Let me share a secret that every founder learns the hard way: investors don’t read your updates.
I know, I know. You spent 45 minutes crafting the perfect email. You included every metric, every win, every challenge. You hit send with hope in your heart.
And then… crickets. Maybe one reply from your lead investor. Maybe.
After our Series A, I had 23 investors to update monthly. I was sending 2,000-word emails that took hours to write. Open rates? About 40%. Response rates? Maybe 15%.
Something had to change.
The Experiment
My co-founder Sarah suggested we try something radical: What if the entire update was visual?
Instead of paragraphs about MRR growth, show a chart. Instead of explaining churn improvements, show the trend line. Instead of describing our runway, show a simple bar.
We found ChartPuppy and ran a three-month experiment.
The New Format
Our monthly investor update went from this:
“Revenue grew 23% month-over-month, reaching $127,000 in MRR. This represents a significant acceleration from last month’s 18% growth. Our enterprise segment particularly outperformed, with three new logos including…”
To this:
📈 One chart showing MRR with a clear growth arrow 💰 One chart showing runway in months 👥 One chart showing team growth vs. plan 🎯 Three bullet points for the biggest wins 🆘 One ask where investors can help
Total email length: Under 300 words. Total visual impact: Massive.
The Results After 3 Months
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Open rate | 41% | 89% |
| Response rate | 15% | 67% |
| Investor intros received | 2/month | 8/month |
| Time to create update | 3 hours | 25 minutes |
That 340% increase in engagement? It translated directly to warm intros, follow-on interest, and—most importantly—investors who actually knew what was happening with their investment.
Why Visual Updates Work
- Investors are busy — They’re scanning 50+ portfolio updates per month
- Charts tell stories instantly — Trend direction is visible in milliseconds
- Consistency builds trust — Same format every month = easy to compare
- Mobile-friendly — Most investors read updates on their phone between meetings
My ChartPuppy Setup
I created four template charts that auto-populate from our Stripe and internal metrics:
- MRR Waterfall — New, expansion, churn, net
- Runway Countdown — Simple months remaining
- North Star Metric — Active users trend
- Hiring Progress — Plan vs. actual by department
Every month, I update one Google Sheet. ChartPuppy generates the charts. I paste them into our update. Done.
The Investor Feedback
Here’s an actual reply from one of our board members:
“Marcus, I have to tell you—your updates are the only ones I actually look forward to. I can understand your business health in 10 seconds. More founders should do this.”
Another investor started sharing our format with their other portfolio companies. That’s the best validation I could ask for.
Pro Tips for Founders
- Use the same color scheme — Train your investors’ eyes to read your charts instantly
- Always show trend lines — A single data point means nothing; show the trajectory
- Keep the “ask” visual too — ChartPuppy’s simple icons work great for specific requests
- Schedule chart generation — Set it to pull data on the 28th so you’re ready on the 1st
The Unexpected Side Effect
Here’s what I didn’t expect: creating these visual updates made me a better operator.
When you have to distill your business to four charts, you get clarity on what actually matters. The weekly vanity metrics fell away. We focused on what moved the needle.
Our board meetings got shorter too. Everyone walks in already understanding our position. We spend time on strategy, not status.
Try It This Month
If you’re a founder reading this, I challenge you: Make your next investor update 80% visual.
Use ChartPuppy or whatever tool works for you. But start treating your updates like a dashboard, not an essay.
Your investors will thank you. Your response rates will prove it.
Marcus Thompson is the CEO of DataPulse, a B2B analytics platform that raised $12M Series A in 2024. He writes about startup operations at marcusthompson.substack.com and still gets excited when investors reply to his updates.