investor-update

Overview

Based on "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz. The core principle: the CEO's job is to manage the truth - not spin it, not hide it, and not dump it unfiltered. Investor updates are trust infrastructure. Horowitz argues that great CEOs communicate bad news faster than good news, ask for help specifically, and never let investors be surprised. An update that only reports wins trains investors to distrust you the moment things go wrong.

Workflow

Step 1: Pull the numbers before writing a word

Collect the following before drafting:

Metrics section (include all that apply to [your startup]):

• MRR or ARR and month-over-month change (absolute and percentage)
• New customers added and churned this period
• Burn rate and runway (months remaining at current burn)
• Cash in bank
• Key product metrics (DAU, activation rate, NPS, or whatever your north star is)
• Pipeline (if B2B): qualified deals, average deal size, sales cycle length

Do not estimate. If a number is not ready, note it explicitly and send the update anyway. "We are still closing the books on MRR - will send an addendum Friday" is better than delaying the whole update.