Good investor communication is like a management 1-on-1
In addition to a simple dashboard and short commentary on the business, one founder I know sends a monthly email with two quick questions:
In addition to a simple dashboard and short commentary on the business, one founder I know sends a monthly email with two quick questions:
1. How are we doing?
- Exceeding Expectations
- Meeting Expectations
- Not Meeting Expectations
2. What are the biggest risk factors on your mind?
This requires a 5-minute response with honest and candid feedback.
(She also notes that if an investor feels they don’t have enough information to give quality feedback, they should reach out to her with specific questions.)
This pattern of investor communication feels like a 1-on-1 and that makes sense because it serves the same purpose.
Good managers avoid surprises. They make sure people know how they’re performing (generically exceeding expectations, meeting expectations, not meeting expectations). The goal of regular 1-on-1’s is to create an ongoing, open conversation about how people are doing, where they can improve and the resources that are available to support them. This conversation also creates a shared understanding of how their effort will help the company achieve its goals.
I was thinking about this model for 1-on-1’s and I realized that the founders I have the best working relationships with actively seek out this kind of feedback from me. We have an open a dialogue about how they are doing as people/in life in general, what they can be doing better at work and where they might be falling short or have blind spots.
They do this with the recognition that I am not hands on every day. They don’t look for tactics based on my experience as an entrepreneur — they are seeking insights into how other companies at their stage are approaching challenges. They want to understand how they stack up when it comes to pace of execution and learning per dollar spent. They are looking for context around personal leadership challenges and examples of how other founders have navigated difficult strategic decisions or team situations.
It may be obvious, but their transparency makes it much easier for me to support them and help them maximize their potential as entrepreneurs.