# Investor update template > An investor update is the regular report a founder sends to investors, usually every quarter or month, to show how the company is doing and where help is needed. It leads with the result, shows the misses next to the wins and ends with specific asks. This template has nine slides: a cover with the result, a summary, four metrics, a revenue bridge, plan against actual, lessons, cash and runway, the plan for the next quarter and the asks. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/templates/investor-update/ - Updated: 21 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/vorlagen/investoren-update/ For founders and CEOs who report to investors, angels or a syndicate, for finance leads who prepare the numbers, and for managing directors of small companies who report to a shareholder or an advisory board. ## Slide by slide ### 1. Cover: the period and the result Investors read many updates. A title that states the result and the biggest miss, such as “ARR up 14%, two goals missed”, tells them how the quarter went before they open the first slide, and it shows that nothing is being hidden. - The period the update covers, with the end date - The result in the title, including the miss - Your company name and the month of sending - A confidential marker, if the numbers are not public ### 2. Summary: one number, what beat plan and what did not Most readers stop after this slide, so it has to carry the quarter alone. One headline figure, one sentence on what went better than planned and one on what did not gives the full picture at a glance. - One headline number, usually revenue growth - What beat plan, in one sentence - What missed plan, with the figure - Cash or runway in half a sentence ### 3. Metrics: four numbers, always in the same order Investors compare quarters, so the format must not change. Four metrics with the same definitions every time, such as customers, net new revenue, churn and burn, let them see the trend at a glance. A note that defines the terms prevents questions. - Four metrics, not ten - The change against the previous quarter for each - A short label that says what is counted - A note defining recurring revenue and churn ### 4. Revenue bridge: from the old to the new figure The first question about growth is where it came from. A bridge from last quarter's recurring revenue to this quarter's, split into new customers, expansion and churn, answers it in one picture and shows whether growth is healthy or bought. - Starting and ending figure with their dates - New customers, expansion and churn as separate steps - A sentence on the biggest step, such as why customers left - The source of the figures, for example the billing system ### 5. Plan against actual: last quarter's goals, scored Investors remember the goals from your last update. A table with plan, actual and a green, amber or red status shows that you track yourself and that you report misses without being asked, which builds the trust you need for later asks. - The goals exactly as written in the last update - Plan, actual and a status in a table - At most six rows - The misses stated plainly, with the figure ### 6. Lessons: three things you learned, with a number each A quarter of results is not yet a story. Three lessons, each with one number and one change you made because of it, show that the team learns quickly, which is what investors back in an early company. - Three lessons, not a long list - One number behind each lesson - What changes because of it - At least one lesson from something that did not work ### 7. Cash and runway: three figures with dates No investor should have to compute your runway from a spreadsheet. Cash, burn and months of runway with the date they run to answer the question every investor has, and a line about the next round says when you will ask for money. - Cash on the closing date - Net burn per month and whether it changes - Runway in months and the month it ends - When talks about the next round start ### 8. Next quarter: four dated commitments The next update will be read against this slide. Four commitments with a date or a month, and a revenue goal built from its parts, give investors something to hold you to and make the next plan-against-actual table easy to write. - Four milestones, each with a month or a date - A revenue goal that adds up from its parts - Hires or launches that matter to the numbers - Nothing you do not intend to report on ### 9. Asks: three specific requests Investors want to help, but vague offers lead nowhere. Three specific asks, such as an introduction to a named group, a candidate profile or an opinion on timing, can be acted on within a day, and a contact line removes the last obstacle. - Three asks, each one an action - The kind of person or company you want to reach - A start date for hires - Your name and email ## Example deck The example is about Kelvane, an invented company. Every figure in it is invented too. 1. Q3 2026: ARR up 14%, two goals missed. Kelvane investor update, quarter ending 30 September 2026. Kelvane · Cold-chain monitoring for food wholesalers · October 2026 2. ARR grew 14% in Q3 to €2.46m, but new-customer ARR missed plan and one hire is late. +14% ARR growth in Q3, to €2.46m. Expansion beat plan, churn stayed under 3% and cash covers 18 months. New-customer ARR was €240k against a plan of €300k. 3. Customers grew by 11 to 130, churn fell to 2.8% and burn fell to €175k a month: Paying customers on 30 September 130 (+11 in Q3 (14 new, 3 lost)); Net new ARR in Q3 €300k (€80k more than in Q2); ARR lost to churn in Q3 2.8% (0.6 pp better than Q2); Net burn per month €175k (€15k less than in Q2) 4. ARR rose by €300k to €2.46m: €240k new, €120k expansion, €60k churn. Net new ARR is €300k. The €60k of churn is three customers at about €20k each; two of them moved to a cheaper service without software. 