#55: Investor Updates: The What, Why, and How w/ Ari Newman of Techstars and Mike Preuss of Visible

If your startup has secured funding or you’re currently seeking it, then you may have heard about the importance of investors updates. Keeping your investors informed about what’s going on within the company helps them better advise you and can directly benefit your business in the long run. However, exactly when and how to do this can be a bit confusing for first-timers, so we’ve brought on two experienced guests for today’s show to clear up the particulars. Our first guest, Ari Newman, is a Partner at the venture arm of startup accelerator Techstars, where he has advised and invested in dozens of startups over the last six years. He’s joined by Mike Preuss, co-founder and CEO of Visible, which sells robust stakeholder reporting software in use by more than 2,000 businesses around the world. Together, Ari and Mike have an intimate understanding of the investor-entrepreneur relationship and how they can most effectively communicate with each other. In this episode of Powderkeg: Igniting Startups, Ari and Mike offer their most valuable insider info on how to gather vital company metrics and share them with your investors, your team members and other important stakeholders. We also get into some of the “big picture” topics surrounding metrics reporting, such as why you always need to be honest and how a thorough reporting process will help your business succeed. In this episode with Ari Newman and Mike Preuss, you’ll learn:  *The biggest mistakes to avoid when pitching your company to investors  *How to craft timely investor updates that will benefit your business *Why you shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes as an entrepreneur *The importance of transparency even when you only have bad news *How Visible helps companies track and report key metrics Please enjoy this conversation with Ari Newman and Mike Preuss! If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.