An investment memo is useful when another person can inspect the evidence, understand the reasoning, and see what remains uncertain. Polished prose is not enough if the strongest claims cannot be traced or the counterevidence has disappeared.

Strawberry can bring together the firm's thesis and memo style with company research, founder conversations, diligence, market work, data-room material, and calculations. Feedback on one memo can carry into the next without turning the firm's judgment into a rigid generic template.

Write for the decision in front of the firm

An initial screen, partner discussion, full underwriting memo, investment committee document, and post-decision record need different depth. Strawberry begins with the audience, timing, decision stage, and the firm's existing structure before drafting or commissioning more research.

Want to try it?

Ask your Strawberry companion: “Use our thesis, memo style, company research, meetings, and diligence to draft a source-linked investment memo. Keep the strongest case, counterevidence, risks, and open questions visible.”

Skill

Write an investment memo

Build a clear, source-linked memo in the firm's accepted style and decision structure.

Assemble the current investment record

The memo starts with reliable research, meetings, diligence, market evidence, financial analysis, references, and internal notes already available. Strawberry can inspect those sources across files, connected tools, and the browser, then research a missing area only when it could change the decision.

Company claims, independent evidence, calculations, internal observations, and interpretation remain distinct. Material claims stay linked to their source and date, and changing definitions or contradictory evidence remain visible.

Make the case and countercase visible

  • The company and opportunity in plain language.
  • Why it may fit the thesis and why now.
  • The evidence on product, customer, market, competition, team, traction, and business model that matters to this decision.
  • The strongest case for and against the investment.
  • Risks, sensitivities, contradictions, and missing evidence.
  • The recommendation or next gate the investor is responsible for.

The firm's own format takes precedence. When no template exists, the decision should shape the sections rather than a checklist that gives every topic equal space. An unsupported conclusion stays unresolved instead of being made confident by the writing.

Keep the memo reviewable

Before delivery, Strawberry checks material claims, calculations, quotations, dates, and sources and confirms that the strongest counterevidence is not hidden. Private hypotheses and sensitive context stay separate from versions intended for a wider audience.

Drafting, internal review, investment committee circulation, founder or portfolio sharing, CRM changes, and external messages are different states. The companion can continue into an approved document or system, but each audience and destination remains explicit.

Keep the record alive as the evidence changes

A memo can absorb new diligence, meetings, and material company updates instead of being rebuilt from scratch. Strawberry carries the accepted structure and definitions forward and flags what changed for review rather than silently rewriting the investment history.

Skill

Research an investment opportunity

Build the initial company view before a full memo is warranted.

Skill

Investigate the questions behind an investment

Investigate the material questions the memo still cannot answer.

How to review an investment pipeline with AISee how active opportunities, missing evidence, and decisions fit across the firm. How to prepare for a fundraise with AIUnderstand the evidence, materials, and process on the founder's side of the table.
Official Strawberry skill
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write-an-investment-memo
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Turn company research, meetings, diligence, market evidence, and the investor's own criteria into a clear, source-linked investment memo or decision record. Use when an opportunity needs a first memo, an updated case, an investment-committee document, or a structured record of conviction, risks, and open questions.

Write an Investment Memo

Build the memo around the firm's real decision and evidence. It should make the investment case easier to inspect and debate, not hide uncertainty behind polished prose.

1. Understand the decision and house style

Clarify the company, decision stage, audience, timing, and what the memo must help them decide. Use the firm's existing template, thesis, underwriting criteria, prior accepted memos, investment committee conventions, and writing style when available. Do not make the user restate what those materials already establish.

Identify whether this is an initial screen, discussion memo, full underwriting record, update, or post-decision record. Agree on the depth and sections before substantial new research.

2. Assemble the accepted evidence

Start with the reliable company research, meetings, diligence, market work, financial analysis, references, data-room material, and internal notes already available. Research missing areas only when they could change the decision or the memo would otherwise overstate the evidence.

Keep company claims, independent evidence, calculations, internal observations, and interpretation distinct. Link material claims to their source and date. Preserve contradictory evidence, changing definitions, and unresolved questions rather than forcing the narrative to resolve them.

Use strawberry/venture-capital/research-an-investment-opportunity for an initial company view and strawberry/venture-capital/conduct-investment-due-diligence when material questions still need to be tested. Do not duplicate those workflows inside the memo.

3. Write the investment case

Use the firm's structure when one exists. Otherwise, organize the memo around the decision, which may include:

  • a concise company and opportunity view;
  • why this may fit the thesis and why now;
  • product, customer, market, competition, team, traction, and business model evidence;
  • the strongest case for and against the investment;
  • risks, sensitivities, contradictions, and missing evidence;
  • ownership, financing, terms, or scenario analysis when relevant; and
  • the decision, recommendation, or next gate the investor is responsible for.

Make the reasoning inspectable. Avoid a generic template that gives equal space to every topic, unsupported superlatives, and unexplained scores. If the evidence does not support a conclusion, say what remains unresolved.

4. Review the memo as a decision record

Check every material claim, calculation, quotation, date, and source. Confirm that the strongest counterevidence is visible and that uncertainty is expressed consistently. Separate comments, private hypotheses, and sensitive context from any version intended for a wider audience.

Deliver the memo in the user's chosen document or system. Treat internal review, investment committee circulation, portfolio or founder sharing, CRM changes, and external messages as separate actions with their own audience, destination, and permission.

After feedback, offer to preserve the accepted structure, evidence bar, voice, definitions, and review behavior as a custom or team skill. A living memo may update when new approved diligence arrives, but it should flag material changes for review rather than silently rewriting the record.