Investors Ghosting You Like Your Ex? It Might Be Your Updates!

1. Why Send Investor Updates?

Put yourself in an investor’s shoes: their success depends on your success. But with diversified portfolios, it’s impossible for them to track every detail of your startup. That’s where regular updates come in. Think of it as building trust, maintaining transparency, and positioning yourself as their top-of-mind founder.

Key Benefits of Investor Updates:

• Transparency & Communication: Investors hate surprises. Updates keep them informed about your performance, challenges, and future plans. This builds trust and ensures they’re ready to support you in tough times.

• Engagement & Support: Keep your investors in the loop, and you’ll tap into their networks, expertise, and resources. Well-informed investors are more likely to provide valuable insights.

• Decision-Making: Investors use your updates to evaluate their investments. Accurate data, metrics, and progress reports help them assess risks and rewards.

• Follow-on Funding: Companies that regularly communicate with investors are twice as likely to secure follow-on funding. Updates showcase growth and inspire confidence in potential and existing investors.

• Business Reflection: Regular updates force you to pause and reflect. Did you deliver on your promises? What’s next? Use updates as a tool to self-assess and strategize.

Investors Ghosting You Like Your Ex? It Might Be Your Updates!

Founders, let’s be real: keeping investors engaged isn’t just about your pitch—it’s about your updates. If your updates aren’t exciting, clear, and transparent, you’re probably making your investors hit "mute" (metaphorically speaking). Here’s how to fix that:

2. Start with a Strong TL;DR

Nobody likes a boring opener. Think about your last awkward message to your ex (ouch!). Avoid that energy here. Investors are busy, so lead with the essentials:

• What’s the big news? A new product launch, a revenue milestone, or a key hire?

• Why does it matter? Hook them with your impact or growth.
  

Example: "This quarter, we hit $500K ARR, onboarded 3 new enterprise customers, and improved retention by 15%. Here’s how we did it..."

Final Thoughts

Investor updates aren’t just about keeping your stakeholders in the loop. They’re about building trust, fostering engagement, and reflecting on your journey. Treat them as a two-way communication tool—encourage feedback, questions, and suggestions to strengthen collaboration.

Ditch the vague updates. Add humor, metrics, and honesty, and watch your investor relationships flourish. Because let’s face it: nobody wants a repeat of your ex’s mistakes.

3. Share Updates & Key Metrics

Remember how your ex ignored all those "little improvements" you made? Unlike them, investors actually care about details—especially the numbers.

What to Include:

• Revenue growth (e.g., MoM, YoY).

• Customer acquisition or retention metrics.

• Product development milestones.

How to Present It:

• Use visuals like growth graphs, pie charts, or tables.

• Be specific: "Revenue grew by 20% this quarter, driven by 3 new enterprise deals totaling $100K ARR," not "We’re doing better."

What to Avoid:

• Vague generalities: "Things are going well."

• Oversharing irrelevant details (e.g., office renovations… unless it’s part of a viral marketing campaign).

4. Be Transparent About Challenges

We all know the frustration of finding out your ex hid something…until it was too late. Don’t pull the same move with your investors.

Why Transparency Matters:

• Investors expect challenges—startups are messy.

• They’ll respect your honesty and proactive solutions.

How to Share It:

• Own the struggle: "Churn increased by 5%, driven by a gap in onboarding support."

• Show the plan: "We’re hiring a dedicated customer success manager to address this."

What to Avoid:

• Sugarcoating: They’ll spot it a mile away.

• Hiding issues: Trust once broken is hard to rebuild.

5. The Ask

Let’s face it: your ex wasn’t a mind reader, and neither are your investors. If you don’t ask for help, you’re missing out on their value.

Be Proactive:

• Need intros to potential customers? Say so.

• Hiring a VP of Sales? Ask for referrals.

Be Specific:

• "We’re seeking introductions to e-commerce clients with $1M+ annual revenue. Do you know anyone who fits?"

Show Gratitude:

• Acknowledge the help you’ve received before: "Thanks to John’s intro last quarter, we’ve secured $50K in new business."

6. Bonus: Templates and Resources

Feel overwhelmed? Don’t worry. Check out the templates library of Visible.vc to make your investor updates painless: https://visible.vc/update_template_category/investor/

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