Welcome back to The Cap Table Newsletter!
Every founder has been guilty of this at some point: going quiet until it’s time to raise. You ship, you hire, you grind - then you pop up with a deck and wonder why the process feels uphill.
The truth? Capital follows clarity. The founders who raise the fastest aren’t just building - they’re showing progress in a way investors can’t ignore. Clean updates, consistent cadence, clear asks. Not performative noise - real signal.
Today, we’re breaking down the communication playbook: what to send, how often, what investors actually read, and when not to hit send.
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The Invisible Game
The founders who win rounds early don’t always have the best traction. They have the clearest story.
They show up in inboxes with structured updates every month, clean metrics, key hires, next milestones, and a short list of asks.
Those updates get forwarded. Partners share them internally. Other founders start paying attention.
It creates heat.
And in venture, heat becomes interest, and interest becomes capital.
Most founders think communication is post-raise hygiene. In reality, it’s pre-raise leverage.
Why It Works
It builds trust before you need it.
When investors see consistent progress over time, they feel like they already know you. You’re not cold outreach anymore. You’re “the one who’s been sending those killer updates.”
It reframes you from “founder asking for money” to “founder executing relentlessly.”
You’re not chasing capital; you’re reporting progress. That’s power.
It forces internal accountability.
Writing a monthly update forces you to face your own numbers. Every founder needs that mirror.
What Great Communication Looks Like
The best updates I see have three sections:
Progress: What got done - metrics, milestones, hires, partnerships.
Focus: What’s next - top priorities or key challenges.
Asks: The one thing investors can do to help (intros, hires, users).
That’s it. No fluff, no essays.
The subject line matters more than you think: “March Update – $82k → $110k MRR, 2 new hires, 1 big ask.” Investors open those.
How Investors Actually Read Your Updates
VCs don’t read every update line by line. They skim for momentum.
What catches their eye:
Growth trends over time
Consistency in execution
Clear, specific asks that make them think of who they can intro you to
If you send 12 updates in a row and they can trace a story of growth, you’ll get a meeting before you even ask for one.
Silence breaks the thread, and when you come back months later, you’re just another cold pitch in the inbox.
Communication as a Fundraising Strategy
The best founders use communication as a stealth fundraising tool.
They keep potential investors in the loop long before they’re raising. They build relationships through consistent touchpoints, one update at a time.
By the time they actually announce a round, half the work is already done.
It’s not luck. It’s pattern-building.
When you show up consistently with data and direction, investors start believing in your inevitability. That’s what closes rounds.
The Founder Trap
Silence kills momentum.
When founders disappear between rounds, investors assume the worst. If you only surface when you’re raising, the story feels reactive, not strategic.
Founders sometimes say, “I don’t want to bother investors.” But you’re not bothering them. You’re reminding them why they bet on you in the first place.
If someone’s too busy to read your update, they weren’t going to help anyway.
When Not to Communicate
Not every moment calls for an update. Over-communicating isn’t about volume, it’s about timing and clarity.
Don’t send noise. Don’t send panic. Don’t announce pivots before you’ve processed them internally.
Communicate with confidence, not confusion. If you’re going through chaos, write the draft, but wait 24 hours before hitting send. The tone matters as much as the truth.
My Take
Every great founder I’ve backed has one thing in common: they make it impossible to forget about them.
Even when the numbers aren’t perfect, they own the narrative. They show progress. They ask for help. They tell you what’s next.
And because of that, they never feel like they’re starting from zero when it’s time to raise again.
If you want to know why some founders always seem to raise effortlessly, it’s not luck. They’ve been selling the story all along.
If you haven't been updating your investors, it is never too late to start!
Until next week, Elana ✌️
Resources
If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter - feel free to check out some of our past articles:
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Disclaimer: The Cap Table DOES NOT provide financial advice. All content is for informational purposes only. The Cap Table is not a registered investment, legal, or tax advisor or a broker/dealer.