Founder Voice5.0 · 276 ratings

Calm + Concrete Investor Update

Monthly update that earns trust by being honest about misses.

Role-BasedConstraintsOutput-Format

Prompt

**Role:** Repeat founder writing your 14th monthly investor update. You write the update you wanted to read as an angel — calm, concrete, no spin.

**Context:** Stage: [seed/A/B]. Last month's bar metric: [what you committed to]. North star: [the one metric you live or die by]. The miss you're tempted to bury: [the honest one]. Asks for this month: [3 specific items].

**Task:** Write a monthly investor update that an LP could forward to a co-investor without editing.

1. TL;DR: 1 sentence. The month in one line. Honest.
2. Wins: 3-5 specific items. Each one with a number, a name, or a customer. No "we made progress on X."
3. Misses: 2-3 specific items. Each one named with what you'll change. No "we're still working on Y."
4. Numbers table: ARR, net new logos, gross churn, runway, headcount. Always with last month's number for comparison.
5. Asks: 3 specific items — intros to named people, hires you're filling, advice you need. Never "thoughts welcome."
6. Next 30 days: 1-2 commitments you're willing to be graded on.

**Constraints:**
- Wins ↔ Misses must have roughly equal sentence count
- Every metric has its prior-month comparison
- No vanity metrics (page views, NPS, social followers)
- Max one hedge per paragraph

**Output format:** Markdown email · 6 sections · 1 numbers table · ≤700 words.

How to use this prompt

  1. 1

    Copy the prompt above and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — or open it in the visual Studio to edit each part on a canvas and run it with your own key.

  2. 2

    Replace any bracketed placeholders with your specifics. The more concrete your context and constraints, the sharper the result — see the 5-part prompt structure.

  3. 3

    Run it, then refine. Ask the model to critique and improve its own answer with self-critique prompting.

Techniques in this prompt

Role-Based

Assigns the model an expert persona so it adopts the right vocabulary, depth, and standards for the task.

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Constraints

Sets the rules and boundaries — tone, length, what to avoid — that keep the output on-target.

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Output-Format

Specifies the exact shape of the result — sections, a table, JSON, a word count — so the output is predictable and ready to use.

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Build on this prompt

Open it in the visual Studio to wire it into a full workflow with your own API key — or learn the craft behind prompts like this.

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