5. Three of five Q3 goals were met, and two were missed: new customers and the German hire: Goal for Q3, Plan, Actual, Status 6. Pilots and referrals brought 12 of 14 new customers, and outbound email brought two: Pilots convert: Nine of the twelve pilots that ended in Q3 became paid contracts. A pilot is a four-week trial in one warehouse.; Referrals close faster: Referred customers signed in a median of 5 weeks. The other new customers took a median of 10.; Outbound email is slow: Two of the 14 new customers came from outbound email, which took a third of sales spend. The sequence now targets only the top 40 accounts. 7. Cash of €3.15m lasts 18 months, to the end of March 2028. 18 months of runway. Cash on 30 September 2026: €3.15m; Net burn: €175k a month, in the plan including the German hire; Next round: talks in Q2 2027, with at least 9 months of runway left 8. Q4 plan: close five pilots, start the German sales lead and reach €2.80m ARR: October Close five open pilots; 2 November German sales lead starts; November Audit report export ships; 31 December ARR of €2.80m reached 9. Three asks for the next quarter. Introductions, one hire and your view on the timing of the next round. Introductions to wholesale groups in Germany and the Netherlands. Candidates for a head of customer success, starting January 2027. Your view on opening the next round in Q2 2027 or later ## Tips - **Send it on a fixed date in a fixed format.** Pick a rhythm, such as three weeks after quarter end, and keep it. Keep the order of the slides and the definitions of the metrics, so investors can compare this update with the last one in a minute. Changing a definition is allowed only with a note that says what changed and shows the old figure next to the new one. - **Put the bad news on slide two, not on slide eight.** Investors do not expect a flawless quarter, but they notice when a miss is hidden. State it in the title or the summary, give the figure and say what you do about it. A reader who hears the bad news from you early trusts the rest of the update more. - **Copy the goals into the update before the quarter starts.** The plan-against-actual table only works if you wrote down the goals last time. Put three to five goals with figures at the end of every update, and next quarter copy them into the table unchanged. Do not rewrite a goal afterwards to make a status green. - **Ask for something specific and name who can help.** “Let us know if you can help” produces nothing. “Introductions to wholesale groups in Germany and the Netherlands” produces meetings. Name the kind of person, the problem and the date, and ask one investor directly if you already know who it could be. - **Build the slides from your finance export, then check every figure.** Upload the Excel file with the quarter's figures and ask the AI to build the slides from it; it reads the values of all sheets. The AI is instructed to label assumptions, and you stay in charge of every figure, so check every number against your books before you send. ## Common mistakes - Only good news, so a missed goal comes out in the next update as a surprise - Changing the definition of a metric between quarters without saying so - No cash or runway figure, which makes investors compute it and doubt it - Asks such as “let us know if you can help”, which nobody can act on - A 20-slide deck when investors read the first three slides and the asks ## Brief for the AI A complete brief for the AI. Replace the [placeholders] with your facts. ```text Create a 9-slide investor update for [company], covering [quarter]. Slide 1: cover with the quarter and the result in the title, for example [ARR growth] and the biggest miss. Slide 2: summary with one headline figure, what beat plan and what missed plan. Slide 3: four metrics with the change against last quarter: [customers], [net new ARR], [churn], [net burn per month], and a note that defines each. Slide 4: a waterfall chart of [ARR] from [start date] to [end date] with new customers, expansion and churn. Slide 5: a table with last quarter's goals, plan, actual and a green, amber or red status, including the misses. Slide 6: three lessons, each with a number and what changes because of it. Slide 7: cash, net burn and runway in months with the date it ends, and when the next round starts. Slide 8: a timeline with four dated commitments for next quarter and a revenue goal that adds up from its parts. Slide 9: three specific asks and a contact. Write every title as a full sentence that states the point. Use my real figures; where one is missing, mark it as an assumption instead of inventing it. ``` [Open this brief in the editor](https://app.slaide.de/registrieren?prompt=Create+a+9-slide+investor+update+for+%5Bcompany%5D%2C+covering+%5Bquarter%5D.