How to Collect Portfolio Company Updates Without Chasing Founders

To collect portfolio company updates without chasing, send the same short request to every founder on the same day each month, add one reminder on Day 5, and have the deal lead write a personal note on Day 10. The calendar does the chasing, so nobody has to nag. A portfolio company update, or founder update, is the short set of operating numbers a company sends its investors each month. This works for funds that can ask for operating numbers and hold at least five companies. It does not replace audited accounts.

Summary

Why don't founders reply to update requests?

In our view, most founders are not ignoring you. They are busy, and your request looks optional. Three things make it look optional: it arrives on a different day each month, it asks for something new each time, and nothing happens when it is late. Fixing all three gets replies faster than more chasing does.

What does the Day 1 to Day 14 calendar look like?

The calendar has four steps: a Day 1 request, a Day 5 reminder, a Day 10 deal lead's note and a Day 14 exceptions list.

Day 1 is the first working day after month end, and the due date is Day 7. These days are our suggested defaults. The order matters more than the exact dates. The associate chases once. After that, the deal lead takes over. In our view, founders answer them faster than an ops inbox.

If your team chases founders every month for the same five numbers, this calendar gives that job a fixed shape. Once founder numbers arrive, Folio's portfolio monitoring module is where they're meant to live: see how portfolio monitoring works in Folio.

What should the request ask for?

Ask for five numbers plus two KPIs you agree with each founder, and define every number in writing. Without a definition, the same word gets different answers. In our view, burn is the usual case: founders differ on its sign, its time window and whether financing counts.

Written definitions also help when the numbers travel on to LPs. ILPA, the Institutional Limited Partners Association, offers a Portfolio Company Template for reporting on the individual companies a fund holds, and says its refresh aims for "more consistent, decision-useful investment-level reporting."

Our suggestion is to start at five plus two and add more only once replies are steady. One-off questions belong on a call, not in the monthly request.

What do the emails say?

Four emails cover the whole cycle. Replace the brackets before sending.

The Day 10 note asks a question on purpose. In our view, a missing update is often the first sign of trouble, and the deal lead wants to hear about it early.

How do you track responses?

Keep one sheet with a row per company, updated daily during the cycle, so gaps in manual portfolio data collection show before they hold up a decision.

Work out the response rate twice each cycle: replies received divided by companies asked, at Day 7 and at Day 14. Suggested trigger (our view, not a standard): if the Day 7 rate falls two months in a row, shorten the request or move the date.

What does one cycle look like?

This is an illustrative cycle for a fund with 16 portfolio companies. All figures are made up.

Fifteen replies means fifteen separate emails to file. Once founder numbers arrive, Folio's portfolio monitoring module is where they're meant to live: see the portfolio monitoring module in Folio.

What changes in a company's year-end month?

The request for a company's last month of its financial year arrives while the finance team is closing the books. Move that month's due date from Day 7 to Day 10, the reminder to Day 8, the deal lead's note to Day 13 and the exceptions list to Day 17. Say so in the request, so founders see that you planned for it.

What mistakes make founders stop replying?

In our view, four habits teach founders that the request can wait.

• Changing the ask every month. A request that is new each time gets parked.
• Chasing three times from ops. It teaches founders to wait for the third email. One reminder, then the deal lead.
• No consequence for silence. If missing updates never reach partner review, founders learn they don't matter.
• Asking for files instead of numbers. In our view, five numbers take minutes and a full deck or P&L takes an hour.

When does this process not fit?

This process does not fit portfolios under five companies or funds that hold only a fund stake, and it needs adjusting in three other cases.

Chasing the same five numbers from every founder, every month? Use the calendar, the definitions and the emails above as your routine. Once founder numbers arrive, Folio's portfolio monitoring module is where they're meant to live. See the portfolio monitoring module or book a demo.

FAQ

Should we ask monthly or quarterly?

Our suggestion is monthly for the core numbers at any stage, with the full financials quarterly. Quarterly also matches fund reporting: ILPA recommends that its Reporting Template go to LPs each quarter. The quarterly financials feed the LP reporting metrics VCs need to know.

Who should send the requests?

One named associate for the whole portfolio. In our view, founders reply faster to a person they recognise than to a shared inbox.

What if a founder sends a deck instead of the numbers?

If it is the company's regular board pack or investor update, take the five numbers from it, as the table above says. If it is a one-off, take them this once, ask the founder to confirm, and send the same short request next month.

Should we share the numbers back with founders?

Our suggestion is yes, once a quarter: a short note on how their numbers moved, and against their own plan if they share one. In our view, founders who see their numbers used send them on time more often.

Can founders send one update to all their investors?

Yes. If the company already sends one investor update, take your five numbers from it. Share your written definitions with the other investors, so everyone asks for the same numbers.

About Folio

Folio is Incentiv's fund platform for private market investors: VC funds, family offices and their LPs. It covers deal flow, portfolio, LP and fund management. The request, reminder and tracking routine in this guide sits next to its portfolio monitoring module: see how portfolio monitoring works in Folio.