Terms
Last updated November 6, 2026
probityprotocol.com (Probity Protocol, including True Cost of Capital, Funding Fit and the funding guides) is run by Mitchell Patout, an individual in Indiana (“I” or “me”). By using the site you agree to these terms.
What the site is
Free education for small-business owners. The calculator estimates the yearly cost of a financing offer from the numbers you type in and, with an account, compares it with other offers. Funding Fit suggests kinds of funding to look at from your answers. The guides explain each kind in plain language. It is for information only. It isn't financial, legal, tax, investment or lending advice, and it doesn't recommend any lender, provider, platform or offer. Funding Fit names Kiva because it's the only program of its kind; naming it isn't a recommendation. Probity Protocol isn't a lender, broker or funding portal, offers no investments, takes no fees or referral payments from any lender or platform, and isn't affiliated with any provider it names; their names belong to them.
Estimates, not guarantees
Results depend on what you enter and on simplifying assumptions, such as sales holding steady until the offer is paid off, and the typical costs and timings in the guides and in Funding Fit are ranges, not quotes. Your actual cost depends on your agreement, your sales and what a lender offers you. Check the terms with your provider before you decide anything. The site is provided as is, and to the fullest extent the law allows, I'm not liable for decisions made using it or for any loss that follows from them.
Using the site
If you make an account, use a real email address you control, and keep one account per person. Don't use the site to break the law, overload it, collect data from it automatically, or get around its limits or its bot check.
Saving your offer and answers
If you tick the box to add your offer, you confirm that:
- the numbers are from a real offer you received, as accurately as you know them
- you're allowed to share them; some financing agreements restrict this, and it's on you to check yours
You let me use what you saved, without your name or email attached, in medians, ranges and other summaries, in this tool and in research or products built from the combined data. The same goes for answers saved without your name (see the privacy page). Entries that look unlike real offers may be left out. To delete what you saved, see the privacy page.
The project form
If you tell me about a project, I'll reply and, if I pick the project and we both want to, help with a crowdfunding raise. That help is unpaid and is education, not legal, financial or investment advice. If you ask me to, I can send messages to your investors in your name after you approve them. I don't take any fee or commission or take responsibility for any filing; the decisions, any offering and every statement in it stay yours.
Changes
I may change the site or these terms. If the terms change in a way that matters, I'll update the date above. These terms are governed by the laws of Indiana.