𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:
Regular, structured communication significantly boosts your chances of securing follow-on funding. The data shows that startups that deliver consistent investor updates are three times more likely to succeed.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐛𝐲-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞:

𝟏. 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 📷
– 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬: Teaser deck (~12 slides), one-page KPI snapshot.
– 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Weekly momentum updates until a LOI/term sheet is in place.
– 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬: Intro email → 30-minute call.
– 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫: Broad, untargeted outreach, vanity metrics, responses taking over 48 hours.

𝟐. 𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 → 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 🔎
– 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬: Full data room including financials, cap tables, legal docs, runway, wiring info.
– 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Twice-weekly emails with updates and Q&A responses; 48-hour turnaround on legal edits.
– 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬: Email, DocSend/Carta (for tracking), Slack/Signal/WhatsApp for real-time.
– 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫: Ghosting after hard questions, slow document delivery, last-minute valuation shifts.

𝟑. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 🤝
– 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬: Monthly updates + quarterly board packs with KPIs (ARR, burn/runway, margins, hiring, asks, 12-month forecasts).
– 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Monthly updates; quarterly board meetings scheduled ~10 days post-pack.
– 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬: Email for updates, Notion or Boardable for packs, video or in-person for meetings.
– 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫: KPI drift, late packs, vague or no actionable asks.

𝟒. 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 📑
– 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬: Raise-preview deck, milestone scorecard, list of target investors.
– 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Bi-weekly metric snapshots for insiders; monthly pipeline status.
– 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬: Email, dashboards (e.g., Visible or Rundit), Loom walkthroughs.
– 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫: Preferential terms to new investors, raising with low runway, unfocused outreach.
– 𝐓𝐢𝐩: Quickly act on intros—this speeds up fundraising and protects ownership.

𝟓. 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 🚶‍♀️‍➡️
– 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬: Buyer data room, waterfall model, employee retention plans, LOI progress.
– 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Weekly board updates + ad-hoc alerts for major changes.
– 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬: Dedicated board Slack channel and scheduled board calls.
– 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫: Excluding the board, surprise clawbacks, delayed approvals.

Effective founder-investor communication is foundational to building trust and driving results. Anchoring your approach in clarity, consistency, context, candour, and conciseness – and tailoring your approach to each phase of the funding lifecycle sets the stage for mutual value creation.

#fundraising #investor relations

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