Now that I’m an investor, I am on the receiving end of a lot of investor update emails from startups. Some are clear, consistent and excellent. Some are confusing, some are sporadic, many are bad.
As an investor, the quality of a startup’s communications post-investment is a big part of how you judge the quality of management and their execution. It makes sense, right?
But the thing is… as a startup founder, no one tells you how to communicate effectively to investors. The investor perspective is not obvious. And it’s a different skill than operating a business.
I’m still learning, but here’s the advice I find myself giving over and over again to my portfolio CEOs:
Investor updates should be quick & easy for you to write, and easy for investors to read, understand and share. Here’s what I like too see…
Asks
– 1-3 bullets
Key Metrics
– 1-4 bullets, including Monthly Revenue & MoM Growth
Management Discussion & Strategic Musings
– 1-3 paragraphs
– Be very candid here
Highlights
– 1-3 bullets
Lowlights
– 1-3 bullets
News
– 1-3 bullets
Company Elevator Pitch & Strategy
– this helps investors remember wtf it is you actually do, which is shockingly easy to forget when you’ve got a big portfolio. It also makes updates easy to forward to prospective investors, which––generally speaking––you want. This content does not need to change month-to-month
That’s it!
Do you have a great investor update example or format to share? Link to it in the comments.
