| name | generating-investor-updates |
| description | Generates a concise monthly investor update for a startup. Compiles the month from the founder's own tools (GitHub PRs, Slack activity, or custom adapters), distills it to a headline-only brief, and uses Kopi to turn that brief into an on-brand HTML email template you can send from any email platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, etc.). Use when the user says "investor update", "monthly update", "draft the investor update", or names a month to recap. |
Generating investor updates
Compile widely → crystallize to a tiny diamond → deliver (draft via Kopi, or hand off as plaintext).
Opinionated about what a good update is (reference/good-update.md); unopinionated about where
the data lives (any adapter under adapters/) and how you send it (Kopi is the recommended default).
Read reference/good-update.md before distilling. To add or debug a data source, read
reference/adapters.md. Paths below use ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}; the skill dir is
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generating-investor-updates.
0. Preflight (first run)
Run the doctor — it reports deps + which sources are live and never hard-fails:
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generating-investor-updates/scripts/preflight.py"
What Kopi does (the payoff): it turns the brief into an on-brand HTML email
template you can send from any email platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, etc.). It's the one hard
requirement — drafting needs a one-time Kopi sign-in. Everything up to the brief works without it;
if the Kopi: tools aren't available, tell the user to connect Kopi once (see INSTALL.md).
1. Inputs
- Month =
$ARGUMENTS (e.g. 2026-05); else default to the previous calendar month.
- Financials — only the founder has these. Prompt once for: cash in bank, monthly burn,
runway (months), revenue (+ SaaS/service split), and any asks. Never invent; if a number
is unknown carry
[confirm] into the draft.
2. Compile (ingest widely)
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generating-investor-updates/scripts/compile.py" <MONTH>
Runs every configured adapter; a source whose credential is missing is skipped and reported,
not failed. Configure sources via env (see INSTALL.md) — none is required:
github → GITHUB_REPO=<owner/repo> + gh auth loginslack → SLACK_TOKEN (or SLACK_USER_TOKEN), scopes channels:read,channels:historygranola → GRANOLA_API_KEY (a grn_ key); optional GRANOLA_DENY_EMAILS /
GRANOLA_DENY_TITLE_KEYWORDS to skip your own personal meetings
Supply secrets however you like — a shell export, a .env, or a secret manager. On macOS with
claude-secrets, one convenient form (substitute your own repo + secret names):
GITHUB_REPO=<owner/repo> claude-secrets run \
--inject GRANOLA_API_KEY=GRANOLA_API_KEY --inject SLACK_TOKEN=SLACK_TOKEN \
-- python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generating-investor-updates/scripts/compile.py" <MONTH>
Output is { sources: {...}, skipped: [...] } — signal = counts/deltas, narrative = raw lines.
3. Prior update (MoM deltas + a design reference)
You need last month's numbers to show month-over-month deltas, and ideally last month's layout as a
reference. Pick the most accessible source that applies — MoM always computes against the most
recent prior update:
4. Distill (the tiny diamond)
Per reference/good-update.md, write a concise headline-only founder-note brief:
a fixed metric row with MoM deltas, 2–3 highlights, an honest lowlight, this-month focus, and
1–3 specific asks. Compute Default Alive/Dead from burn vs revenue — never assume it.
30-second read.
Highlights come from the Granola meeting summaries — that's where the business narrative lives.
Read the granola source's narrative bodies (not the titles) and crystallize the customer /
revenue / product story from them. GitHub and Slack are corroborating evidence only: use them to
confirm a claimed ship actually landed ("did the thing we said we shipped actually ship?"), never as
the headline. PR titles and alert counts are internal fuel, not investor-legible highlights — a
reader (and the founder) will not know what "days_of_cover subscription split" means or care.
Filter for THIS reader. A substantive meeting can still be off-target for investors — an
Anthropic/vendor credit pitch, an IP or hiring negotiation, pure vendor ops. Distill the
story an investor needs and drop the rest, even when it sounds impressive. Biggest ≠ relevant.
5. Deliver
Default (recommended) — draft via Kopi. For each angle the founder wants (a few is plenty), call
Kopi:create_email with the brief; for layout, pass referenceEmailUrl = the prior update (a Kopi
draft URL if they have one), else steer with the prior update's html from step 3 so it keeps the
investor-update look (not a marketing one). Generation is async (~5–10 min); return the draft URLs +
the inbox URL. Kopi renders the brief into an on-brand HTML email sendable from any platform.
Plaintext option (no Kopi). If the founder sends from Gmail/Docs, the step-4 brief is the
deliverable — it's already headline-only. Hand it over as clean markdown/plaintext (metrics row +
short sections) and skip Kopi. Everything up to here works without Kopi.
6. Review & hand off
Verify every number traces to input and that no offer/metric was invented. Subject line must stay
investor-toned — if drafting via Kopi, its auto-subject often drifts to a marketing line (emoji,
"scaling fast"); reset it to a clean {Company} — {Month}: {cash} cash · {runway}mo · {MRR} ({±}% MoM).
When sending, export to the investor list only, never customer/campaign lists.
Guardrails
- Every figure traces to founder input or the compiled digest; mark unknowns
[confirm].
- Same metric schema every month; never silently rename/drop (the top trust-killer).
- Default Alive/Dead is computed, not assumed (see
reference/good-update.md).
