Johanna wrote:
But NPV( .1, -10000, 3000) would be treated as negative cash flow of 10,000
in the first year and a 3,000 return the second year, if I have read this
correctly, not as was explained in ex. 1.

Your understanding is correct. The key is to recognize that Excel
discounts the first value as well as the others, as you explained. So
if your "initial" cash flow should not be discounted, do not include in
the NPV() function. Your example becomes:

=-10000 + NPV(10%,3000)

Or equivalently:

=NPV(10%,3000) - 10000