Investor Update Call: The Numbers and Asks to Keep in View
Updated 2026-11-01 · 2 min read
This rail is for a regular update call with the investors who already backed you. They want the real numbers and the bad news early, and they'll remember what you said last time. Keep the figures and your asks on cards, so the call ends with the help you came for.
The rail
Since we last spoke
- Last call was [date]. The goal then: [goal]
- Did we hit it? [yes or no], and why in one line
Revenue, burn and runway
- Revenue: [amount] a month, [up or down] [percent] since the last update
- Customers: [count], and [count] who left
- Burn: [amount] a month. Runway: [months] months
Wins since the last update
- Biggest win: [win]
- A customer or partner worth naming: [customer]
What's not working
- Say it plainly: [problem]
- What we're doing about it: [fix]
- When we'll know if it worked: [date]
Hiring and team
- Hired: [roles]. Still open: [roles]
- Hardest role to fill: [role]
Fundraising plans
- Next raise: [amount], around [month]
- What we need to hit first: [milestone]
- Ask: who should we meet before then?
Where we need help
- Lead with the one ask that matters most
- Intros to: [customer type or person]
- Advice on: [topic]
Next update
- Recap the asks and who's taking each one
- Next update on [date]
How to use this rail
- Copy the rail. Press Copy this rail. It copies every card as text, with a heading on each one.
- Paste it into a new note in GlideRail. GlideRail spots the headings and offers to split the text. Press Split into sections: the rail's name at the top becomes the note's name, and each card heading becomes its own card.
- Fill in the brackets. Use the same numbers as your written update, so what you say matches what they read.
- Open Cue Mode. Put the window near your camera, then move between cards with ⌘[ and ⌘] (they work from any app while Cue Mode is open) or a two-finger swipe.
- Turn on Live Rail, if you like. On an Apple Silicon Mac it listens to the call and offers the card whose heading matches what was just said, so when an investor asks about your fundraising plans, it can offer that card. One click opens it, and it never changes cards on its own.
If you share your screen, turn on Invisible first (Pro), and the share leaves the cards out. On Zoom, first set Settings, Share Screen, Advanced, Screen capture mode to "Advanced capture with window filtering" (the Zoom guide shows it). Cue Mode and Live Rail are Pro too, and every download comes with 7 days of Pro, free, with no card needed.
Make it yours
Update "Revenue, burn and runway" before every call, and add last call's figures beside them if your investors like to compare. If one investor always asks about the same thing, give it a card of its own, named the way they ask it. Move "Where we need help" up if you tend to run out of time.