Derek Eichenwald

Out of office during the phone cutover. Chad Burnham rerouted both outstanding port requests (the 877 and the fax line) to JT's address in his absence and asked Derek to check his own inbox for anything from Voyant on the cancelled 877. record

Not on file. He sent no messages in the window; the day's weekly produced no transcript or report, and JT's two Teams messages went unanswered. record

Getting a Zakir answer he can stand behind before he drafts to the clients: "Once we have the timeline and numbers laid out cleanly, I can determine what adjustment, if any, is appropriate and respond to them with a factual and well-supported explanation." record

Advisor-facing portal value, again: a "Tax Center" section holding each year's tax tables and reference information, current year prominent and prior years archived. He built a sample workbook in Perplexity in minutes to make the point. record

An MBTC Dividend Model build in Claude Code: three scripts that produce a client income illustration, a performance track record, and a deck from one workbook; wants JT to review it. record

Answering the Zakirs in writing with dates he can meet while carrying the September 15 tax filing deadline; rebuilding a fee history that spans three firms and two custodians. record

Getting the portal launched and used; wants a tools or revenue feature visible to advisors early, not only compliance. record

Resolving the Ascent Group / Zakir fee dispute on the dates he committed to; the DB-plan decant date is the unknown. record

Client-prep efficiency for his team (Jamar, Reese) in the shared Perplexity project. record

Keeping the Michael Joy relationship intact while stepping back from Tim (Kesii). record

Derek sent the Zakir client response on 2026-09-03 committing to a document package by 2026-09-11 and a written reconciliation by 2026-10-02. Zakir Record README

Runs the MBTC Models & Markets Weekly himself (Perplexity handoff, then OneDrive/Teams on his approval); manual by design, not an automation gap. system-architecture.md

Reconstruct the complete Zakir fee timeline and answer four numbered questions: the DB-plan distribution date, the fee on each account before and after it, the 2.00% versus 1.25% difference through the 1.00% effective date, and the send / partial-signature / follow-up / completion dates for the 1.00% paperwork. He ranked it first of three items. Status: answered same day — delivered 2:41 PM 2026-09-04 with figures and dates; now waiting on his route decision. record · delivery (Notion: not pushed)

Think through how a portal "Tax Center" would work: how it is updated annually and how the applicable tax year and last-updated date are identified. Status: open; he called it roadmap, not now. record (Notion: not pushed)

Resend the Supabase organization invitation. Asked four times across two days: in the 2026-09-03 3 PM meeting, on Teams at 4:28 PM and again at 7:58 PM that day, and once more at 8:12 AM on 2026-09-04 — where he confirmed his account exists and only the organization invitation had expired. Status: still open at 2026-09-07 — a second link JT sent a few days earlier also expired unopened, so JT switched approach and offered a fifteen-minute live walkthrough instead of another emailed invite; no reply from Derek in the window. JT's original blocker was removing Tim Gelling's user from the seat ("I have to remove Tim I think he is tied to the account"). record · Teams record · 2026-09-04 · 2026-09-07 (Notion: not pushed)

Details on the $600/month Supabase SOC 2 upgrade. Status: open. record (Notion: not pushed)

Look at the Ascent Group fee history, find the DB-plan decant date, compute the credit from 2% down to 1.25%. Status: done 2026-09-04 — decant 10/18–22/2018, look-back $28,497, full timeline and scenarios delivered; superseded by the 2026-09-04 reconstruction ask below. record · delivery (Notion: not pushed)

One more portal tool in front of advisors within about a week of the compliance launch. Status: open. record (Notion: not pushed)

A simpler Perplexity client-prep flow so his team supplies a client name, not a Box folder. Status: open, JT offered a mechanical build. record (Notion: not pushed)

Which email to use to share a Claude project with JT. Status: answered; Claude Projects share only inside a Claude Team org, so it is his call to add JT. record (Notion: not pushed)

Whether his Claude Code build command worked. Status: open on his side; JT asked for the printed output, or the scripts by private GitHub repo or as files. record (Notion: not pushed)

Of Compliance, by copying JT on his reply to the Zakirs: the formal complaint log entry and the CCO's direct contact he promised the clients in writing. Status: the direct contact is done — Brandon wrote to Raya and Rob himself on 2026-09-07, copying JT and Derek. The formal complaint log entry is still open. record · 2026-09-07 (Notion: not pushed)

Still locked out of the Triumph Supabase organization after a full day: "I still never received working access." He had done his part — account created, earlier invitation found — and the invitation had expired. record

Worried the portal launches and nobody returns: "I just didn't want to like launch it and have nobody ever look at it again." record

