Investor Update Benchmarks
Insights from 3.5+ Million Visible-Powered Investor Updates
Key Takeaways
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Monthly is the dominant investor update cadence, accounting for 65% of structured sends. Quarterly senders are in the minority and leave two months of relationship continuity on the table between each update.
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Highlights is the most used content block in investor updates. Lowlights is the least used. The gap reflects a consistent pattern: founders share the wins and compress or skip the hard stuff, which is exactly backwards from what builds investor trust.
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Sending investor updates consistently is associated with increased investor engagement for 78% of founders who do it. Zero report a decrease. Ad hoc senders, by contrast, universally report flat engagement. The cadence matters more than any single update.
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Investor updates sent to lists that include prospective investors have a 14-point lower open rate than those sent to current investors only. Mixing relationship stages in one send degrades the communication for everyone on it.
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Smaller, more targeted recipient lists consistently outperform larger ones across every band in the data. Updates going to under 15 recipients see open rates of 83% or higher. Updates going to 50 or more drop to 69%.
Introduction
Founder communication is key to investor relations. What does the data actually show?
Most investor update advice is opinion dressed up as best practice. "Keep it short." "Always include metrics." "Send on the first of the month." It circulates because it sounds reasonable, not because anyone checked. This report checked.
We analyzed 3.5M+ investor updates sent through Visible to understand what founders are actually doing, not what they say they do or what experts recommend. The data covers three questions:
What founders are including in their updates, from content blocks to charts to the sections they consistently skip.
How often they are sending, including cadence patterns, send day behavior, and how updates cluster across the calendar month.
Who is on the receiving end, including how list composition and recipient count affect engagement, and what the data shows about sending updates to prospective investors.
Some findings confirm conventional wisdom. A lot do not. All of them are benchmarks you can use to evaluate your own practice today.
By the Numbers
Based on data from 3.5M+ investor updates sent through Visible.
What Are Founders Including in Their Investor Updates?
Based on data from millions of investor updates sent through Visible.
What content should every investor update include?
Content blocks by share of total usage:
The problem is investors already know things are not going perfectly.
"Our highest performing companies are also the best communicators. People are pretty good at sending updates when things are going really well. But as soon as things kind of go sideways or go flat, all of a sudden updates stop coming."
BRETT BOHL, MANAGING PARTNER AT BREAD & BUTTER VENTURES
The most used block is highlights
Lowlights are last. The gap makes sense once you think about founder psychology. Updates go out more often when there is good news. And even when they go out on schedule, the hard stuff gets compressed or cut.
Lowlights are not a liability. Skipping them is.
Asks are underused
An update without a specific ask is a missed opportunity. The people reading your update are the most primed they will ever be to help. They just read your progress report.
If you don't ask, they won't volunteer it.
How many charts should an investor update include?
Most commonly tracked metrics in Visible
of all Visible Updates include an image
median charts per update
Charts is the median in updates
Among investor updates that include charts, the median includes four charts, with most falling between two to six. Founders who chart their progress are not adding a token visual and moving on. They are building a real data layer into the update.
Charts vs. images
Half of all Visible updates include an image. While images are a great way to spruce up your update, including comparable metrics from update to update is a great way to build trust with your investors. Prioritize charts over one-off images.
The benchmark
Every investor update should have a Lowlights section and a specific Ask. When it comes to visuals, prioritize charts over images and aim for four if you have the data to support them.
How Often Are Founders Sending Updates?
Based on data from millions of investor updates sent through Visible.
What is the most common investor update cadence?
What is the most common investor update cadence?
Monthly is the dominant cadence by a wide margin
Quarterly senders are in the minority. It is worth noting that a meaningful portion of founders are sending updates with metric or milestone-led subject lines rather than time-based ones, like "6x user expansion, $500M+ projects on platform," rather than "April 2026 Investor Update."
That is arguably a more sophisticated approach.
"Writing crisp, effective monthly updates was one of the best ways to showcase our company's growth and development."
