Investor updates always slipped. This turns my metrics into a clean note in 10 minutes.
The workflow
- Paste your key metrics and wins
- Ask ChatGPT for a structured update
- Add asks and lowlights honestly
- Send before Friday
Result: A consistent, honest update that actually goes out.
The prompt
Write a monthly investor update from these numbers and notes. Sections: highlights, metrics, lowlights, asks. Keep it under 400 words. Notes:
[PASTE]A note on what follows. The workflow, the prompt and the result above come from the member. The notes below (why the prompt works, what to watch for, how to adapt it) were written with AI help.
Why this prompt works
Lowlights is the section that makes the whole thing worth sending. Without naming it, the update comes back as a highlight reel with a metrics table, and investors read those in about four seconds because they have seen a thousand. Asking for lowlights explicitly means I have to feed it the bad month too, and that turned out to change my own thinking more than it changed the email. The word cap is there because my first drafts ran to a page and a half and nobody replied. Under 400 words, someone reads it on a phone between meetings. The asks section I nearly dropped, and it is the one that produces actual intros, so it stayed. One note: the prompt says monthly and I run it weekly, which nobody has complained about.
What to watch for
- It softens the lowlights. "Slight headwind in the sales cycle" when I wrote that deals stalled for two weeks. I rewrite those lines every time.
- Metrics get restated with more confidence than I gave them, and a rough estimate comes back as a fact.
- Percentages appear that I never calculated. Check any figure that was not in your notes.
- The asks turn vague. "Introductions to relevant contacts" helps nobody. Name the company type or the role.
How to adapt it
- Stop the softening:
Write the lowlights in the same plain words I used. Do not soften them. - For continuity, paste last month's update and add
Note what changed since the previous update, including anything I said I would do. - To make the asks work, add
Each ask must name a specific type of company or role.
What good output looks like
The lowlights section should be slightly uncomfortable to send. If it reads fine, it has been sanded down and I put my own words back. Every number should be one I can point at in the sheet. Asks should be specific enough that someone could act on them from their phone without replying to ask what I mean. And it should be short enough that the whole thing fits on one screen.