Frustrated with the Zakir clients: months without signing the fee reduction, then a complaint threat and demands for reports "tomorrow"; he gave up on the reconciliation after 45 minutes. record

Tim (Kesii): "I don't want to talk to that guy"; cannot "spend my life working on this thing with you." record

Perplexity client-prep friction: re-uploading and re-prompting with the Box folder each time; bad output when the folder is incomplete. record

Apologized to the Zakirs for the pace (raised in July, August 13, August 24; interim answers each time) and flagged the September 15 tax deadline as his load for the next twelve days. record

Could not share his Claude project with JT and was not sure his build had run ("DID THAT CODE WORK ABOVE"). record

Supabase access by emailed invitation → not working. Two links have now expired before he opened them. The walkthrough call is the version that is likely to land, because it removes the step that keeps failing. record

Zakir fee reconstruction → doable and done same day. His recollection held on three of four points; the correction is that the post-decant rate was 2.20%, not 2.00%, because the Dual MAP signed 10/15–17/2018 set a flat 2.20%. The 1.25% look-back is $28,497 over 94 months; an earlier 1.00% effective date would cost $2,038 or $1,034, not additive. record

Tax Center → needs a decision on scope and sequencing; it overlaps the "one more portal tool within about a week" commitment already open from 2026-09-03, so decide whether it satisfies that or competes with it. record

Second tool within a week → doable if it is the Options Report rendering or the dashboard ticker drill-down; not Ask Murray, which needs days of guardrail work. JT to choose and tell him. record

Supabase upgrade → doable; his decision after details. record

Ascent credit → computed: decant date 10/18–10/22/2018 from Black Diamond; his 2% → 1.25% framing is worth $28,497 on the Olive Branch accounts, and the executed agreements (2% / 2.2% / 1%) make the contract difference $0, so the credit is a CCO goodwill decision. Zakir Record README (corrected 2026-09-03 by JT)

Client-prep simplification → doable with the Box file-ID mechanical flow JT already runs. record

Sharing Claude Projects → not doable across organizations; needs his decision to add JT to his Claude Team org. Working on his scripts → doable through a private repo in the firm's GitHub org or plain files; the workbook stays in Box if it holds client PII. record

His 2026-09-11 package → doable from the matter file; his 2026-10-02 reconciliation → needs the baseline decision and a test of his TPA-bundling explanation. record

Emailed access links do not survive his inbox: two Supabase invitations expired unopened across five days. For anything time-limited, put it in a scheduled fifteen minutes with him rather than sending a link and waiting. record

When he has several things to raise he sends one structured message with numbered items and ranks them himself ("The Zakir fee review is the most important of these items"). Answer in his stated order and say something about the ones he deprioritized rather than leaving them silent. record

He states his own recollection first and asks to have it checked, and he is willing to be corrected on the facts — but he separates what the paper says from what he personally promised a client, and wants both carried. Give him the correction plainly and keep his verbal commitment on the table beside it. record

He notices and says so when something JT built lands ("I just referenced your folder on Box.... No kidding, works great...."), but a delivered analysis got no acknowledgement the same day. Silence after a delivery is not disapproval; it is his queue. record

He accepts sequencing when shown the reason; a demo of what is not ready (Ask Murray) landed better than a flat no. Reacts fast and big to working software ("What are we waiting for, baby?"), so show first, then scope. record

Hard stops: he had a call 12 minutes after the demo ran long. Put decisions before demos. record

JT's practice with Derek: keep written notes at FYI level and book time for decisions ("Not rocket science, but easier to talk through than write up"). E:\Desktop\derek.md

JT offers Derek an opt-out from routine report emails (Options Report daily send) the same way the Fiduciary Report was excluded, rather than assuming he wants the noise. E:\Desktop\derek.md

On Teams he types in capitals and pastes tool output; give him one concrete next step at a time and ask for what the tool printed, not what it ran.

He re-asks rather than waits: three requests for the same invite in one day, the last at 7:58 PM. A long multi-part reply from JT got no answer, but the single open ask came back. Answer the open ask first, then raise the rest.

