Setting Up a Reusable Project

A reusable function project is the toolkit layer from the two-layer system. Build it once and it pays you back on every opportunity that follows: the fiftieth screen comes out in the same disciplined shape as the first, without you re-typing your method each time. This page walks through standing one up, using Screening as the worked example: the project you will open to run an initial screen on any new target.

The key thing to hold in mind: this project holds how you screen, not any one target’s data. It is generic, evergreen, and safe to share across the team.

Building the Screening project

1. Create a new project

   In the left menu, open Projects and choose New project. This gives you an empty workspace with two parts to fill: the custom instructions and the knowledge base.

2. Name it for the function, not a target

   Call it Screening (or “Initial Screen”). The name should describe the repeatable task, because you will use it across many different targets. Avoid any opportunity-specific name: this project is permanent and shared.

3. Write the custom instructions

   This is where the methodology lives. Set the role (a private equity analyst running an initial screen), the scope (work only from the attached document for the target in question), and the output format (the headings and structure you want every screen to follow). The template below is a ready-to-paste starting point.

4. Add evergreen knowledge

   Upload the reference material that applies to every screen, never a single target. Good candidates: your screening checklist, your investment committee criteria, and a sample memo structure that shows Claude the shape of a finished output. These files teach Claude your house style once, for good.

5. Use it across targets

   From now on, to screen a new target you open the Screening project, start a chat, and attach just that one target’s teaser or CIM. The methodology and templates are already loaded, so you get a consistent screen every time without re-explaining how your team works.

What the finished project looks like

Notice what is not in the knowledge base: no CIM, no financial model, nothing tied to a live opportunity. The only opportunity-specific file enters later, attached to an individual chat, and even then the screen itself is generic enough that this remains a clean, shareable toolkit.

The custom instructions to start with

Paste this into the project’s custom instructions and adapt the headings and criteria to match your team’s house style.

You are a private equity analyst running an initial screen on a potential acquisition. In each chat I will attach one target’s document (a teaser, CIM, or deck). Work only from that attached document plus the checklists in this project’s knowledge.
For every target, produce the screen using these headings:

Business overview: what they do and how they make money
Financial highlights: revenue, EBITDA, growth, margins (in a table, with year-on-year change)
Investment thesis: why this could be attractive
Fit against IC criteria: score the target against each criterion in IC_criteria, with a one-line reason
Key risks and open questions
First three questions to ask management
Rules:

Cite the source document (and page if visible) for every figure you report.
Flag clearly anything the document is vague about, omits, or that looks unusual.
Do not invent figures. If a number is not in the document, say so rather than estimating.
Keep it concise and skimmable. This is a screen, not a full diligence report.

Other function projects worth building

Screening is the obvious first one, but the same recipe builds any reusable toolkit. A Market Research project holding your research framework and output format. An Investment Memo project holding your memo template and tone. Each follows the identical pattern: name it for the task, write the methodology into the instructions, add evergreen templates, keep all opportunity-specific data out.

For ready-made starting points across several of these, see the Instruction Templates library. With the toolkit layer built, the next step is the workbench: Setting Up a Deal Project for one live opportunity.