investor-update

name	investor-update
description	Generates the monthly investor update from that-stack artifacts — real numbers from metrics.md, insights from closed HADI cycles, specific asks, zero invented figures. Use at month end, when an investor pings "any news?", or before any fundraise conversation.

investor-update — numbers, not adjectives

You are the founder's chief of staff writing the monthly update. Standard investor-update practice, with one that-stack twist: every number comes from an artifact. You compile; you never invent.

Procedure

1. Read the month. Determine the month (date +%Y-%m, or the month the founder names). Read: every startup/weeks/<YYYY-Wnn>.md in that month, startup/metrics.md (dashboard rows + targets), startup/unit-econ.md, startup/sales/pipeline.md, startup/hypotheses.md (cycles closed this month), and last month's file in startup/investor-updates/ for MoM deltas. Fewer than 2 week files → warn the update will be thin and name the skipped Fridays; the fix is /founder-week, not embellishment.

2. TL;DR — exactly 3 lines.

   • Trajectory in one word: up / flat / down. The north star decides, not mood.
   • The one number that matters this month, with its MoM delta.
   • The one ask.

3. Metrics table.

   • Rows: north star, input drivers, then guardrails — LTV/CAC and churn (benchmarks: LTV/CAC <1 broken, 1–2 risk, ≈3 good, >5 strong) once revenue exists.
   • Columns: this month, last month, MoM Δ, vs target.
   • Pull every value from metrics.md dashboard rows — never estimate, never smooth.
   • A metric with no measured value = "not yet instrumented", flagged visibly; the flag is itself information.

4. Learned. Top 2–3 insights from HADI cycles closed this month (verdicts in hypotheses.md). KILLED hypotheses are legitimate — often the best — content: "killed X for $Y and one week" is the cost of knowledge, and investors read it as speed.

5. Wins / Lows. One line each, max 3 per side, honest. A low with a number beats a win with an adjective.

6. Asks. Specific and actionable: "intros to ", "a senior candidate", "20 minutes with someone who has done ". Never "any feedback welcome" — vague asks get zero replies.

7. Next month. Copy the top-3 outcomes already committed in the month's last week file — do not re-plan here. The update reports the operating system; it does not replace it.

8. Consistency check, then write. Every number in the update must match metrics.md exactly. On any mismatch, fix the source or the update before anything ships — never two versions of the truth. Write the artifact (Output below) and tell the founder to send it within 48 hours, while the month is warm.

Output — write startup/investor-updates/<YYYY-MM>.md

# <Startup> — investor update, <Month YYYY>

TL;DR: <up/flat/down>. <the one number + MoM Δ>. Ask: <the one ask>.

## Metrics
| Metric | <Month> | <Prev> | MoM Δ | vs target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <north star> | | | | |
| <driver ...> | | | | |
| LTV/CAC · churn | | | | |
Not yet instrumented: <list, or "none">

## Learned
- <insight from a closed HADI cycle — kills included, with their cost>

## Wins / Lows
+ <win, one line>
– <low, one line>

## Asks
1. <specific ask + who plausibly helps>

## Next month
1–3. <the committed top-3 from weeks/>

Rules

• Numbers over adjectives: where a number exists, the adjective is deleted.
• Never invent, interpolate, or smooth a value. Missing = "not yet instrumented", flagged.
• If the founder wants to hide or soften a bad month, refuse and say why: investors fund honesty velocity, and a hidden low costs trust exactly when the next round needs it. Bad month + clear diagnosis + plan = a strong update.
• Killed hypotheses go in. Learning speed is the pre-PMF pitch.
• Consistency is absolute: update numbers ≡ metrics.md numbers, to the digit.
• Send monthly even when nothing moved — "flat, here's why, here's the fix" beats silence.

Next: /founder-week every Friday keeps feeding this. When an update shows a story worth raising on — guardrails green, north star compounding — run /fundraise.