Hey friends 👋
You’ve seen the email before:
Subject: “Huge month!!”
Body: 10,000 users, engagement through the roof, three new features shipped, featured in a newsletter. No revenue. No retention breakdown. No ask. And somehow, you think that’s an investor update.
This week, JDM and Cameron break down what investor updates are actually for — and why the founders sending the flashiest ones are often the ones with the least to show.
A good update isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a signal:
Here’s the one metric that matters right now;
Here’s what’s working and what isn’t; and
Here’s exactly what we need from you.
That’s it.
Do that consistently, and you’re building trust long before anyone writes a check.
Then comes the game! Three realistic scenarios, scored on the conviction scale:
A SaaS tool drowning in vanity metrics and no ask (a very generous two).
A dental practice management startup with actual numbers, actual churn honesty, and a specific ask that almost got there (a strong eight).
A consumer mental health app with 150K downloads, no paying customers, and a premium tier with results too “encouraging” to share yet (another two).
And it’s a conviction sandwich!
But a Keto edition… the good stuff is in the middle.
Frivolous thoughts this week: JDM got a YouTube Music recommendation he didn’t ask for and absolutely needed; and Cameron walked out of a Sacramento record shop with some Cat Stevens vinyl.
Turns out the thread between grunge, riot-grrl, punk, and folk peace anthems is stronger than you’d think.
As always, thanks for listening.
—Cameron and JDM
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
02:15 What is an investor update (and why most are facades)
05:30 What to actually include: the five elements
13:30 Scenario 1
23:15 Scenario 2
33:15 Scenario 3
37:30 Frivolous Thoughts