JESSICA LONG, CO-FOUNDER OF MAAD
When during the month should you send an investor update?
Send volume by day of month
The 1st is the single most popular send date. Volume drops steadily from there. Founders are treating the investor update as a month-open ritual more than a mid-cycle communication.
of updates go out in the first seven days of the month
go out after the 25th, the month-close tail
This pattern reflects a broader dynamic: updates drafted at the end of one month, sent at the start of the next. It's a natural habit, but it means early senders compete with each other for inbox attention on the same days.
What day of the week should you send an investor update?
Send volume by day of week
Monday is the most popular send day for investor updates at 20% of total sends. Friday is close behind at 19%. Weekends account for 12%.
Highest open rate
Friday and Wednesday produce the highest median open rates of any day of the week. Monday, despite being the most popular send day, underperforms both.
Inbox competition
The likely reason is inbox competition. Investors face heavier Monday email volume, and individual updates get buried. A Friday send lands in a quieter window.
Friday send
The difference isn't dramatic enough to reorganize your whole workflow. But if you're already flexible on timing, Friday is the better default.
What time of day should you send an investor update?
Send volume by hour of the day (24h)
Send volume peaks between 2pm and 5pm.
Volume climbs steadily from a morning low, crests at 3pm, and remains elevated through the evening before dropping off after midnight.
Between 8pm and midnight
A meaningful volume of updates goes out during that time, whether that's founders in different time zones, or simply when they find time to hit send.
Early afternoon
The early afternoon peak aligns with engagement expectations: investors are through their morning inbox by 1pm, and afternoon sends land before the end-of-day cleanup window.
Overnight sends
Sends that go out after 9pm are more likely to sit overnight and compete with the next morning's inbox.
Peak send hour
of sends go out 8pm-midnight
The benchmark
Monthly is the standard. Quarterly senders leave two months of continuity on the table.
If you have flexibility on timing, Friday between 1pm and 4pm is the sweet spot, highest open-rate day, quietest inbox window.
Monday at 9am, the most intuitive send time, is also the most competitive.
Who are Founders Sending Investor Updates to?
Based on data from millions of investor updates sent through Visible.
Who should be on your investor update list?
Update open rates by audience
Contact list composition and median open rates by list type.
Highest open rates
The board has the highest open rate of any list type. The stakes are higher, the relationship is tighter, and every recipient has a direct reason to read. That is the model for a well-targeted investor update list.
Lowest open rates
Prospective investors open at 64%, the lowest of any group. They haven't committed capital, so the stakes are lower for them. If you're sending to prospects, they belong on a separate list with a tailored update.
Median open rates
Current investors, board, and team all cluster around 77-78% open rates, as people with skin in the game read the update. Everyone else is a step below that threshold.
How many recipients should an investor update have?
Open rate by number of recipients
1 - 5
Recipients
6 - 15
Recipients
16 - 30
Recipients
31 - 50
Recipients
50 +
Recipients
Smaller, more targeted lists perform better
The relationship is linear across every recipient band in the data. Every band down in list size is a band up in open rate.
The benchmark
Prune your investor list at least once a year. If you're sending to prospective investors, they belong on a separate list with a separate update.
If your list is over 50 recipients and you haven't audited it recently, start there before changing anything else.
How are Investors Reacting to Updates?
Reactions are a signal. No reaction is a signal too.
Reaction type breakdown
Distribution
The distribution is nearly flat across all five types. Thumbs up leads, but only just. The reaction investors use least is Open Mouth, which represents surprise. Investors who receive consistent updates are not caught off guard by what they read. That predictability is the point.
The benchmark
Consistent reactions mean your investors are engaged. No reactions over multiple updates is a list quality or relevance problem, not a writing problem.
What are the Most Popular Investor Update Templates?
Based on data from millions of investor updates sent through Visible.
What is the best investor update template?
