Monthly Investor Update Template and Prompt

best-practice-template-prompt.md

Best Practices

Regular investor updates are crucial for early-stage startups. Experts recommend a monthly cadence as the “sweet spot” – it keeps investors informed and engaged without overwhelming them. Reviewing nine real-world investor updates across SaaS, hardware, infra, and AI companies confirms that the best updates follow a similar formula: they report consistent key metrics, highlight wins and acknowledge challenges, outline upcoming plans, and clearly state any asks for help. This consistency makes it easy to track progress over time and spot trends. (For example, the SaaS updates emphasized MRR/ARR growth and customer wins, a hardware update reported product development milestones and pilot results, and AI/infra updates highlighted usage and technical milestones – different metrics, but all fitting the same basic structure.) Overall, effective updates are concise yet comprehensive, giving investors a clear snapshot of the business and its trajectory.

Best-Practice Principles: A great investor update balances brevity, transparency, and repeatability. Key guidelines from VCs and accelerator mentors include:

• Consistent Key Metrics: Pick a short list of core metrics to report every month (e.g. user growth or revenue, plus cash/burn) and stick to them. As the business grows, metrics may evolve, but avoid dropping metrics to hide bad news. Include the same KPIs each time so investors can track trends and not think you’re cherry-picking data. Show month-over-month growth rates or changes for context (e.g. “MRR $50k, +10% MoM”). If you can illustrate something with a number or chart, do so – “if you can say it with a graph or number, do so”. This data-driven approach quickly communicates momentum (or issues).

• Highlights and Lowlights: Don’t just send a highlight reel – include what’s going well and what’s not. Investors value transparency. Share 3-5 key achievements, wins, or milestones (new customers, product launches, partnerships, etc.), and candidly list a few challenges or misses (e.g. growth slowed, a deal lost, hiring difficulties). Every update should “reflect the rough as well as the smooth – and nothing should be a surprise” to investors. By dedicating a section to what’s not going well, you build trust and show the full picture. It’s okay to admit you fell short on a goal – frame it as a lesson learned. Consistently sharing bad news early ensures investors aren’t blindsided and hear it from you first.

• Front-Load Important Info: Busy investors might skim, so put the most critical info up front. Many recommend leading with key metrics and/or your asks so they’re impossible to miss. In particular, cash and runway are crucial – don’t bury the lede on how many months of runway you have left. One YC partner advises: “key metrics and asks should be front and center” in each update. Consider a brief one-line company overview at the top as well (especially if you have new investors or recipients) – e.g. a reminder of “What we do”.

• Clear Investor Asks: Use the update as a “bat signal” for help. If you need introductions, hiring referrals, advice, or other support, ask explicitly. List a few specific requests (and bold or highlight the most important one). Putting asks near the top can improve your “hit rate” as investors are more likely to see them. Keep the asks focused (ideally no more than 2–4) so they stand out.

• Next Steps and Goals: Show that you’re forward-looking by stating your focus for the next month (or quarter). Briefly note the key upcoming priorities or targets (e.g. product launch, sales goal, hiring plan). This not only tells investors what to expect, it also creates accountability. Great updates read like chapters in a story – refer back to goals set in previous updates and update on their status. For example, if last month you struggled with hiring a CTO, report this month if that role was filled or progress made. Tying each update to the last helps investors see the trajectory and momentum over time, reinforcing the trend visibility of your journey.

• Concise and Easy to Read: Aim for clarity and brevity. A monthly update at seed stage might be ~250–500 words (a few short paragraphs or bullet lists). Use bullet points or brief sections for readability – investors should be able to scan and grasp the key points quickly. Avoid dense walls of text. One VC describes the best updates as “pithy — concise, clear, and comprehensive”. Include data, but not endless data dumps: focus on the metrics that matter most, with a sentence of context if needed. If you have lots of detail or ancillary updates, consider putting them in an attachment or appendix (or save for a quarterly deep dive). The email itself should stay high-level and digestible. In short, be brief, be factual, and be consistent in format.

Using these principles, here's a reusable Markdown template for investor updates that can evolve from pre-seed through growth stage. It covers all common sections endorsed by VCs and evident in real startup updates. Sections marked “[Optional]” can be included as the company grows or as applicable. Founders can fill this in each month with current data and narrative, then send it out (it’s already formatted for an email). Consistent use of this template will make it easy to compare updates month-to-month and spot trends in the business.

Investor Update Template (Markdown Format)

**\[Company Name] – \[Month Year] Investor Update**
*What we do:* *\[One-sentence refresher on your company’s mission or product (optional, for new investors or context)]*

**Key Metrics:** *(show the metrics that matter most, with progress)*

* **Customers/Users:** \[Current number] (was \[last month], **+X%** MoM)
* **Revenue:** $\[MRR or ARR] (▲ **Y%** MoM)
* **Burn Rate:** $\[cash burned in month] per month
* **Cash in Bank:** $\[current cash] (**\[Z] months** runway remaining)
* **Headcount:** \[Number of full-time team members]

**Highlights:** *(Notable wins and milestones from this month)*

* \[Big positive result or milestone achieved]
* \[Another great thing that happened, e.g. new customer, product launch, partnership]
* \[Another highlight, milestone, or metric achievement]
* *(\[Optional] Add additional bullets for other departments or areas as needed, e.g. Product, Sales, Marketing, etc. Limit to the top \~3–5 wins overall.)*

**Lowlights/Challenges:** *(Things that didn’t go well – be honest and brief)*

* \[Short description of a challenge, setback, or something that went wrong]
* \[Another issue or area that needs improvement]
* \[Any bad news, losses, or lessons learned]
* *(\[Optional] Include brief reason or plan if useful, e.g. “Customer churned due to X, addressing by Y.” Nothing here should surprise investors later.)*

