Hey friends 👋

You’ve seen the email before:

Subject: “Huge month!!”

Body: 10,000 users, engagement through the roof, three new features shipped, featured in a newsletter. No revenue. No retention breakdown. No ask. And somehow, you think that’s an investor update.

This week, JDM and Cameron break down what investor updates are actually for — and why the founders sending the flashiest ones are often the ones with the least to show.

A good update isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a signal:

* Here’s the one metric that matters right now;

* Here’s what’s working and what isn’t; and

* Here’s exactly what we need from you.

That’s it.

Do that consistently, and you’re building trust long before anyone writes a check.

Then comes the game! Three realistic scenarios, scored on the conviction scale:

* A SaaS tool drowning in vanity metrics and no ask (a very generous two).

* A dental practice management startup with actual numbers, actual churn honesty, and a specific ask that almost got there (a strong eight).

* A consumer mental health app with 150K downloads, no paying customers, and a premium tier with results too “encouraging” to share yet (another two).

And it’s a conviction sandwich!

But a Keto edition… the good stuff is in the middle.

Frivolous thoughts this week: JDM got a YouTube Music recommendation he didn’t ask for and absolutely needed; and Cameron walked out of a Sacramento record shop with some Cat Stevens vinyl.

Turns out the thread between grunge, riot-grrl, punk, and folk peace anthems is stronger than you’d think.

As always, thanks for listening.

—Cameron and JDM

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

02:15 What is an investor update (and why most are facades)

05:30 What to actually include: the five elements

13:30 Scenario 1

23:15 Scenario 2

33:15 Scenario 3

37:30 Frivolous Thoughts

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zerototraction.substack.com

Do your investor updates secretly suck?