Text with Founders: Lead with the Numbers, End with the Narrative
+ how investors know when a company is struggling.
Welcome to the 29th weekly post from Texts with Founders — a newsletter highlighting conversations I have via text message with other founders where we work through challenges they encounter.
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Lead with the Numbers, End with the Narrative
An investor I respect recently texted me:
I’ve become very wary of narrative-driven updates at this point.
I understand her perspective.
I receive hundreds of investor updates each month. I’ve noticed that when an update lacks quantitative information, the company tends to be struggling.
It matters to be upfront about the numbers—with yourself and your investors. This information provides the clearest picture of where you are today compared to last week or month. It can also help you focus on what matters—both in the narrative of the update itself but also how you and your teammates should allocate your time.
While the idea of including data in your updates might seem obvious, note that many talented founders become more abstract and ambiguous as they struggle with their startup. I’ve also fallen for this trap in the past.
Lead with the numbers, end with the narrative. Here’s a template I recommend for investor updates.
That’s all for this week — thanks for reading.
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- Julian
(No identifying information is shared in texts.)
Recent Posts:
Let the waitlist wait - Focus on “center of the bullseye” customers.
When and How to Engage Follow-on Investors - Timing matters. So does narrative and what you disclose.
Reference Checking Investors - Learn about other founder's experiences before committing to a fund
VCs that Ghost - Dealing with investors that drag out the process
Intros and Forwardable Emails - Make it easy for connectors to facilitate introductions