Key takeaways
- Lead with the recommendation and the two or three reasons for it.
- Mark every key number as verified or founder reported, with its source.
- Write the risks honestly. The committee will find them anyway.
What an investment memo contains
- Recommendation and terms: invest or pass, amount, valuation, instrument.
- Company and founders: what they do, for whom, and why this team.
- Thesis fit: which criteria are met, which are not, which are still unknown.
- Evidence: traction, customers and market, each claim with its source.
- Risks and open questions, with what would change the recommendation.
A claim written two ways
Weak: "Strong traction with $40k MRR." Better: "$40k MRR in September (founder reported, deck slide 7). Billing export for June to September matches within 3 percent; two of the five largest customers confirmed on calls." The second version tells the committee what was checked and what was not.
How the memo is used in a fund
The memo is what the committee reads, what the fund keeps as its record of why it invested, and what partners reread when the company raises again. Delsivo's AI is designed to draft briefs and memos from cited findings for a person to edit and approve; committee memos and frozen packets are planned for a later release.
Common confusions
- A memo is not the deck rewritten. It is the fund's view, including what the deck left out.
- A memo is not the thesis. The thesis covers all deals; the memo argues for one.
- A memo is not committee minutes. Minutes record the discussion and decision.