What is an investor update?
An investor update is a regular report from founders to investors on results, cash, plans and asks. Many early-stage founders send one monthly, while growth and late-stage companies often move to quarterly. A typical update covers highlights, a core metric tracked over time, burn and runway, customer wins, key hires, challenges and specific requests for help.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
Investor updates are where sales results become the company's written record with its backers. Steady, candid updates make it easier to ask for help, such as introductions to target accounts, and they prevent surprises before a raise. A revenue leader who writes the sales section should report the same metrics the same way every time, including in bad months.
Example
Fictitious numbersA monthly update reports $420,000 in new ARR against a $500,000 target and names the two deals that slipped and why. It lists runway at 16 months, unchanged from the prior update, and asks investors for introductions to three named target accounts.
"Would our investors learn anything about the sales plan from our last update that they could not have guessed?"
Sources
- How to Write an Effective Investor Update checked 9 Oct 2026
- You Aren't Getting the Most Out of Your Investors: This is How to Start checked 9 Oct 2026