Most-used templates on Visible
Template usage by share of structured updates
Update ecosystem
The most used investor update templates on Visible come from the ecosystems where investor communication norms are most established. Accelerator-backed templates dominate because they reflect a shared language between founders and investors who went through the same program.
Dominate templates
Accelerator-backed templates dominate because they reflect a shared grammar between founders and investors who went through the same program.
Why use templates
A template does not constrain what you say. It removes the decision fatigue of figuring out how to say it every single month.
What does each investor update template include?
Y Combinator Investor Update
The most used template on Visible. Structured around three core questions: what is going well, what is not going well, and what do you need. Emphasizes metrics, morale, and a specific ask. Reflects YC's belief that brevity and honesty are more valuable than polish.
The Visible Standard Investor Update Template
Built around the content blocks that appear most frequently in high-performing updates on the platform. Includes dedicated sections for Highlights, KPIs, Lowlights, and Asks. Designed for monthly cadence at seed and Series A stage.
500 Global Investor Update Template
Popular among 500 Global portfolio companies. Structured around traction metrics and team updates. Heavier on quantitative reporting than narrative commentary.
Antler Monthly Investor Update Template
Designed for pre-revenue and early traction stage companies. Optimized for monthly cadence when there are not yet consistent financial metrics to report. Emphasizes momentum signals over hard numbers.
Techstars Minimum Viable Update
The lowest-friction template in the set. Built for founders who are time-constrained or sending their first investor update. Covers the essentials without requiring a full reporting infrastructure.
Do you need a template to send a good investor update?
Q. Do you need a template?
No. But the data suggests founders who use a structured format send more consistently than those who start from scratch each time. The activation energy of sending drops significantly when you are filling in sections rather than facing a blank page. For most founders, consistency matters more than format.
The benchmark
If you are not using a template, start with one of the five above. If you are already sending consistently, the template matters less than the Lowlights section and the Ask, which most founders skip regardless of what format they use.
What Founders Say
We surveyed founders to understand the why behind investor updates and the importance of them for their relationships and business.
Do investor updates actually work?
Importance of Investor Updates
Update ecosystem
What benefits are founders actually seeing?
% of founders selecting each benefit
The discipline of the update bleeds into the discipline of the business.
Sending regular updates
The most-selected benefit is one founders rarely talk about publicly: 73% say sending regular updates improved their own execution, more than the 60% who cited stronger investor relationships.
Updates = accountability
The act of writing the update creates accountability. You notice the metrics you have been avoiding. You either explain the gap before it goes out, or you fix it. The discipline of the update bleeds into the discipline of the business.
“Visible has streamlined my communication with investors, stakeholders, and employees. By having centralized dashboards and connectivity, I save hours of time every month.”
TRACI KEEN
How Are Founders Using AI in Investor Updates
We surveyed founders to understand the why behind investor updates and the importance of them for their relationships and business.
Are founders using AI for investor updates?
% of founders selecting each AI use case
Using AI somewhere in their update process
Have not used AI in their process
As AI takes over the mechanical parts of writing an investor update, the human parts like the candor, the ask, and the lowlights become the signal investors trust most.
MIKE PREUSS | CEO OF VISIBLE.VC
AI is table stakes now
The question is no longer whether founders are using AI. It's whether investors can tell and whether that matters.
What are founders using AI for?
Summarizing metrics into narrative
Best UseFeed raw numbers in, get a narrative summary out. Meaningful time save, and the output is less voice-dependent than a full draft.
Full draft writing
Use with CareUsed by 73% of founders. Works for structure and pace, but the Lowlights and Ask require founder input, not AI defaults.
Generating commentary or insights
High RiskAI-generated strategic observations are the easiest thing for an investor to spot and the part of the update where founder voice matters most.
“Visible automatically ports in the numbers I need for my charts each month so all I have to do is replicate the previous month's email and then go to town. I can get a very thoughtful email out in 1 hour or less.”
