Investor updates after the raise: the monthly email that gets you the next round
Why the update matters more than the board meeting, the five-section format that takes an hour a month, what to do when the news is bad, and how updates turn twenty small investors into your best source of introductions.
The money has landed and the temptation is to disappear into the business. Don't. The founders who raise their next round easily are the ones whose investors already know everything — the wins, the misses, the numbers — because they got an email every month. The update is the cheapest investor relations there is, and on Find it goes to every matched investor with one click.
The five-section format
- The number. One headline metric, this month versus last, with the date. "July MRR £41k (June £38k, +8%)." If there is one thing an investor remembers, it is this.
- Highlights. Three bullets of what went right. Named customers where you can, product shipped, hires landed.
- Lowlights. Two bullets of what went wrong, and what you are doing about it. This section is why investors trust you. An update with no lowlights is read as spin.
- Cash and runway. Cash at month end, burn, months of runway. Investors are more relaxed when they can see it than when they have to ask.
- Asks. Specific: "an introduction to a head of compliance at a top-50 firm", "a recommendation for a fractional CFO", "anyone who knows the buyer at X". Twenty investors with networks is the most underused asset a seed company has; the ask section is how you use it.
Five hundred words. The first of the month. Same format every time so it can be read in ninety seconds.
When the news is bad
Send it anyway, and send it on time. A missed update followed by bad news reads as concealment; bad news in the usual slot reads as a founder who is on top of it. Say what happened, what it means for the plan, what you are doing, and what you need. Investors have seen worse, and the ones who can help will only help if they know.
What the update does for the next round
When you raise again, your existing investors are the first call and the best reference. Eighteen updates on file means they can pre-empt the round, follow on, or introduce the lead — and a new investor who asks "what do the existing investors think?" gets a fast, informed answer. Founders who went quiet find the opposite: investors who don't remember the details and hedge.
Cadence and channels
Monthly by email for everyone. Quarterly, a slightly longer version with the management accounts attached. An annual call or meeting for anyone who wants it. On Find, posting an update on your listing emails every matched investor and keeps the record in the deal room, which is where a new investor will look first.
Questions founders ask
"Do I send updates to investors who passed?"
If they said "not now, keep me posted" — yes, quarterly. A good share of second-round investors are first-round passes who watched the updates.
"How much detail on the numbers?"
Headline metric, cash, runway every month. Full management accounts quarterly. Detail beyond that on request; you are running a business, not a reporting function.
"What if an investor replies with bad advice?"
Thank them and do what you think is right. You raised money, not a boss. The update is information, not a vote.