**\[Optional] Other Updates:** *(Any other noteworthy news not covered above)*

* \[e.g. New key hire or team update]
* \[e.g. Notable industry news affecting your company]
* \[Media mentions or awards, if any]
* *(\[Optional] Shout-outs or thanks to anyone who helped this month, e.g. an investor who made an intro – this is a nice touch.)*

**Goals for Next Month:** *(Your focus and key goals for the coming period)*

* \[Goal or deliverable #1 for next month, and why it’s important]
* \[Goal #2 for next month]
* \[Near-term target metrics for next month, if applicable (e.g. “hit \$X MRR” or “launch beta with 100 users”)]
* *(\[Optional] If previously set goals weren’t met, you can acknowledge and adjust here. Also, if longer-term milestones (quarterly OKRs, etc.) are relevant, you can mention progress.)*

**Asks:** *(Requests for help from investors – be specific)*

* **Ask 1:** \[One thing you need help with – introductions, hiring, advice, etc.]
* **Ask 2:** \[Another ask, if any]
* *(\[Optional] Include a max of 3–4 asks. If one is urgent or most important, consider **bolding** it. Example: **“Introductions to CIOs at hospitals** (for our new healthcare pilot)”.)*

**Thank you all for your continued support.** *As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or ideas.*

*\[Founder Name]* – CEO, \[Startup Name]

Notes: When using this template, fill in the brackets with your information and remove any optional sections that don’t apply. Keep the tone transparent and factual, but you can show personality in how you celebrate wins or address challenges. The goal is that an investor reading successive monthly updates can easily track your progress – the format stays consistent, while the content reflects your growth and learning over time.

ChatGPT One-Shot Prompt for Monthly Investor Update

To make drafting these updates easier, founders can use a single prompt with ChatGPT. Each month, simply plug in the latest data and highlights, and let the AI generate a well-formatted update email based on the template above. The prompt below is structured to ask for key inputs (metrics, highlights, lowlights, etc.) and then produce the markdown-formatted email. Founders can save this prompt and update the bracketed sections with new info each time for a repeatable workflow.

You are an assistant that writes a formatted monthly **investor update email** for a startup founder. The update should be concise, clear, and follow a consistent structure. Use the template below to format the update in Markdown (with bold section headings and bullet points):

[Company Name] – [Month Year] Investor Update  
*What we do:* [One-sentence company description]

**Key Metrics:**  
- **Customers/Users:** [current number] ([+/–]% vs last month)  
- **Revenue:** $[MRR or ARR] ([+/–]% MoM)  
- **Burn Rate:** $[monthly burn]  
- **Cash in Bank:** $[cash balance] ([Runway: X months])  
- **Headcount:** [team size]

**Highlights:**  
- [Brief bullet point highlighting a win or milestone]  
- [Another key achievement or positive update]  
- [Another highlight from this month]

**Lowlights/Challenges:**  
- [Brief description of a challenge or setback]  
- [Another thing that didn’t go well or is concerning]  
- [Optional: additional context or lesson learned from the challenge]

**Other Updates (Optional):**  
- [Any other noteworthy item (new hire, market news, media mention), if applicable]  
- [Another additional update or thank-you, if needed]

**Goals for Next Month:**  
- [Top priority or goal for next month]  
- [Another key goal or target for the coming month]  
- [Optional: additional goal or upcoming milestone]

**Asks:**  
- **Ask 1:** [One specific request for help from investors]  
- **Ask 2:** [Another ask, if any (or remove if none)]  

End the email with a brief thank-you and sign-off.

Now **draft the investor update email** using this structure and the following founder-provided data. **Make sure the tone is factual, transparent, and confident.** Incorporate the details into the corresponding sections:

Company Name: [Acme Inc]  
Month/Year: [October 2025]  
What we do: [AI-powered analytics platform for retail businesses]

**Metrics:**  
- Customers: [120] (was 100 last month, +20% MoM)  
- MRR: [$50,000] (+10% MoM)  
- Burn: [$20,000] per month  
- Cash: [$200,000] (10 months runway)  
- Headcount: [5]

**Highlights:**  
- Signed a contract with a major client (RetailCo), doubling our enterprise customer count.  
- Launched v2.0 of our product with real-time analytics features, earning positive user feedback.  
- Grew monthly active users by 25% through a new referral program.

**Lowlights:**  
- Lost one mid-sized customer due to a missing feature – working on win-back after adding that feature.  
- Hiring **Senior Data Engineer** took longer than expected (still open, see ask below).  
- Churn ticked up to 5% this month (up from 3%) – investigating causes and solutions.

**Other Updates:**  
- Added *Alex Kim* as a lead advisor (ex-CEO of DataMax) to help shape our enterprise sales strategy.  
- Thank you to Investor Jane Doe for introducing us to two key retail contacts!

**Goals Next Month:**  
- Launch pilot integration with Shopify platform by Nov 30.  
- Fill the Senior Data Engineer role to accelerate product development.  
- Targeting ~$55k MRR (10% MoM growth) by next update.

**Asks:**  
- **Hiring Referral:** Introductions to strong Senior Data Engineer candidates.  
- **Sales Intro:** Connect us with any **major retail brands** that could beta test our analytics tool.

Draft the above as a polished investor update email in Markdown, ready to send. Keep it under 500 words, maintain the section headers, and ensure it reads as a cohesive update (not just a list of bullets). Remember to be upbeat but honest about challenges. Go ahead and produce the final email now.