| name | write-an-investment-memo |
| description | Turn company research, meetings, diligence, market evidence, and the investor's own criteria into a clear, source-linked investment memo or decision record. Use when an opportunity needs a first memo, an updated case, an investment-committee document, or a structured record of conviction, risks, and open questions. |
Write an Investment Memo
Build the memo around the firm's real decision and evidence. It should make the investment case
easier to inspect and debate, not hide uncertainty behind polished prose.
1. Understand the decision and house style
Clarify the company, decision stage, audience, timing, and what the memo must help them decide. Use
the firm's existing template, thesis, underwriting criteria, prior accepted memos, investment
committee conventions, and writing style when available. Do not make the user restate what those
materials already establish.
Identify whether this is an initial screen, discussion memo, full underwriting record, update, or
post-decision record. Agree on the depth and sections before substantial new research.
2. Assemble the accepted evidence
Start with the reliable company research, meetings, diligence, market work, financial analysis,
references, data-room material, and internal notes already available. Research missing areas only
when they could change the decision or the memo would otherwise overstate the evidence.
Keep company claims, independent evidence, calculations, internal observations, and interpretation
distinct. Link material claims to their source and date. Preserve contradictory evidence, changing
definitions, and unresolved questions rather than forcing the narrative to resolve them.
Use strawberry/venture-capital/research-an-investment-opportunity for an initial company view and
strawberry/venture-capital/conduct-investment-due-diligence when material questions still need to
be tested. Do not duplicate those workflows inside the memo.
3. Write the investment case
Use the firm's structure when one exists. Otherwise, organize the memo around the decision, which
may include:
- a concise company and opportunity view;
- why this may fit the thesis and why now;
- product, customer, market, competition, team, traction, and business model evidence;
- the strongest case for and against the investment;
- risks, sensitivities, contradictions, and missing evidence;
- ownership, financing, terms, or scenario analysis when relevant; and
- the decision, recommendation, or next gate the investor is responsible for.
Make the reasoning inspectable. Avoid a generic template that gives equal space to every topic,
unsupported superlatives, and unexplained scores. If the evidence does not support a conclusion,
say what remains unresolved.
4. Review the memo as a decision record
Check every material claim, calculation, quotation, date, and source. Confirm that the strongest
counterevidence is visible and that uncertainty is expressed consistently. Separate comments,
private hypotheses, and sensitive context from any version intended for a wider audience.
Deliver the memo in the user's chosen document or system. Treat internal review, investment
committee circulation, portfolio or founder sharing, CRM changes, and external messages as separate
actions with their own audience, destination, and permission.
After feedback, offer to preserve the accepted structure, evidence bar, voice, definitions, and
review behavior as a custom or team skill. A living memo may update when new approved diligence
arrives, but it should flag material changes for review rather than silently rewriting the record.
