Board Deck Narrative

I'm uploading our Q${quarter} financial data. Write a board-ready financial narrative covering:

**HEADLINE** (1 sentence)
Capture the quarter in one sentence a board member would text to their co-investors. Lead with the most important thing.

**SCORECARD** (table format)
| Metric | Q${quarter} Actual | Q${quarter} Plan | Variance | Status |
Show: Revenue, Gross Margin %, OpEx, EBITDA, Cash Balance, Monthly Burn, Runway, Customer Count, NRR

Status: ✅ on/ahead of plan, ⚠️ within 5%, ❌ off plan

**REVENUE DEEP DIVE** (2-3 paragraphs)
- Total revenue and growth rate (QoQ and YoY)
- Revenue by segment if applicable
- New business vs expansion vs churn breakdown
- Pipeline and bookings momentum going into next quarter

**EXPENSE COMMENTARY** (1-2 paragraphs)
- Total opex vs plan
- Headcount actual vs plan
- Material variances only — don't explain immaterial items
- Run-rate implications

**CASH & RUNWAY** (1 paragraph)
- Ending cash position
- Monthly burn rate (and trend — increasing, stable, decreasing)
- Runway in months at current burn
- Any changes to the fundraising timeline

**OUTLOOK** (1 paragraph)
- Expectations for next quarter
- Any forecast revisions
- Key risks or opportunities

**BOARD DISCUSSION ITEMS** (bullet list)
- Decisions or approvals needed
- Topics you want board input on

Tone: CFO presenting to a board. Concise, specific, no filler. Use actual numbers. Be candid about misses — boards respect transparency more than spin.

Write a monthly board update email for ${month}. Data is attached.

FORMAT:
Subject: ${companyName} — ${month} Update

Open with: One paragraph, 3-4 sentences. The headline, the most important metric, and the vibe (momentum, steady, headwinds).

Then use this structure:
📊 **Key Metrics**
- MRR: $X (+Y% MoM)
- Cash: $X (Z months runway)
- Customers: X (+Y net new)
- NRR: X%
- Headcount: X

🎯 **Wins**
- 3-5 bullet points of what went well

⚠️ **Challenges**
- 2-3 bullet points of what's not working or needs attention (be honest)

👀 **Next Month Focus**
- 2-3 priorities for the coming month

🙏 **Asks**
- Anything you need from the board (intros, advice, approvals)

Keep the whole email under 400 words. Board members skim — make every word count.

Write a financial summary document for our data room. This sits alongside our detailed financials and gives investors the narrative context.

DATA: [uploading our last 12 months of monthly P&L and KPIs]

SECTIONS:

1. **Business Overview** (1 paragraph)
Brief description of the business model, revenue streams, and unit economics.

2. **Revenue Trajectory** (2 paragraphs)
- LTM revenue: $X, growth rate
- Revenue composition and trends
- Key growth drivers
- Seasonality if applicable

3. **Unit Economics** (1 paragraph)
- CAC, LTV, LTV:CAC ratio, payback period
- How these have trended over the last 4 quarters

4. **Margin Profile** (1 paragraph)
- Gross margin and trend
- Contribution margin if applicable
- Path to operating leverage

5. **Cash Efficiency** (1 paragraph)
- Burn rate and trend
- Burn multiple (net burn / net new ARR)
- Cash position and runway

6. **Financial Projections Context** (1 paragraph)
- Key assumptions behind the forward model
- Historical accuracy of prior forecasts (if we've hit our numbers)

Tone: confident but not promotional. Let the numbers speak. Investors see through spin — just be clear and specific.

Write segment-level financial commentary for the board. We have ${segmentCount} segments:

${segmentDetails}

For each segment, write:
1. Revenue and growth (actual vs plan)
2. Gross margin
3. Key driver of performance this quarter
4. Outlook for next quarter

Then write a CONSOLIDATED view:
- Total company performance
- Segment mix shifts (is one segment growing faster and becoming a larger share?)
- Cross-segment themes
- Portfolio-level strategy implications

Keep each segment to 3-4 sentences. The consolidated view should be 2 paragraphs.

Save this as project instructions so you have it every month:

COMPANY: ${companyName}
BUSINESS MODEL: ${model}
KEY METRICS TO TRACK: ${metrics}
BOARD COMPOSITION: ${boardMembers}

NARRATIVE PREFERENCES:
- Lead with the headline, always
- Use specific numbers, not adjectives
- Be candid about misses — our board respects transparency
- Keep total narrative under 800 words
- Format for Google Slides (short paragraphs, bolded key figures)
- Always include a "Decisions Needed" section even if the answer is "None this month"

PRIOR QUARTER CONTEXT: [I'll update this each quarter]

When I upload monthly/quarterly data, generate the board narrative following the structure in the Financial Narrative Playbook. Ask me for context on any material variances before writing the explanation — don't guess.