How To Write An Investor Update

Checklist and Example to Write an
Investor Update
Source: Kaego Rust from StartupGrowth
Guidelines for Investor Updates

Set a standard frequency and format for your investor updates.
❏ Frequency — Send updates monthly/quarterly and annually (e.g., monthly +

annually for businesses less than $3M/yr sales; quarterly + annually for
businesses more than $3M/yr sales).
❏ Length — Keep updates brief, to hold the audience’s attention and to make
the task of writing one simpler (e.g., aim for 250–750 words for
monthly/quarterly)
❏ Prep — Draft the update ~1–2 weeks in advance, to avoid missing a
scheduled communication and to stay consistent. Work closely with your
team to ensure you have financial and product metrics ready ahead of
time.
❏ Format — Use a simple email format, for ease of readability. Most
investors will not click or view an attachment, which reduces your
readership.
❏ Transparency and Tone — Be honest about your wins and losses alike,
knowing that investors may respond with difficult questions.
❏ Archiving — Save your investor updates. Use your prior period’s update as
a template to create a new one, which is much easier than starting from
scratch.
Components of Investor Updates

Give your investors a snapshot of the last period, plus any changes you need to
make for your future strategy.
❏ Highlights of Last Period — Start with a few sentences about any
significant changes to the business or fundraising since the last
communication.
❏ Performance, Revenue, and Growth — Give key metrics of revenue and
growth, plus why they are performing as such based on your business
structure.
❏ Requests for Help — Ask for help. Remember, your investors want you to
succeed, but they need specific requests from you to be effective.
❏ Sales and Marketing — Report any changes to your sales pipeline, plus
number of clients reached and closed. Mention any developments in your
marketing, branding, and PR initiatives.
❏ Operations — Describe any significant cost cutting measures you’ve taken.
Be sure to call attention to any HR matters that may expose your business
and investors to lawsuits.
❏ Strategy and Milestones — Share milestones you’ve hit and those pending.
In addition, state if you are continuing with the original strategy pitched to
investors or if there will be adjustments.
❏ Upcoming Fundraises — Mention if you’ll be fundraising soon (equity or
debt). This helps you identify investors interested in giving more capital or
getting introductions to potential investors.
❏ Good News, Releases, Press, Investor Spotlights — Include positive press,
client testimonials, and recent news. Plus, spotlight investors who’ve been
helpful to show your appreciation. Include a schedule of upcoming
engagements, for example team events, where your investors can attend, if
applicable.
Investor Update Example
Hello All,
Please see the Q4 update for ACMEco below.
Highlights: In Q4 we won two new clients, Costco and Walmart — projecting $100K
in sales by year end. We continue to focus on regaining business stability,
challenged by minimum wage hikes and the closure of our Los Angeles operations.
Performance: Revenue grew in Q4 versus Q3 by 42%, with quarterly gross sales of

$500K from $350K; large events were a big contributor during the holiday months.
This brings annual gross sales to $1.5M, and we expect to outperform competitors
2x next quarter with 55% growth.
Requests: As always, please send along any leads or referrals of clients looking for
private events. Media intros also welcomed, in particular we’d appreciate an intro
to Forbes if you have one. Thank you.
Sales & Marketing: On November 15th, we launched our partner program with
finance companies like Goldman Sachs, which is currently working — bringing in
1.5x additional foot traffic at test locations.
Operations: We are in the process of renegotiating our vendor contract with

Square, projecting a $2K/month savings if successful.
Strategy: With our Los Angeles operations winding down, we plan to push on
expansion through Northern California in the next quarter.
Upcoming Schedule: We will begin raising our Series C round of $50M next month.
News: We were recently featured in the SF Chronicle [insert link], and excited to see
clients like Google interested in our offerings. Here’s a customer quote from the
article: “ACMEco has the best quality products I’ve seen in decades.” — Google
Executive
If you have questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you,
[Managing Partner/CEO/Founder]

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Checklist and Example to Write an

Guidelines for Investor Updates

❏ Frequency — Send updates monthly/quarterly and annually (e.g., monthly +

Components of Investor Updates

Investor Update Example

Please see the Q4 update for ACMEco below.

Performance: Revenue grew in Q4 versus Q3 by 42%, with quarterly gross sales of

Operations: We are in the process of renegotiating our vendor contract with

If you have questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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