LAUREL HESS | CEO OF HAMPR
The risk of AI-drafted updates
An update structured for human readers is also structured for AI readers. Consistent sections and honest signal compound in value over time for your investors and for the models they're starting to use.
What does AI mean for the investor update going forward?
“I believe investor reports will be part of the 'company LLM wiki' since they are structured and capture progress of the company in a specific month, so they are not only helpful for fundraising but also internally for communication.”
TOBIAS PFUETZE - SECURELEND
The highest level use
High LevelIs summarizing metrics into narrative, as it saves time without sacrificing voice. This is where AI earns its place in the update workflow.
The highest risk use
High RiskIs letting AI write the Lowlights or the Ask. These are exactly the sections where generic language is most costly and most detectable.
If investor updates become a structured data layer that feeds both human and AI readers, the case for consistent format and section discipline gets stronger. An update that is machine-readable as well as human-readable compounds in value over time.
The risk of AI-drafted updates is the same as the risk of any templated communication: the parts that matter most, the Lowlight, the honest Ask, the candid read on what is not working, are the parts most likely to get smoothed out by a model optimizing for readability. Investors are good at detecting the difference between a founder who is transparent and a founder whose update sounds transparent.
The benchmark
If you are not using AI in your investor update process, you are now in a small minority. The highest-leverage use is summarizing metrics into narrative, it saves time without sacrificing voice. The highest-risk use is letting AI write the Lowlights or the Ask, where generic language is most costly.
How Should Founders Use Investor Updates During a Fundraise?
Based on data from 3.5M+ investor updates sent through Visible, and conversations with investors and founders on the Visible podcast.
Do investor updates help you raise your next round?
Most founders think of investor updates as a tool for managing current investors. The more valuable use is as pre-marketing for future ones.
“If I get good updates and I can see a company is doubling revenue every six months, every time I'm talking to my Series A friends and they ask what company they should be looking at, I'm telling them about that founder. If I never get an update and never hear from you, you can still raise a Series A eventually. It's just going to be harder. There's no pre-marketing. There's nobody building excitement about you to downstream investors.”
LEO POLOVETS | PARTNER AT SUSA VENTURES
How an investor update travels
The update you send your current investors does not stay with your current investors. It travels. That is either working for you or it is not.
Should you send investor updates to prospective investors?
Open rate by list size
1 - 5
Recipients
6 - 15
Recipients
16 - 30
Recipients
31 - 50
Recipients
50+
Recipients
Prospective investors on a targeted list engage. Those on a broadcast list do not. Under 15 recipients sees 73%+ open rates. Over 50 drops to 65%.
When to start sending to prospects
A prospect who has followed your updates for 6 months is a very different conversation than a cold intro.
“Hopefully you have lists built and you've been sending maybe quarterly updates to people that were genuinely interested and said keep me posted. Because then when you are ready to hit the trigger of we're raising, those people are primed. They kind of know a lot about you.”
JENNY FIELDING | MANAGING DIRECTOR AT EVERYWHERE VENTURES
Should you send investor updates while actively fundraising?
Keeping your current cap table and potential investors informed during a raise is not just good practice, it is a capital strategy. Investors who have been receiving consistent updates are far more likely to participate in a bridge or extension if you need one. Multiple months of updates and data help potential investors build conviction faster.
The weekly fundraising check-in
The update does two things at once: demonstrating momentum and demonstrating that you communicate well. Both matter to an investor still deciding.
“Every week, if you haven't heard from a fund, ping them. Give them a quick update. Here's what happened last week, here's what went well, here's what didn't. Send a quick business update and that works really well to continue to drive engagement and it shows that you're a great communicator.”
BRETT BROHL | MANAGING PARTNER AT BREAD & BUTTER VENTURES
The benchmark
Start sending updates to genuinely interested prospects at least two to three months before you plan to raise. Keep them on a separate list from your current investors and keep that list under 15 people. When you open the round, they should already know your story.
Investor Update Benchmarks Table
Based on data from 3.5M+ investor updates sent through Visible.