Who it is for, and how long it takes
| Who it is for | How long | What you need | What you end with |
|---|
| Founders and finance heads who report to investors, a board or a bank each month or quarter. | One hour on the day, plus two minutes each Friday to keep the running list. | Your last update, this month's key numbers, and a running list of wins, misses and decisions. | A short update sent on time, with clear asks, in a format you can repeat next month. |
Key takeaways
- The hour is short because the month did the work. Keep a running list every Friday.
- Lead with what changed, including misses. Readers trust updates that report bad news early.
- End with two or three specific asks, each with a name or a number.
Updates slip because writing one from memory takes a full day, so it waits for a free day that never comes. Investors and lenders read regularity as a signal. A short update on the same date every month says more about how a company is run than a long one that arrives late. For a manufacturer like Vaultex, the reader might be a bank that funds working capital.
Worked example. The examples use Vaultex, a safety-footwear manufacturer in Greater Noida and GeniOS's first design partner. The buyers, orders and dates are for illustration only.
PrepBefore you start
Set these up once, and every month gets easier.
- Last month's update, open, so you keep the same format and the same numbers.
- A fixed list of five to seven numbers in a fixed order, with the source of each.
- The running list doc, with three lines for each Friday: moved, slipped, decided.
- A fixed send date, such as the fifth of each month, with the hour blocked in your calendar.
- The reader list: investors, board members or the bank, and anything each one asked for last time.
- One person to check the numbers, usually finance.
- A place to log replies and offers of help, each with an owner and a date.
StepsThe steps
60 min · 6 steps
- Keep a running list through the month
Every Friday, add three lines to one doc: what moved, what slipped and what you decided. Two minutes is enough. With GeniOS, the week's closed and open intelligence shows what moved and what is still waiting, so there is less to recall.
- Pull the numbers first: 10 minutes
Use the same five to seven numbers every month, in the same order, such as revenue, cash, margin, pipeline and one operating number. Copy them now and analyse later. For a bank, add receivables and the order book. At Vaultex, the Bata request for 12,000 pairs, about $144,000, sits in the order book as pipeline until it is signed.
- Write the story in three parts: 20 minutes
Write what went well, what did not and what you learned, in short paragraphs drawn from the running list. Put the biggest miss near the top, with what you are doing about it. At Vaultex, that might be the steel toe-cap supplier's 8% price rise and the plan to protect margin.
- Write the asks: 10 minutes
End with two or three asks a reader can act on: an introduction to a named kind of buyer, advice on a hire, or a change to a credit limit. Vague asks get no answers. Say who you want to meet and why.
- Review once, then cut: 20 minutes
Read it as the reader would, and cut anything that does not change their view of the company. Check every number against its source. At Vaultex, Mayank in finance checks the numbers before it goes.
- Send on a fixed date and log the replies
Send it on the same date each month, such as the fifth. Put every reply and offer of help on the running list with an owner and a date, so an offered introduction does not go cold. GeniOS can carry those follow-ups as intelligence, and a Reply Drafter can draft the thank-you notes for you to approve.
TemplateCopy this update format
One page. Keep the headings the same every month.
Subject: [Company] update, [month and year]
In one line: [the most important change this month, good or bad].
Numbers: revenue [ ], cash [ ], runway or credit headroom [ ], gross margin [ ], pipeline or order book [ ], one operating number [ ]. Same order as last month.
What went well: [two or three short lines].
What did not: [the biggest miss first, and what you are doing about it].
What we decided: [one or two decisions, and why].
Asks: 1. [a named kind of introduction, and why]. 2. [advice on one specific question]. 3. [anything for the bank, such as a review of a limit].
Next update: [date].
ExampleWorked example: Vaultex writes to its bank
For a manufacturer, the main reader is often the bank that funds working capital.
Through the month. Each Friday adds three lines to the running list. The week's closed and open intelligence makes recall easy: the Bata quote that was sent, the Line 2 clash that was settled, the supplier price rise still under discussion.
Numbers, 10 minutes. Mayank pulls revenue, cash, receivables, margin and the order book. The Bata request for 12,000 pairs, about $144,000, sits in the order book as pipeline until it is signed.
Story, 20 minutes. The biggest miss goes near the top: the steel toe-cap supplier raised prices by 8%, which squeezes margin on open orders. The plan follows: new quotes priced at the new cost, and a second supplier asked for samples. The win: the Reebok samples are on schedule for 15 November.
Asks, 10 minutes. A review of the working-capital limit if Bata signs with 60-day payment terms, since longer terms tie up cash for longer. The ask has a number and a reason.
Review, 20 minutes. Mayank checks each number against its source, and the update goes out on the fifth. The bank replies asking for the date of the Adidas audit. That reply goes onto the running list with Mayank as owner.
MistakesCommon mistakes
Five reasons updates take a day, arrive late or get no replies.
- Writing from memory on the day. That is why updates take a full day. Keep the Friday lines.
- Changing the numbers each month. Readers lose the trend. Keep the same ones in the same order.
- Burying the bad news. Readers find it anyway and then doubt the rest. Put the biggest miss near the top.
- Vague asks. "Any introductions welcome" gets none. Name the kind of person and why.
- Letting offers of help go cold. Log every reply with an owner and a date.
What good looks like after
- The update goes out on the same date every month, written in about an hour.
- Readers see the same numbers in the same order, so trends are easy to follow.
- Misses reach readers in the update, before they hear them elsewhere.
- Asks are specific, and every reply is followed up with an owner and a date.
- Writing the update no longer blocks a day of your calendar.
- Your investors or bank start replying with help, because they know what you need.
If the hour keeps stretching, the running list is too thin. Spend a little more time on Fridays and less on the day.
How to know it worked
Check these each month, and look at the trend over a quarter. The weekly no-dashboard Monday fills the running list, and your ICP gives you two lines worth repeating. For the founder's side of this, read AI for founders and AI chief of staff, and see the founder morning brief.
| What to measure | How to check it | A good sign |
|---|
| Sent on the fixed date | Check your sent folder each month | Every month, bad months included |
| Time to write | Time the hour | About an hour, shrinking as the running list fills |
| Replies with help | Count replies that offer an introduction, advice or a decision | Rising over a quarter |
| Offers followed up | Check each offer has an owner and a date | All of them |
| Same numbers, same order | Compare with last month | No change without a note |