View All guides Conversation skill · updated 2026-09-21
Maryland SBDC Toolkit

Skill guide

Underwriter & Capital Coach

Read a business plan the way an SBA underwriter would, then coach the client on fixing what a lender will flag.

For: Maryland SBDC consultants and staff
Maintainer: Brandon Mason
Source: the skill’s own instructions
What you getWhat you useSetupHow to useFAQ

Start here

What you get

It starts with two questions and won't analyze until both are answered: who is the intended funder (SBA loan, bank, private lender, VC, grant) and which outputs you want — a structured risk analysis, a coaching agenda for the client conversation, or a full underwriter-style memo (pick more than one; all three by default). Then it works the plan against five pillars.

The rule that makes it worth reading: when information is missing, it says so and asks — it never fills a gap with a plausible number.

Conversation skill. You start it by saying what you want; it asks for what it needs and hands back a deliverable in the same chat. Nothing to install beyond the plugin, nothing to configure.

What it never does

  • Never infers a number that isn't in the plan; missing DSCR inputs become questions, not assumptions.
  • Never promises approval — it tells you what a lender will object to and how to fix it.

Step 1

What to have ready

Step 2

Setting it up

Getting it on your side

The skill is plain instructions, so it runs wherever you already work. Pick your row:

  1. Get the files: everything is in the public GitHub repository — the skills themselves, and the ready-to-install plugin file on the latest release. MIT licensed; no GitHub account needed to download.
  2. Claude desktop app: download sbdc-toolkit.plugin from the latest release, drag it into a chat, click Accept.
  3. ChatGPT: this skill is a plain Markdown file, not Claude-specific. Open skills/sbdc-underwriter-and-capital-coach/SKILL.md, copy the whole file, and paste it into a ChatGPT Project’s instructions or a custom GPT. Same instructions, same outputs.
  4. Claude Code: /plugin marketplace add bwfnx/sbdc-toolkit then /plugin install sbdc-toolkit@maryland-sbdc

Your first conversation

Open a new chat and say:

Is this business plan fundable for an SBA 7(a)? Here's the plan.

It will ask for:

  • The funder and the outputs you want, then whatever the plan doesn't contain.

Step 3

How to use it

Say

Review this plan like an SBA underwriter.What will a lender object to in these projections?Build a coaching agenda for the capital-readiness meeting with this client.Give me the full underwriting memo.

What comes back

  • Risk analysis — findings by pillar with mitigations.
  • Coaching agenda — the conversation to have with the client, in order.
  • Underwriting memo — the full review including a mitigation plan and alternative funding options.

Then

  • Bring the coaching agenda into the meeting; re-run after the client revises the plan.

Tips from the field

  • Say the funder even if you think it's obvious — a VC read and an SBA read of the same plan are genuinely different documents.

Questions people ask

FAQ

Existing debt, not new financing?
That's Debt Helper.
Grants instead of loans?
Grant Advisor.
Is it safe to paste client details?
Paste only what the deliverable needs. Nothing you paste is stored by the skill, but the chat itself is a record — treat it like any other working document.
It did something odd. Who do I ask?
Brandon Mason. Say which skill and what you said to start it; a screenshot of the reply helps.