A Founder’s Guide to Bessemer Investment Memos: Insights, Examples, and Templates
Introduction to Investment Memos
When you’re raising venture capital, it’s helpful to understand how investors make decisions behind closed doors. A critical part of that process is the investment memo. An investment memo distills a company’s story, financials, market opportunity, and risks into a clear narrative. It’s also the document an investor uses when preparing an investment committee memo—the summary they present internally to secure approval for a deal.
For founders, understanding this format offers a unique advantage. By studying how investors frame opportunities, you can better anticipate the questions, concerns, and priorities that drive funding decisions. A well-prepared founder can even shape how their business will appear in an investor’s internal memo, increasing the chances of moving forward in the investment process.
The Legacy of Bessemer Investment Memos
One of the most studied collections of memos comes from bessemer investment memos, which showcase the internal thinking behind some of the most notable startup deals. Founders often search for a bessemer investment memos download or a bessemer investment memos pdf because these documents provide rare transparency into how firms evaluate early opportunities.
The memos originally emerged from bessemer investment partners and have since become a resource for anyone preparing to fundraise. Perhaps the most widely circulated is the bessemer shopify memo, which breaks down the rationale behind backing a now-global commerce platform. Reading through such a document allows founders to see how a big idea was framed at an early stage, long before it was an established success.
By reviewing these memos, founders can learn how to present their own stories in ways that resonate with potential investors. For example, many memos highlight not just financial projections but also the founding team’s vision, cultural alignment, and ability to execute. These softer elements, often underestimated by first-time founders, play a major role in winning investor conviction.
Learning from Famous Investment Memos
Bessemer isn’t the only source of useful examples. Many founders also reference the sequoia investment memo to understand how another prominent firm approaches evaluation. Sequoia’s style is often analytical and structured, but it also emphasizes big-picture storytelling, showing how a company might dominate a market category.
Similarly, accelerators have developed their own frameworks. Some founders look to the yc investment memo or a yc investment memo template for guidance. These tend to be more concise and founder-friendly, reflecting the accelerator’s fast-paced environment. By comparing different sources, founders gain perspective on how memo styles shift depending on the firm’s investment philosophy.
What is consistent across all examples is the focus on clarity, honesty, and evidence. Strong memos don’t gloss over risks. Instead, they present risks transparently while also explaining why the potential upside justifies them. This is a valuable lesson for founders: being upfront about challenges builds credibility.
Investment Memo Examples and Templates
As a founder, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Studying investment memo examples can help you see what goes into a strong case for funding. Most memos cover core elements such as the problem, the proposed solution, the market size, current traction, competitive dynamics, financial performance, and potential risks.
If you’re preparing your own materials, an investment memo template can be a great starting point. You’ll find formats such as an investment memo template pdf or even more specific versions like an investment memo template venture capital document. For early-stage teams, a startup investment memo template is especially useful, since it often accounts for the unique challenges of pre-seed or seed companies.
Founders also look for examples like a vc investment memo pdf or vc investment memo template to better understand how institutional investors structure their analysis. Using these resources as a guide ensures you’re speaking the same language when presenting your business. Instead of trying to guess what an investor values, you can work backward from existing frameworks to highlight the metrics and insights that matter most.
For instance, if a memo example emphasizes customer acquisition cost and lifetime value, you’ll know to gather your own data on these metrics ahead of time. If it highlights product-market fit through customer testimonials or retention data, you can proactively include similar evidence in your deck or update.
Investment Memorandum Templates and Samples
It’s worth noting the distinction between an investment memo and an investment memorandum. While a memo is typically internal, an investment memorandum is often shared externally with potential partners or stakeholders. For example, private equity teams may use an investment memorandum sample pdf or an investment memorandum template to communicate opportunities with their investors.
Founders occasionally come across terms like private equity investment memo pdf when researching. Even if you’re not raising from private equity today, studying these materials can still sharpen your understanding of how professional investors assess risk and return.
Memoranda often include more detailed financials, risk disclosures, and compliance-focused sections than venture memos. By reviewing these, founders gain exposure to the kind of rigor that may eventually be expected as their company matures and attracts later-stage capital. Understanding this distinction early makes you better prepared for the evolving expectations of the capital markets.
How Founders Can Apply These Lessons
The value of these documents isn’t limited to investors. As a founder, you can use these examples to refine your own fundraising strategy. Consider using a startup investment memo template or adapting a yc investment memo template to outline your pitch before sharing it with investors. Doing so forces you to clarify your narrative, tighten your data points, and highlight the most important metrics.
One way to start is by drafting your own “internal memo” about your company. Pretend you’re the investor writing about your business. Ask yourself: what would I emphasize as strengths, and what risks would I need to justify? This exercise helps you see your company from an external perspective and strengthens your fundraising materials.
Remember that every investor you speak to will eventually draft their own investment committee memo about your business. By anticipating this step, you can make their job easier and improve your chances of a positive outcome. For example, if you know they will need to present financial projections, you can provide well-structured and realistic models. If you know they will discuss competitive dynamics, you can proactively map out your differentiation.
Founders who take this approach shift from being passive participants in the fundraising process to actively shaping how their business will be perceived inside investment firms.
Conclusion: Building Your Own Investment Memo
Studying bessemer investment memos gives founders a rare look at how investors think. Whether you’re reviewing a bessemer investment memos pdf or experimenting with a vc investment memo template, the key takeaway is the same: clarity and structure matter.
When you apply these lessons, you’re not only preparing better fundraising materials—you’re also learning to see your company through the lens of an investor. That perspective can be the difference between a lukewarm meeting and a deal that moves forward.
To recap, founders should study real-world memos to understand what investors prioritize, use templates as a foundation to create their own documents, and practice writing as if they were the investor themselves. The more you align with the way decision-makers think, the more compelling your fundraising story will become.
In the end, investment memos are more than just paperwork. They are a window into the decision-making process of investors and a roadmap for how to present your own business. By learning from the best, applying templates, and practicing transparency, you’ll be better prepared for your next raise—and for the long journey of building a venture-backed company.
