An investor update is a communication from a startup to its investors that provides details about financial performance, operational milestones, and team changes. It can take many forms, including email updates, slideshow presentations, or videos. Regardless of format, an investor update should be professional and meet the expectations of the startup’s investors.
Investors expect to be kept up-to-date on their portfolio companies’ performance, but the process of crafting these updates can feel overwhelming for a busy founder. Luckily, there are tools like templates and purpose-built software that can help you streamline the process of writing and sharing these updates.
Typically, investor updates should begin with an overview of your business’s key metrics and how they have performed over time. This includes revenue, customer growth rates, monthly recurring revenues (MRR), and new hires. It is also important to include basic financial information such as burn rate and cash runway.
Next, your investor update should include highlights and asks. Highlights could be anything from a record-setting month of growth to landing a new high profile client. Asks could be a need for help on a project or an upcoming milestone you need your investors to help you reach.
Investors want to know if your company is on track to hit milestones, or if you are falling behind. While it may seem counterintuitive to share negative news, keeping investors informed of challenges your company is facing allows them to help you navigate them with their experience and networks.
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