🚀 How to write an investor update

3 tactics to write an investor update

📝 Follow a template

• You can personalize your own template over time, but start with a general template with these key sections:

  • Subject line: Metric-anchored, built to get opened

  • TL;DR: 3–5 sentence narrative that hits every section at a glance

  • Key revenue metrics: Current ARR, new ARR this month, expansion, contraction, churn, as well as the plan (including goal and % to goal)

  • Cash: Balance, last month burn, 3-month average burn, runway, flagged if elevated

  • GTM update: New logos + ACV, expansions, renewals, churn with reason, current quarter target, pipeline coverage ratio, any named deals worth flagging

  • Product: What shipped, what’s coming, what do customers say

  • Team: Headcount, new hires, departures, open roles, leadership updates

  • Asks: Specific areas where your investors can help and make connections

• Investors track the % to goal metrics; you want to show the calculation of both your actual number and your goal, not just one or the other

  • Don’t use % to goal without showing the goal. “We hit 87% of plan” is meaningless without knowing the plan

🚩 Check the flags

• Explain any orange or red flags:

  • If burn is elevated, explain why

  • If pipeline coverage is tight, explain what you’re doing about it

  • Explain any churn with the actual reason, not “strategic misalignment”

  • If runway is under 18 months, explain how you plan to address this

• Balance any orange or red flags with a “Customer Love” section

  • One real customer quote or anecdote (e.g. the VP who told you your product changed how their team works) does more for investor confidence than three more metrics

🎯 Sharpen the TL;DR

• Before you send anything, refine the TL;DR section, which is arguably the most important section as most investors will read only this portion

• The TL;DR section should answer these five questions in 3-5 sentences:

  • What was your biggest win or miss this month?

  • What’s the key product or strategic move?

  • What’s the team headline?

  • What’s the one honest flag (e.g. burn, pipeline, a risk?)

  • What’s the energy on the team right now?

• Rule of thumb: The TL;DR does the heavy lifting and everything below it is for investors who want the detail

2 traps to avoid

🚨 Not sharing bad news early

• Don’t hide any potentially bad news because it feels uncomfortable; it’ll only bury landmines in the long run

• The goal of a monthly investor update isn’t to impress your investors but to keep them calibrated

• Well-calibrated investors ask better questions, make better introductions, and provide better support

🚨 Letting AI write the strategic narrative

• Company strategy (why you’re making a big bet, what the market is telling you, etc) has to be written in your own words

• Investors can tell when founders don’t write their own conviction

1 tool to leverage

📖 Best practice on sending investor updates

• Commit to a cadence; regular updates instill investor confidence

  • Most small startups send monthly updates

  • Growth or late-stage companies typically send quarterly updates

• Leverage these AI prompts to add depth, analysis and narrative context to raw metrics in your investor updates

Bonus: 1 trend to spark startup ideas

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