+Slide+1%3A+cover+with+the+quarter+and+the+result+in+the+title%2C+for+example+%5BARR+growth%5D+and+the+biggest+miss.+Slide+2%3A+summary+with+one+headline+figure%2C+what+beat+plan+and+what+missed+plan.+Slide+3%3A+four+metrics+with+the+change+against+last+quarter%3A+%5Bcustomers%5D%2C+%5Bnet+new+ARR%5D%2C+%5Bchurn%5D%2C+%5Bnet+burn+per+month%5D%2C+and+a+note+that+defines+each.+Slide+4%3A+a+waterfall+chart+of+%5BARR%5D+from+%5Bstart+date%5D+to+%5Bend+date%5D+with+new+customers%2C+expansion+and+churn.+Slide+5%3A+a+table+with+last+quarter%27s+goals%2C+plan%2C+actual+and+a+green%2C+amber+or+red+status%2C+including+the+misses.+Slide+6%3A+three+lessons%2C+each+with+a+number+and+what+changes+because+of+it.+Slide+7%3A+cash%2C+net+burn+and+runway+in+months+with+the+date+it+ends%2C+and+when+the+next+round+starts.+Slide+8%3A+a+timeline+with+four+dated+commitments+for+next+quarter+and+a+revenue+goal+that+adds+up+from+its+parts.+Slide+9%3A+three+specific+asks+and+a+contact.+Write+every+title+as+a+full+sentence+that+states+the+point.+Use+my+real+figures%3B+where+one+is+missing%2C+mark+it+as+an+assumption+instead+of+inventing+it.&utm_source=ai-presentations.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=template%3Ainvestor-update&utm_content=markdown) ## Frequently asked questions ### What should an investor update include? A good investor update answers the questions an investor has in order: how did the quarter go, which numbers moved, where did growth come from, did you meet your goals, how much cash is left, what happens next and where can I help. That is the order of the nine slides in this template. Keep the metrics and their definitions the same every period and report misses next to the wins. ### How often should you send an investor update? Many founders send one every quarter, and some send a short one every month, especially in an early phase or when a round is coming. What matters more than the rhythm is that you keep it: the same day, the same format and the same metrics. A quarterly deck like this one can be paired with a short email in the months between. ### How long should an investor update be? Eight to ten slides are enough, and this template has nine. Put the result and the asks at the front and the back, because investors read those most closely. Detail such as a full budget or a customer list belongs in an appendix or a data room, not in the main update. ### Should you share bad news in an investor update? Yes, and early. Investors learn about problems anyway, and an update that reports a miss together with the cause and the response builds more trust than one that reports only wins. State the figure, say what you changed and, if you need help, make it one of the asks. ### Can ChatGPT or another AI write an investor update? A chat assistant can help with wording, but the figures have to come from your books. The AI builds the slides from a brief like the one above as an editable PowerPoint file, and you can attach the Excel file with your numbers. Investor figures are often confidential: Slaide sends your request and the content it needs through OpenRouter to language-model providers in the USA, with use for model training excluded by contract. With sensitive material, first check whether processing in the USA is permitted for you. You stay in charge of every figure, so check each one before you send. ### Are the numbers in this template real? No. Kelvane and all figures are fictional. The arithmetic is consistent: ARR of €2,160k plus €240k new and €120k expansion minus €60k churn gives €2,460k, and cash of €3.15m at a net burn of €175k a month is 18 months of runway, so the deck works as a model for your own numbers. ## Related pages - [Pitch deck](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/pitch-deck/): Ten slides for a seed round: problem, solution, market, traction, unit economics, competition, team and the ask. A pitch deck template with a worked example. - [Board presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/board-presentation/): A board presentation template with the 8 slides a quarterly board meeting needs: summary, KPIs, revenue, EBITDA bridge, initiatives, risks and decisions. - [Annual report](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/annual-report/): An 8-slide annual report presentation for shareholders and boards: summary, key figures, revenue by segment, cash flow, priorities, outlook and resolutions. - [Quarterly business review](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/quarterly-business-review/): Plan a customer QBR on 6 slides: results, adoption, commitments, the plan for next quarter and the decisions you need from the customer. With an example deck. - [Executive summary](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/executive-summary/): Lead with the recommendation, the one number that matters, the options compared and the decision you need. Template with an 8-slide example. - [Business plan](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/business-plan/): A business plan presentation template with 10 slides: summary, problem, customers, model, revenue, profit and loss, use of funds, milestones and the ask. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. [How this site is written, checked and corrected](https://ai-presentations.com/editorial-policy/).