The framing, the small ask and the cadence that gets VCs to come to you.
Most founders treat fundraising like a sales process. Book the meeting, pitch the deck, follow up, hope. The founders who actually raise know the real key is building an audience of investors over time and letting your momentum do the convincing. A monthly investor update newsletter to everyone who matters, including the VCs who’ve already said no.
Keet van Zyl is the co-founder of Knife Capital, one of SA’s most active venture firms. He’s backed and exited companies to Visa, Uber Eats, GE and Ticketmaster. And he reads founder updates every week.
Here’s how to do an investor update newsletter that gets you noticed.
The move: make VCs ask you about the round
Show momentum without asking for money, and the question flips. Instead of you chasing VCs about whether they’d invest, they’ll start asking you whether you’re raising.
“Entrepreneurs that we invest in are passionate about edtech or satellite cameras, but VCs are passionate about entrepreneurs. That’s our product.”
How to really write an investor update newsletter
1. Send updates without being asked
Don’t wait for permission. Send to the VCs who passed, the VCs who didn’t reply and the VCs you’ve never met. If the update is short and substantive, they’ll read it.
“Don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness. That’s the best strategy.”
2. Structure each update around momentum
Keet’s structure is short and consistent. Clear identity and a confidential framing at the top signal this isn’t a blast. Followed by a tight summary of what you just did and where you’re heading next.
Think: “We just signed Discovery.” “We’re starting to look at Kenya as a market.” That’s a paragraph each. Not three pages.
3. Always end with an ask, rarely for money
Every update closes with one specific request. “Does anyone know an auditor in Kenya we can talk to?” “Looking for intros to procurement leads at SA banks.”
The small asks do two things: They give the reader a concrete way to help, which builds reciprocity. And they keep the focus off you needing money, which is what lets the eventual money question come from them.
4. Deliver on what you said last month
This is where most founders quit too early. The newsletter only works if it has a cadence (monthly, ideally) and if each update pays off what the last one promised.
Last month: “We’re looking at Kenya.” This month: “We’re now in Kenya with three clients signed.” That promise-and-delivery rhythm is what creates the FOMO. The VC sees a founder doing what they said they’d do, every month, in writing.
The big payoff
“Eventually, it shifts. They ask you: ‘Hey, you guys raising anytime soon?’”
That’s the win. The dynamic has flipped. You’re no longer pitching for money; you’re fielding interest from investors who’ve watched you execute for six months. The conversation that follows is completely different from the cold pitch you would have walked in with.
Want the full playbook?
This is one piece of The SA VC Funding Landscape, Keet’s full masterclass inside the Founder Collab. The full session is the most candid look at how SA VC actually works, including:
How SA VCs decide what to back; the three things they look for and the one thing money can’t fix
How to structure a pre-revenue round in SA using convertible notes or SAFEs
How to handle a “no” in a way that keeps the door open for a future “yes”
How Knife’s “speed of climbing stairs” culture check works, and why culture is the only thing money can’t fix
The full Quicket-to-Ticketmaster exit story and what it teaches about building for the right buyer
You’ll also get access to 40+ other masterclasses from SA founders and operators on sales, UX, paid media, automations and more inside The Founder Collab.
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