Knowledge Base: Heartbeat Guide - Communicating progress with your investors

Overview

Heartbeat helps you keep your investors updated on the health of your company by automatically sharing key performance indicators (KPIs).

Key Benefits:

• Distribute the KPIs that matter most to your shareholders.

• Never miss an update - Heartbeat will prompt you when updates are necessary.

• Investors can see all updates from their investments in one place.

• Affordable: £10/month after a 3-month free trial.

Getting Started

1. Access Heartbeat

• Navigate to the left-hand menu and select Heartbeat

2. Start Using Heartbeat

• Click the Start Using Heartbeat button to begin.

3. Define Your Heartbeat Information

Defining Data Items

a. Standard Data Items

Heartbeat comes with the following standard KPIs:

• Revenue

• Monthly recurring revenue

• Monthly CoGS

• Gross margin

• Earnings before interest and tax

• Employee count

• Cash available

• Runway in months

• Average customer acquisition cost

• Average customer LTV

• Average customer attrition

b. Adding a Custom Data Item

You can also create a custom KPI:

• Label: Free text

• Display Type: Bar chart, Line graph, or Big number

• Value Type: Pound (£) or Number

c. Saving Your Definition

After adding standard and custom items, click Save Definition

Once complete, your Heartbeat definition is ready for tracking.

4. Managing Heartbeats

Redefine Heartbeats

Click the Redefine Your Heartbeats button at the top right to update your definitions.

Heartbeat Periods and Headlines

• Heartbeats are organised by period.

• Each period has a Headline summarising that month’s update.

• Example: August 2025

5. Editing a Heartbeat

a. Accessing a Heartbeat for Editing

• Click on a period title to review the data items you’ve selected and the cap table.

• Or, click the 3 dots at the end of the row for options: Publish, Edit, Files, Delete.

b. Edit Heartbeat Fields

• Headline: A sentence or paragraph summarizing the month.

• Progress: Bullet points highlighting achievements.

• Plan: Bullet points outlining future plans.

• Risks: Bullet points on potential risks.

• Opportunities: Bullet points on potential opportunities.

• Asks of Investors: Bullet points on support or advice requested.

c. Data Table

Input actual vs. plan values for each KPI. Example:

Important: Do not add symbols or punctuation - e.g. enter £90,000 as 90000.

6. Uploading Files

• Drag and drop files from your computer to upload supporting documents.

• Maximum file size: 10MB per file.

• Files are automatically numbered by the system.

7. Reviewing a Heartbeat Before Publishing

Once you’ve edited and filled in your Heartbeat data, you can review it by clicking on the period title (e.g., August 2025). Because there’s a lot of information, we’ve split the review into three screenshots:

a. Title, Headline, and Bullet Points

The first screenshot shows:

• Period title

• Headline

• Bullet point sections:

  • Progress

  • Plan

  • Risks

  • Opportunities

  • Asks of investors

Tip: This section gives a concise summary of the month’s update and is what investors will first read.

b. Data Visualizations

The second screenshot shows the graphs or big numbers generated from your chosen data points.

Tip: Hover over the graphs to see the exact figures.

c. Cap Table

The third screenshot shows the cap table for the company.

Investors can view this directly from the period page, providing full transparency alongside the KPIs.

8. Publishing a Heartbeat

When ready, click Publish.

Note: Publishing is irrevocable and will notify your investors.

9. What Does the Investor See?

When you publish a Heartbeat, your investors are notified automatically.

a. Email Notification

• Investors receive an email letting them know a new Heartbeat is available.

• The email includes the company name, the period headline, and a link to view the full update.

b. Investor Page

Clicking the link takes the investor directly to the Heartbeat page.