Founders: “We’re not sure how to talk about our project.”

Also founders: never asked their investors for the memo that convinced them to invest.

That doc = your positioning cheat code. Market, problem, and why you're the chosen one. Polish it. Ship it. 

Bonus: this is why you pick thoughtful investors, not just hype machines.

You're welcome!

💻 Developer Relations
🏊‍♀️ Competitive swimmer
👩‍⚖️ City of Seattle Women’s Commission

Not all VCs write memos — but many do. Especially at early stages, even a short internal writeup or summary usually exists. It’s 100% fair to ask for it (or at least a high-level summary). It’s in the investor’s own interest to help you sharpen your narrative.

Don’t overthink the ask: “Hey, could you share your memo or a summary of why you invested in us?” works great.

As for other companies' memos: those are usually confidential. But you can ask your investor what patterns they see across portfolio companies that tell their story well.

Woah! I didn’t even know that investors wrote memos! 

1. Do investors write memos for investments of all stages? 

2. Is there a good way to ask for a memo? Do investors ever gatekeep a memo? 

3. Can I ask for a memo of other companies in their portfolio?

Co-Founder & CEO @almanax | Ex Head of Product @ AnChain AI | UC Berkeley engineering

Totally agree that founders should own their narrative. But early on, it’s easy to stay deep in the weeds. This is a tip to help founders raise their heads and get outside-in perspective. 
Not about outsourcing the story, it’s about sharpening it.

yeah they can be pretty useful resources for founders. But if you don't know how to talk about your company as the founder that's a big red flag

It’s often just about the team. Investors don’t validate markets. 

Founders likely know why an investor invested. That’s different from finding pmf and combing the market to buy.