents handles underwriting, application generation, funder matching, submission, and offer management. The system runs 24/7 and can handle unlimited concurrent merchants.

The Problem Fundini Solves

In traditional ISO shops, human brokers manually handle everything. This process is:

• Slow — hours to days from first contact to funding
• Expensive — broker salaries, commissions, office overhead
• Error-prone — manual data entry, missed follow-ups, inconsistent underwriting
• Limited by headcount — each broker can only handle so many deals

Fundini replaces the grunt work with AI agents that respond instantly, work 24/7, and make consistent decisions. The result: faster funding, lower overhead, and the ability to scale with only a handful of brokers.

Phase 1: Lead Capture

• iMessage (primary) — merchant texts +1-516-923-1818
• WhatsApp — for merchants who prefer it
• Web forms — Greenpoint Funding, Mindful Funding, Blue Arch Funds
• Broker referrals — packets forwarded to [email protected]

Phase 2: Conversational Intake

Phase 3: E-Sign + Document Upload

Phase 4: Automated Underwriting (Gabriela)

Phase 5: Application Generation (Larry)

Phase 6: Funder Submission (Melvin)

Phase 7: Offer Management + Funding

55+ funders in the routing database:

• A-paper: IOU Financial, Square Advance, Credibly, Libertas, VitalCap, Madison Advance
• B/C-paper: AFB, Reliance, NewCo Capital, Forward Financing, Rapid Finance, Radiance Funding
• D-paper/High-risk: Mantis Funding, Legend Advance, Harper Advance, Blade Funding
• Equipment financing: Beacon Funding
• And 30+ more with documented criteria

• Mac Mini — AI agents, BlueBubbles, e-sign server, email watcher
• Hetzner VPS — WhatsApp gateway
• Hetzner VPS — fundini.io website and e-sign reverse proxy
• Domain: fundini.io

✓ Working well: Conversational intake, e-sign, bank statement analysis, application PDFs, funder matching, email submissions

⚠ Needs improvement: Proactive merchant notifications, session management

🔴 Future needs: CRM integration, Meta Ads connection, funder APIs, multi-owner support, compliance docs

If Fundini's CPA is half that of traditional application forms, Fundini can outspend every other MCA company on advertising. For each dollar spent, Fundini generates profit where competitors lose money. This effectively corners the market.