Investor Update Skill
This skill writes a complete investor update — structured for clarity, honest about challenges, and specific about asks. Output follows the format preferred by most early-stage and growth investors.
Required Inputs
Ask the user for these if not provided:
- Company name and stage (Seed / Series A / Series B / etc.)
- Period covered (month or quarter)
- Key metrics this period (revenue, MRR, users, churn, burn, runway — whatever's relevant)
- Biggest wins
- Biggest challenges or misses
- Specific asks from investors (intros, advice, talent, partnerships)
- What's coming next period
- Tone (formal / conversational — most investors prefer conversational)
Output Structure
[Company Name] — [Month/Quarter] Update [Date]
Hi [Investor names or "all"],
[One or two sentence opener — a specific highlight or honest framing of the period. Don't open with "Hope you're well." Open with the most important thing that happened.]
The Numbers
| Metric | This Period | Last Period | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| [MRR / ARR] | [Value] | [Value] | [+/- %] |
| [Active users / customers] | |||
| [Churn rate] | |||
| [Burn rate] | |||
| [Runway] | |||
| [Other key metric] |
[1–2 sentences of narrative on the numbers — what's the story behind the movement? Don't just repeat the table.]
Highlights
[Highlight 1 — 4–6 word title] [2–4 sentences. What happened. Why it matters. Be specific — name the customer, the number, the milestone.]
[Highlight 2] [2–4 sentences]
[Highlight 3 — optional]
Challenges
[This section is what separates trustworthy updates from self-promotional ones. Investors know you have challenges. Being direct builds trust.]
[Challenge 1] [2–4 sentences. What the problem is. What you've tried. What you're doing about it. Don't spin — investors see through it.]
[Challenge 2 — if applicable]
Focus for Next [Month/Quarter]
[3–5 bullet points. What you're concentrating on next period and why. Keep it tight — not an exhaustive roadmap.]
- [Priority 1]
- [Priority 2]
- [Priority 3]
Asks
[Be specific. "Let me know if you can help" is not an ask. These should be actionable items an investor can act on immediately.]
- [Ask type: e.g. Intro] — [Specific request. e.g. "Looking for an intro to procurement leads at mid-market SaaS companies. Happy to share a warm intro note."]
- [Ask type: e.g. Advice] — [Specific question you want input on]
- [Ask type: e.g. Talent] — [Specific hire you're looking for — title, key requirements]
[Closing line — 1 sentence. Forward-looking or a genuine thanks. Not "as always, let me know if you have questions."]
[Signature] [Name] [Company] [One way to reply — email / Calendly / reply to this thread]
Writing Rules
- Updates should take an investor 3–4 minutes to read. If it's longer, trim it.
- Never lead with process ("This month we focused on...") — lead with outcomes
- Challenges section must be honest. A missing challenges section signals the founder isn't self-aware or isn't being transparent.
- Metrics table must include comparison to last period — a number without context is meaningless
- Asks must be specific enough that an investor knows within 5 seconds if they can help
- No jargon or buzzwords ("synergies," "crushing it," "hockey stick") — plain language only
Quality Checks
- Opens with a specific highlight or honest framing (not a pleasantry)
- Numbers include period-over-period comparison
- Challenges section is present and honest
- Asks are specific and actionable
- Total length is skimmable in 3–4 minutes
- No spin or buzzwords
Anti-Patterns
- Do not omit challenges or bad news — sanitised updates erode investor trust faster than bad results do
- Do not bury the lead — use BLUF structure and put the most important news in the first paragraph
- Do not send an update without a clear "Ask" section — investors who want to help need to know how
- Do not use buzzwords or spin — investors see hundreds of updates and will see through vague positive language
- Do not report metrics without a comparison baseline — numbers without context (vs. last period or target) are meaningless
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Write an investor update for [month/quarter]"
- "Draft a monthly update for our investors based on these notes: [paste notes]"
- "Help me write a board update for Q[N]"
- "Write our Series A investor newsletter"
