generating-investor-updates

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 login
• slack → SLACK_TOKEN (or SLACK_USER_TOKEN), scopes channels:read,channels:history
• granola → 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:

• Default — ask the founder (works for everyone): request last month's headline figures (cash, burn, runway, MRR/revenue, customer count), or have them paste last month's update. No setup, no dependency. This is the fallback whenever the options below aren't configured.
• If the update lives in Kopi: Kopi:set_active_brand → Kopi:view_email the most recent investor update → read its numbers and keep its URL as the layout reference.
• If it's sent as a Klaviyo campaign (optional, needs KLAVIYO_API_KEY):

  KLAVIYO_API_KEY=<key> python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generating-investor-updates/scripts/prior_update.py" <MONTH>
  

  Returns {name, send_time, klaviyo_url, html} for the most recent campaign whose name contains "investor update", sent before <MONTH> (skips clones/tests). {"status":"none"} → fall back to asking the founder. Read the metrics from the html body; reuse the html as the layout reference.

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).