Preparing a Mid-Year Investor Update
Your regular investor updates tell people what happened last month. A mid-year investor update does something bigger: it steps back, compares the first half of the year with the plan you shared in January and explains how the second half will go. Done well, it builds trust, surfaces help you did not know was available and lays the groundwork for your next raise. Here is how to prepare one at the end of June.
Key takeaways
- A mid-year update compares the first half against your original plan, not just against last month.
- Lead with a short summary, then cover results, what you learned, cash and runway, the updated plan and specific asks.
- Share bad news early and plainly, along with what you are doing about it.
- Send it in the first couple of weeks of July, while the half-year numbers are fresh.
Many founders already send short monthly or quarterly notes to investors. Those keep people informed, but they rarely give anyone the full picture. The six-month mark is a natural pause point. Investors are reviewing their own portfolios, you have enough data to see real trends and there is still half a year left to change course.
This update is also a quiet investment in your next round. Investors who have watched you set goals, report honestly and adjust sensibly are far more likely to back you again or introduce you to others. Think of it as evidence of how you run the company.
A quick note: this guide is general information, not legal, financial or investment advice. If your investment agreements include specific information rights or reporting duties, check those documents and speak to your lawyer or accountant about what you must share.
Start with the plan you shared
Before you write a word, find the goals you shared with investors at the start of the year. That might be a board deck, an annual plan, a fundraising model or a January update. The mid-year update is only meaningful if it measures against something.
- Collect your original targets. Revenue, customers, product milestones, hiring and cash goals you committed to.
- Close the books for June. Work with your bookkeeper or accountant so the half-year numbers are as accurate as possible.
- Pull actuals for each target. Put them side by side with the plan in one simple table.
- Mark each line. Ahead, on track or behind. Keep the labels simple and honest.
- Write one line of explanation per gap. Why did you beat or miss each goal?
- Draft your second-half plan. What changes, what stays and what you will stop doing.
Pro tip
If you use OKRs, which are typically set quarterly, your Q2 review and Q3 planning are already most of the work. Summarize them for investors instead of creating a new set of goals.
What to include
A mid-year update can be longer than a monthly note, but it should still be easy to skim. Aim for something an investor can read in five to ten minutes. Use this structure.
1. A short summary
Three to five sentences at the top. Where are you against plan, what is the biggest win, what is the biggest challenge and what do you need? Some investors will read only this paragraph, so make it count.
2. First-half results against plan
Your side-by-side table of targets and actuals, with a brief comment on each line. Include the metrics that matter for your business model, such as revenue, gross margin, active customers, retention or activation.
3. What you learned
The most valuable part for many investors. Which channels worked? Which assumptions turned out wrong? What did customers tell you? Two or three clear lessons are better than ten vague ones.
For each lesson, add the decision it led to. "Paid social brought cheap signups that rarely converted, so we cut that budget and moved it to partnerships" shows investors that you learn quickly and act on evidence. A lesson with no decision attached reads like an observation, and investors will wonder whether anything actually changed inside the company.
4. Cash and runway
Cash in the bank, average monthly net burn over the half year and how many months of runway that gives you. If your plan changes the burn, show both the current and the expected figure.
5. Team
Key hires, departures and open roles. Keep personal details out and focus on what the team can now do.
6. Second-half plan
Three to five priorities for July to December, each with a measurable goal. Explain what you are deliberately not doing too.
7. Specific asks
Clear, actionable requests: introductions to named types of customers, help hiring a role, feedback on a pricing change or advice on your next round timing.
Common mistake
Hiding a missed target in the middle of a long paragraph. Investors notice, and it damages trust more than the miss itself. State it plainly in the summary, explain it in one or two sentences and show what you are changing.
