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Monthly Board and Investor Update Memo

Write a tight monthly board or investor update: numbers, narrative, misses, cash, asks, and risks. No vanity charts and no invented metrics.

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August 24, 2026

Prompt

Act as a founder who writes board memos that get read on a phone. Lead with numbers, then the story, then the ask. Separate fact from judgment. Do not invent metrics, customers, or runway.

Inputs:
- Company: [Name, one-line]
- Period: [Month and year]
- Audience: [Board / angels / lead investor]
- Headline numbers: [ARR or revenue, MoM, cash, runway, burn, headcount]
- Wins: [Shipped, closed, hired]
- Misses: [Pipeline, product, hiring, churn]
- Pipeline and customers: [Named only if real]
- Product: [Shipped and next]
- Team: [Hires, opens, regrets]
- Cash and fundraising: [Bank, runway, round status]
- Asks: [Intros, decisions, hiring help]
- Tone: [Direct / calm / urgent]

Generate:
1. Subject line and 4-bullet snapshot a busy director can screenshot.
2. Narrative: 10-14 sentences. What actually changed this month. One thing that surprised you. One thing you were wrong about.
3. Metrics table: Only numbers from Inputs. Columns: metric, this period, prior, notes. If a number is missing, "unknown, need [source]." No fake NPS, TAM, or "coverage 3x" unless provided.
4. Wins: 3-6, each with a so-what.
5. Misses and recovery: 3-6. Cause, owner, date of the next proof point. No blame theater.
6. Product and GTM: What shipped. What is next. One customer quote only if it was in Inputs, otherwise skip quotes.
7. Team: Hires, open seats, one people risk if real.
8. Cash: Months of runway math using only given burn and cash. Fundraising status in one paragraph. No invented term sheets.
9. Risks: Table of 4-6: risk, likelihood (judgment), impact, mitigation, trigger to email the board early.
10. Asks: Numbered, specific, easy to forward. Each ask has a one-line blurb the investor can paste.
11. Appendix plan: 3 items you will put in a data room or follow-up, not in the email.

Constraints:
- No em dashes. No "we are excited to share." No hockey-stick adjectives.
- Do not invent logos, quotes, or pipeline dollars.
- If cash or burn is missing, refuse to state runway. Write "cannot compute."
- Length: the body should be readable in 4 minutes. Short sentences.
- Write for a director who remembers last month and will notice a restated number.

Instructions

Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

Examples

Example Input

Company: Harborline, workflow tool for regional banks
Period: July 2026
Audience: Board plus two angels who sit in
Headline numbers: ARR $3.40M (was $3.21M in June, +6% MoM), cash $2.52M, net burn $180k, headcount 24 (was 23)
Wins: closed First Prairie Bank ($84k ARR, first >$10B assets logo), shipped guided setup v1, hired a CS lead (Maya Chen, started Jul 14)
Misses: two senior engineer offers declined (comp + remote policy), NRR slipped 111% -> 109% on one mid-market downgrade, TTFV still 21 days vs 14-day goal
Pipeline and customers: $1.1M qualified pipeline, 2 late-stage banks, First Prairie is referenceable if we ask in writing. No other names to share.
Product: guided setup v1 live for new logos; next is EIN collection + audit log in August
Team: CS lead in; still open 2 senior engineers and 1 AE; no regrets this month
Cash and fundraising: $2.52M cash, no round in market, not raising in Q3
Asks: intros to 2 VP Engineering candidates who have built onboarding for regulated buyers; a board vote in September on whether to open a remote-first eng band; intro to a credit-union network we can pitch in Q4
Tone: Direct

Example Output

Subject: Harborline July 2026: $3.40M ARR (+6%), first >$10B logo, two eng offers died

Snapshot:
- ARR $3.40M vs $3.21M in June (+6% MoM).
- Cash $2.52M, net burn $180k, ~14 months runway if burn holds.
- Closed First Prairie Bank, $84k ARR, first logo above $10B assets.
- Miss: two senior eng offers declined; TTFV 21 days vs 14-day goal; NRR 111% -> 109%.

2. Narrative
July was a commercial win and a hiring miss. First Prairie is the enterprise wedge we said we needed, $84k ARR, referenceable if we ask in writing. Guided setup v1 shipped. New logos still take 21 days to first value, not 14. I was wrong that a CS lead plus a setup flow would move TTFV in the same month; Maya started Jul 14 and the sample is too small. NRR slipped two points on one mid-market downgrade, not a broad revolt. Two senior engineer offers died on comp and remote policy. That is the constraint under the product plan. We are not raising in Q3. The September vote on a remote-first eng band is the decision that unlocks the missed hires.

3. Metrics
ARR $3.40M / $3.21M / +6% MoM. Cash $2.52M. Net burn $180k. Headcount 24 / 23. NRR 109% / 111% / one downgrade. TTFV 21 days / goal 14. Qualified pipeline $1.1M. NPS: unknown, need CS. Coverage multiple: unknown, need CRM export.

4. Wins
First Prairie, $84k ARR: proves a >$10B bank will pay. Guided setup v1: the TTFV lever we can measure in August. CS lead started: onboarding tickets now have an owner.

5. Misses and recovery
Two senior eng offers declined. Cause: band + office policy. Owner: CEO. Next proof: September remote-band vote and a rewritten offer. NRR 109%. Cause: one downgrade. Owner: Maya. Next proof: August expansion pipeline, not a pep talk. TTFV 21 days. Owner: Product. Next proof: August cohort on guided setup.

6. Product and GTM
Shipped: guided setup v1 for new logos. Next: EIN collection and audit log in August. GTM: $1.1M qualified, two late-stage banks, no other names. No customer quote in Inputs, so none here.

7. Team
Maya Chen, CS lead, Jul 14. Open: 2 senior engineers, 1 AE. No regrets this month. People risk: eng capacity is the silent kill on TTFV.

8. Cash
$2.52M / $180k = 14 months if burn stays flat. No round in market. Not raising in Q3. Do not read this memo as a pre-raise warm-up.

9. Risks
Hiring stall | high | product dates slip | September policy vote | email if both eng seats still open Oct 1. NRR mix | med | one more downgrade | CS save plan on the downgraded account | email if NRR <107%. TTFV stuck | med | guided setup is theater | August cohort | email if median still >20 days. Pipeline concentration | med | two late-stage banks | weekly board-lite note to the lead | email if both slip a quarter.

10. Asks
1. Intros to two VP Engineering candidates who have shipped onboarding for regulated buyers. Blurb: Harborline, $3.4M ARR, banks, need a hiring-side view and possibly a future VP Eng.
2. September vote: open a remote-first eng band. Blurb: two declined offers cited remote policy; we want a yes/no, not a vibe.
3. Intro to a credit-union network for a Q4 pitch. Blurb: we closed a >$10B bank; we want a parallel channel, not more regional-bank spray.

11. Appendix
June-to-July ARR bridge. First Prairie deal desk note. Offer-comp grid vs the two declined engineers.

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