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Investor Updates

Gleb Braverman

Gleb Braverman

— 2 min read

One of the core skills every founder should master is consistency. There are plenty of books and articles written about it, yet most of us still make avoidable mistakes. The ability to show up, follow through, and communicate clearly is what separates successful founders from the rest.

To build consistency and avoid common mistakes, here are 3 frameworks to consider:

  • Always get on a plane. Always go the extra mile to meet customers, partners, and investors face-to-face. In an era of video calls, this is an easy way to build a lasting relationship and gain advantage.
  • The importance of showing up. Success is always a matter of grind - in work, in sports and even in love. Achieving anything worthwhile requires a lot of effort. Quoting Aristotle, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit".
  • Staying true to your words. Always do what you say you are going to do, especially in small things. People notice small things, even when they don't say so. Reliability is one of the core qualities that goes hand in hand with success. How you do anything is how you do everything.

All of the above is crucial when it comes to investor updates. Consistency in communication with your investors is just as important as building relationships and showing up. During our most recent fundraise, one of the investors who ended up writing us a check said one of the reasons he invested was how we handled our investor updates: short, concise, data-driven, and consistent.

I double-checked and realized it took us 7 months to convert this person into an investor. Mathematically, every single update we sent yielded money for the company.

At HackerPulse, we structure our investor updates by dividing them into two categories:

  • Internal Updates: For current investors, providing detailed insights and progress reports.
  • External Updates: High level info for ~200 funds and angels keeping potential investors informed and engaged.

Below is an example of an internal update
(all numbers are made up)

Hi {investor_name},
This is Gleb from HackerPulse with {month} update.

KPIs

  • 12.500 users (+2.500 / 25% MoM growth)
  • 50 paying users (+7 / 12% MoM growth)
  • Monthly burn: $50k
  • Team: 10
  • Runway: 12 months

Notable events

Great

  • Users love our product, user base is growing and we receive great feedback
  • Team is shipping every week, no bugs
  • Paying customers also grow -we make money!

Good

  • We moved into new office

Challenging

  • We hired a designer and they didn't work out - we learned to spend more time with potential hires before making the final call.

How you can help

  • We look for a UI/UX designer!
  • Share our recent social media posts with your network

Best way to desribe Acme Inc. right now:

Acme Inc. is making an AI powered light saber helping everyone make the world a better place.

Feel free to use this template as you see fit. It's built upon advice from investors like Leo Polovets and Maia Bittner, among others.

At the end of the day, what matters most is being consistent and clear in your communication with investors, customers and, actually, everyone else!

Showing up and doing the work is a significant part of achieving success.

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