An invite that expires unopened reads to him as never sent. Tell him when a time-limited link goes out, not just that it will. record

In writing to clients he commits to dated deliverables and owns the delay; hold him to the dates rather than renegotiate them. record

touches Rob and Raya Zakir and Brandon Drespling: the 2026-09-11 package date he gave the clients in writing passed while he was out; Brandon emailed them a call request instead, copying him. The 2026-10-02 reconciliation date is his next written commitment. record

touches Tim Gelling: Tim sent JT a direct invite ("Tim Gelling Kesii", Google Meet, 2026-09-15 3:00–4:00 PM ET) and JT accepted it on 2026-09-10 — so the open question of whether JT takes the Tim conversation was settled by JT's own acceptance, not by Derek. calendarCalendar

touches Chad Burnham: with Derek out, JT was added as a contact of record on both Zoom port orders; worth an explicit handback on his return rather than leaving it assumed. record

touches Jamar Anderson: Jamar filed the Nydia resignation letter and Form 5558 to the plan folder and put hard copies on Derek's desk; the replacement-TPA decision is still Derek's and Brandon's, unowned since 2026-09-03. record

touches Brandon Drespling and the Zakirs: Brandon made the CCO contact himself, copying Derek and JT, which discharges the direct-contact half of Derek's written promise. Derek still owns the 2026-09-11 document package and the 2026-10-02 reconciliation, and Brandon's letter did not move either date. record

touches Jared Thompson and Jamar Anderson: Derek is the IAR on the margin matter, owes the written response since 2026-09-01, and missed the date Jamar had relayed to the client; Jamar escalated by adding him to the thread. record

touches Brandon Drespling: JT ran the Zakir reconstruction past Brandon before sending it to Derek. Brandon's read is that the record is clean and the client simply did not know his fee despite five signed agreements; the pre-2026 MAP language not naming which accounts an agreement governed is the explanation Derek can use. record

touches Chad Burnham (CDB Consulting): Derek is the invoice recipient and approver on the Zoom Phone Cutover Project; JT is copied and carries the end-user rollout items. record

touches Brandon Drespling: Derek's account of the Zakir fee history (2% agreement; 1.25% told verbally after the decant) is confirmed by the signed agreements; Brandon's call before 2026-09-11 is whether the Firm extends a credit and on which basis. Zakir Record README (corrected 2026-09-03 by JT)

touches Jamar and Reese: they share Derek's Perplexity client-prep project; the mechanical rebuild lands with them. record

touches Tim (Kesii): Derek's contact through Michael Joy; Derek may put in a small amount for the relationship, nothing more. record

touches Brandon Drespling: the Portal compliance trainings were built to align with the Manual and Supplement updates JT and Brandon have been finalizing. E:\Desktop\derek.md

touches Brandon Drespling: the Zakir fee matter is Derek's account as IAR; Compliance (JT / Brandon, CCO) owns the reconciliation and the memo pending CCO review. Zakir Record README

touches Brandon Drespling: Derek referred the Zakir complaint to Brandon as CCO in writing, gave the clients Brandon's number, and promised Brandon would contact them directly. record

touches Jamar Anderson and Hannah Ferguson: his email signature lists both as executive assistants of Derek N. Eichenwald. record

touches Tim Gelling: JT is moving the second Supabase seat from Tim G's user to Derek. record

touches Brent McGibbon, Christopher Kolker, Mike Knoebel, Brandon Drespling: copied on JT's heads-up emails announcing the daily Options Report; JT offered him the same opt-out as the Fiduciary Report. record

touches Jamar Anderson: Jamar flagged the Nydia TPA resignation for three 401(k) plans to Brandon and JT with Derek copied. record

The Zakir fee review takes priority over the Tax Center and the Supabase invite; the Tax Center is roadmap. record

The 1.25% look-back and the later reduction to 1.00% are to be analyzed and presented as two separate adjustments, not one number. record

Compliance training goes first as the soft rollout; client data and models later. record

One additional advisor tool ships within about a week of the compliance launch. record

Supabase upgrade deferred pending details; leaning yes. record

No meaningful investment with Tim (Kesii); small amount at most for the Joy relationship. record

Ascent/Zakir fee position: 2% was the agreement; 1.25% after the decant is what he told them he would honor; 1% from the newly signed agreement. record

Committed to the Zakir household in writing: document package by Friday 2026-09-11, written reconciliation by Friday 2026-10-02. Zakir Record README

In writing to the Zakirs: the 1% agreement governs going forward and does not settle the history; document package 2026-09-11; written reconciliation 2026-10-02; no figure before the work is done; complaint formally logged and referred to the CCO; call proposed for 2026-09-04. record

Working explanation for the fee history: TPA recordkeeping, testing, and filing costs were bundled into the plan-account debits while the DB plan existed; "my working explanation, not my conclusion." record

Focused on: final decisions on the compliance-training portal rollout before the first push to the team ("a few important items need your final decision before that first push"). E:\Desktop\derek.md — superseded 2026-09-03: he approved the soft rollout in the meeting.

Two bullets described the memo's baseline as "contracted 1% from 2018". superseded 2026-09-03: the agreements say 2% / 2.2% / 1%; v1 memo withdrawn.