Send on the first Monday of the month. Keep it to one scrolled page in Gmail. Send even when there is nothing exciting — the rhythm itself is the signal. Missed months create more anxiety than bad numbers.

Subject line

[Company] — [Month] [Year] update. ([Runway months] months of runway).

The runway in the subject is deliberate. Investors care more about this number than they say. Leading with it signals that you know where you stand, and it lets them triage quickly.

Opening

Hi all, here is the [Month] update. [One sentence summarising the most important thing that changed].

KPIs

Pick three to five numbers that actually matter. Do not change them from month to month.

Paying customers: [count] ([change MoM])
MRR: [value] ([change MoM])
Active users (14d): [count] ([change MoM])
Cash on hand: [value] ([runway in months])
[One additional number specific to your business]

Shipped

Two to four bullets on what actually moved. Not "we worked on" — "we shipped". If you did not ship anything worth noting, say so and explain why.

Learned

One or two bullets on what the month taught you that changed a decision. This is the part investors read most closely — it signals whether you are processing reality or just running in place.

Stuck

One or two bullets on where you are stuck, or where the data disagrees with the plan. Be specific. "Distribution is hard" is noise. "Our cold email open rate halved after we moved from X to Y and we have not diagnosed why" is a signal.

Asks

Three specific asks. Intros by name, roles by description, feedback on specific artefacts. A non-specific ask ("introductions welcome!") gets non-specific response. A named ask gets answered.

Intro to [name] at [company] — we are [one sentence on why].
A review of our [attached artefact] from anyone who has run [relevant context].
[A named person we are trying to hire and the warm path to them].

Next month

Two or three bullets on what you are committing to ship or decide next month. Do not list every ticket. List the decisions.

Closing

Thanks for reading. As always, the best way to help is one intro or one piece of feedback.

— [Name]

What I tell founders: the investor update is leverage, not reporting. Do it badly for six months and your next round is a 45-minute conversation. Do it well and your next round is a coffee.

Template from Marga Haus · margahaus.com/resources · Adapt and use freely. Attribution appreciated, not required.

Monthly investor update template