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Investor update template: what to send each month, with examples

An investor update template is a fixed outline you fill in every month and email to everyone on your cap table: a one-line summary, headline metrics, cash and runway, highlights, lowlights and specific asks. Keep it short enough to read on a phone, send it on the same day each month, and report bad months as plainly as good ones. Below is a copy-paste template, the reasoning behind each section, cadence by stage and the mistakes that make investors stop reading.

What an investor update is for

A monthly update does three jobs. It keeps the people who already backed you informed, so nothing in the next fundraise surprises them. It turns investors into a help desk: a clear ask in front of a few dozen well-connected people often produces intros that cold outreach never would. And it forces the founder to look at the numbers on a schedule.

Y Combinator treats that last point as central. In a talk published in the YC Startup Library, co-founder Jessica Livingston says YC asks its founders to begin the investor updates they send to YC by stating whether the company is "default alive" or "default dead". Paul Graham's essay on the idea defines it: if expenses stay flat and revenue keeps growing at its current rate, do you reach profitability before the money runs out? Putting that answer at the top of every update makes it hard to drift into denial about runway.

The standard sections

Templates from accelerators, VCs and founders differ in wording but converge on the same core. A founder guide published by 500 Global, for example, uses thanks, key metrics, highlights, lowlights and blockers, all in bullet points.

1. One-line summary

One sentence on what the company does and one on how the month went. Many investors hold dozens of positions; this line reminds them who you are before they read the numbers.

2. Headline metrics

Pick three to six numbers that define progress for your business and report the same ones every month, with the change from last month. Typical choices:

• Revenue (MRR or ARR for subscription businesses), with month-over-month growth
• Customers or active users, and churn
• Gross burn, net burn and cash in bank
• Headcount

Define each metric once and keep the definition stable. If you report "ARR", make sure it means contracted recurring revenue and not a multiplied-up best month; our explainer on ARR vs annualized run-rate revenue covers the difference investors look for.

3. Cash and runway

State cash on hand, average monthly net burn and runway in months. Then give the default alive or default dead answer in one line. If the company is default dead, say what you are doing about it: cutting spend, raising, or hitting a revenue milestone by a named month.

4. Highlights

Three to five bullets of real progress: a signed customer, a shipped feature that moved a metric, a key hire. Link to anything public rather than describing it at length.

5. Lowlights

What went wrong and what you learned. This is the section founders are most tempted to skip, and the one that builds the most trust. Investors who hear about a lost deal or a departed engineer in the monthly update are far less alarmed than investors who discover it during the next raise.

6. Asks

Specific, actionable requests. "Intros to heads of finance at mid-market logistics companies" works; "let us know if you can help" does not. Two or three asks per month is plenty, and it helps to thank people who answered last month's.

7. Optional: product, team and thanks

Short notes on hiring, product releases or a thank-you to investors who made introductions. Keep these brief; they should never push the metrics below the fold.

Copy-paste investor update email template

Paste this into your email client or doc tool and replace the bracketed text. Keep the order the same every month so readers know where to look.

Subject: [Company] investor update – [Month Year]

Hi all,
[Company] [does X for Y]. [Month] in one line: [summary].

Status: Default [alive / dead]. Runway: [N] months.

Key metrics
Revenue (MRR/ARR): [$] ([+/-]% MoM)
Customers / active users: [N] ([+/-]% MoM)
Net burn: [$] / month
Cash in bank: [$]
Headcount: [N]

Highlights
– [Win 1, with link if public]
– [Win 2]
– [Win 3]

Lowlights
– [Setback 1 and what changed as a result]
– [Setback 2]

Asks
– [Specific intro: role, company type, why]
– [Hiring: role and link to job post]
– [Advice wanted on a named decision]

Thanks
– [Investor name] for [intro or help last month]

[Founder name]

Many founders also keep a running doc or spreadsheet behind the email so the metrics section can be pasted in rather than rebuilt each month. A Notion page or shared doc works the same way; what matters is that the structure does not change.

YC-style investor update template

There is no single official YC form that founders must use, but the YC-style update is the template above with one rule enforced: the first line answers default alive or default dead, as described in the Livingston talk. After that, YC-backed founders typically lead with the numbers and push narrative to the bottom. If you are in an accelerator, check what your program asks for; some collect metrics through their own portals in addition to the email.

Investor update examples you can read

Very few companies publish their real updates, because they contain financials and customer names. One well-documented case is Levels, the metabolic health startup. In a 2021 post (last updated in 2023), CEO Sam Corcos explained that the company would publish its monthly investor updates with a 12-month delay, starting with August 2019, the company's second month. The post says Levels sends updates on the 15th of every month and that several of its later investors had followed those updates for months before investing. Reading a run of them shows how the same structure carries across good months and difficult ones.

The 500 Global guide linked above, written by Paubox founder Hoala Greevy, also walks through the sections of his own monthly updates.

How often to send: cadence by stage

• Pre-seed and seed: monthly. Things change fast, investors are often angels without board seats, and the update is your main channel to them.
• Series A and later: many companies move to quarterly written updates once there is a board meeting cycle and a fuller reporting package, while keeping a short monthly metrics note for the wider cap table.
• Before a raise: some founders add prospective investors to the list months ahead, so the round starts with people who have already watched the trend line.

Whatever you choose, consistency matters more than frequency. An update that arrives on the same day every month signals control; one that disappears after a bad quarter signals the opposite.

Common mistakes

1. Going quiet in bad months. Silence is read as bad news, usually worse than the reality.
2. Changing metrics. Swapping the headline number each month to whichever looks best makes the whole update untrustworthy.
3. Vague asks. Investors cannot act on general requests for help.
4. Too long. If it takes more than a few minutes to read, the asks will be missed.
5. No runway figure. Cash and burn are what investors check first; leaving them out invites a follow-up email.
6. Forgetting confidentiality. Updates get forwarded. Leave out anything that would cause real harm if it reached a competitor or the press, and handle sensitive items one-to-one.

For more on running a company after the round closes, see our Founders coverage, and follow new rounds and investor news in Funding.

Frequently asked questions

What should be included in a monthly investor update?

A one-line summary, three to six key metrics with month-over-month change, cash and runway, highlights, lowlights and specific asks. Some founders add a short thank-you section for investors who helped.

How long should an investor update be?

Short enough to read in a few minutes, usually one screen of bullet points plus a metrics block. Link out to longer material instead of pasting it in.

Should you send investor updates when things are going badly?

Yes. A regular update that reports setbacks honestly builds more trust than a polished one that arrives only in good months, and it gives investors a chance to help before problems get worse.

Who should receive investor updates?

Everyone on your cap table, including angels and small checks, and often advisors. Some founders also include prospective investors they plan to approach in the next round.

What does default alive mean in a YC investor update?

It means that if expenses stay the same and revenue keeps growing at its current rate, the company becomes profitable before it runs out of cash. YC asks its founders to state at the top of their updates to YC whether they are default alive or default dead.