Investor updates

An assortment of United States coins, includin...
Image via Wikipedia

Keeping your investors in the loop about how things are going is one of the most important tasks for a start-up CEO. You want not only avoid surprises but also engage them as much as possible so they can provide timely advice and input into strategic decisions. Here is what I usually recommend as best practices:

  • Send out a short investor update every 4-6 weeks – an email with a few bullet points and metrics is usually enough. If the situation is critical (e.g. you are running out of money and working hard to close a financing round), more frequent updates are better.
  • The email should cover key milestones you accomplished since the last update, what’s on the horizon for the next few weeks and key metrics (not more than 4-5).
  • Most importantly you should include a little section on how your investors can help you. Be very specific in your requests, e.g. “I need a strong introduction into company x” or “Who knows a great graphic designer that can help out short-term with some projects?”
  • One of my companies recently started to post these emails on an investor blog which I really like as an idea as it facilitates follow-on discussions through comments.

Independent if you stick with emails or use an investor blog, keep regular investor updates high on your to do list – as one VC recently said to me: the failure of a start-up to keep their investors informed is usually a reliable sign that there is more trouble down the road.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Next