How do you report to investors after raising funds?

Communicate early about how you intend to provide investor updates and what format they should expect them to come in. Establishing and maintaining these expectations is critical to maintaining and fostering a healthy relationship with your investors. Depending on your business type and vertical, you may want to forego something like "Cost of Goods Sold" and instead highlight "Hosting Costs" for SaaS or digital service providers Have an open-ended conversation with the investors about how they want to receive updates and which KPIs would be best to keep them apprised of. There's no good reason to provide insights into your ROAS if you aren't running advertising campaigns with any regularity—insights into organic content may be best.

Maintaining a good relationship with your investors is critical. They can be a gateway to referral clients, future funding round opportunities, and more. Shipping investor updates quarterly or monthly is often a great way to facilitate strong connections and healthy communication. Be transparent with your updates and provide a consistent minimum level of information (e.g. quarterly financial reporting, annual audit statements, etc.) Also be transparent when your roadmap changes, target customers change, or you plan to roll out major product updates/changes or launches. Investor updates are your opportunity to turn mediocre investor relationships into extraordinary ones. Simple financial models and supporting docs go a LONG way.

Key metrics will change, depending on your business model and industry of operation. Some consistent expectations for key metrics include: *Customer Acquisition Cost, *Burn Rate (how fast you spend "cash on hand") *Revenue (gross income generated by the business, not to be confused with profit, before expenditures) *Runway (how long you can keep going as you are, without running out of capital) *Cash-on-Hand *Accounts Receivable *Average Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) *Accounts Payable (if any, including all types of debt) Discuss and set expectations for the investors when shaping the deal. Make sure they feel that you are communicating exactly as much, or more than you initially committed to.

Investors WANT to share in your wins and usually want to help you bounce back from your struggles. Big achievements to celebrate include things like: *Signing a letter of Intent or Memorandum of Understanding with a new partner *Hitting goals and milestones for development, marketing, etc. *Uncovering new opportunities and ways to capitalize on them *Winning awards *Closing new deals *Shipping new products or revenue streams Challenges may include things like: *Inbound litigation *Co-founder churn *Competitive/market share losses *Brand/Reputation damage Many investors are happy to lend an ear and provide mentorship during the hard times. When they do, make sure you express gratitude and don't take their time for granted.

Some investors prefer to remain a source of funding and for you to, effectively, provide them with a source of income. Sometimes that works great for everyone involved. If you're looking for investors that are open to provide mentorship, connections, and other avenues of value, make sure that they are aware of this upfront. Don't be afraid to ask for feedback, support, or even connections where necessary. In many circles, investors are happy to provide connections to other investors because it strengthens their network when you perform well, following a warm introduction. Another great way to ask for support is to find a way, such as a referral agreement, that lets them gain a return on their capital now AND later at exit.