—Guide
How to Build a Monthly Investor Update for Your Startup
What to include in a monthly or quarterly investor update, the numbers investors look for, and how to keep updates consistent and credible.
Once a startup takes outside money, investors expect regular updates. Done well, they build trust and make the next round easier. Done badly — late, inconsistent or vague — they raise questions. This guide sets out a simple structure.
What Investors Want to See
- Revenue, and its growth month on month.
- Gross margin, if the business has meaningful direct costs.
- Monthly burn: how much cash the business consumes.
- Cash in the bank and runway in months.
- Two to five metrics that show traction — customers, retention, orders, or usage.
- Headcount and key hires.
A Simple Structure
- Headline: one or two sentences on how the month went.
- Key numbers: a small table, with the same metrics every time.
- Highlights: what went well.
- Lowlights: what didn't, and what you're doing about it.
- Asks: introductions, hires or advice investors can help with.
Consistency Matters More Than Detail
Investors read many updates. What makes yours credible is showing the same metrics, defined the same way, every period — so trends are visible. Changing definitions or dropping a metric that went the wrong way is noticed.
Numbers That Reconcile
The figures in investor updates should reconcile to your books and, at year end, to your audited financial statements. Differences between what investors were told and what the audited accounts show are a common source of difficult conversations in due diligence.
Monthly or Quarterly?
Early-stage startups often send monthly updates; later-stage companies may move to quarterly updates with a board pack. Your shareholders' agreement may specify what information rights investors have and how often.
Board Packs
Where investors have board seats, the update often grows into a board pack: financials against budget, cash forecast, KPIs, and papers for decisions the board needs to take.
Getting Help
Think Filing prepares monthly MIS and investor-ready reporting for startups, built on reconciled books so the numbers hold up in due diligence.