A plan versus actual template
Use this table as the heart of your update. Keep it to the five to eight metrics that matter most. All figures below are made-up examples for an imaginary software startup.
| Metric | H1 plan (example) | H1 actual (example) | Status | Comment | H2 goal (example) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly recurring revenue at end of June | $60,000 | $52,000 | Behind | Enterprise deals slipped to Q3; self-serve beat plan | $85,000 |
| Paying customers | 300 | 340 | Ahead | New onboarding lifted trial conversion | 500 |
| Average monthly net burn | $70,000 | $64,000 | On track | Two hires delayed to Q3 | $78,000 |
| Runway at end of June | 14 months | 15 months | On track | Lower burn offset slower revenue | At least 12 months |
Add a row for one product milestone and one hiring goal if those were part of your original plan. Keep the comment column short; the detail belongs in the "What you learned" section.
Write it so investors can help
The update is not only a report. It is also an invitation. Investors and advisers want to be useful, but they need specific prompts.
- Be specific about introductions. "Heads of operations at logistics companies with 50 to 200 staff" gets far more responses than "customer intros."
- Limit the asks. Two or three clear requests are easier to act on than a long wish list.
- Make it easy to reply. End each ask with exactly what you would like: a short email intro, a 20-minute call or a link to a role.
- Thank people by name. If an investor made a helpful intro in the first half, mention it. It encourages more of the same.
Hypothetical example
Imagine Sofia, founder of a small B2B scheduling startup. Her mid-year update opened with a four-line summary: self-serve signups beat plan, two enterprise deals slipped, runway was 15 months and she needed introductions to operations leaders in healthcare. Because the ask was so specific, three investors replied within a week, and two of those introductions became pilot conversations. (Sofia and her numbers are made up for illustration.)
Tone, format and timing
Tone
Write like a founder talking to partners, not like a press release. Be confident about wins, honest about misses and clear about decisions. Avoid hype words, and let the numbers carry the story.
Format
Email works for most early-stage companies. Use clear headings that match the structure above, keep the main table in the body of the email and attach or link a fuller deck only if you have one. Use the same format every year so investors can compare.
Timing
Aim to send in the first two weeks of July. Earlier than that and your June numbers may not be closed. Much later and the update starts to feel like old news. In the US, the federal holiday for Independence Day is observed on Monday 5 July in 2027, so many people are away that long weekend; a send date later that week is often a sensible choice.
Confidentiality
Assume updates can be forwarded. Share what investors need, mark sensitive sections as confidential if appropriate and keep detailed legal or contract matters for direct conversations or your data room, which might hold items such as financials, contracts and board minutes.
Pro tip
Ask a cofounder or trusted adviser to read the draft and answer one question: "After reading this, what would you be worried about?" If their answer is not addressed in the update, add a line about it.
Your mid-year investor update checklist
- Find the plan and targets you shared at the start of the year
- Close June numbers with your bookkeeper or accountant
- Fill in the plan versus actual table
- Write a three to five sentence summary
- List two or three lessons from the first half
- Confirm cash, burn and runway figures
- Set three to five second-half priorities with measurable goals
- Write two or three specific asks
- Have someone you trust read the draft
- Send in the first two weeks of July
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a mid-year update if I already send monthly updates?
It is still worth doing. Monthly updates show momentum, while a mid-year update shows judgment: how you compare results with your plan and how you adjust. You can make the July monthly note a longer mid-year edition instead of sending both.
Who should receive it?
Everyone who has invested, plus close advisers. Some founders also send a shorter version to prospective investors they are building relationships with. Keep that version free of sensitive detail.
What if the first half went badly?
Send the update anyway, and send it on time. Lead with the facts, explain what you learned and set out the new plan, including any cost changes and runway. Investors generally respond far better to early, honest bad news than to silence.
Should I mention fundraising plans?
If you expect to raise in the next six to twelve months, a brief note about timing and what milestones you aim to reach first is helpful. It gives existing investors time to consider their own participation.
Related reading
The bottom line
A mid-year investor update turns six months of activity into a clear story: what you planned, what happened, what you learned and what comes next. Measure against your original goals, be honest about misses, show your cash position and end with specific asks.
Block out a morning this week to fill in the template, then send the finished update in early July. The habit of clear, honest reporting will pay off long before your next round.
