Tell my board about a missed target or serious problem
A prompt, candid board update on bad news with cause, impact, plan, and what you need from directors.
The prompt
Help me tell my board about a serious problem before the next scheduled meeting.
What happened: [THE FACTS - e.g. "we'll miss Q3 revenue by 25%", "lost our largest customer", "security incident"]
When I learned it and what we've confirmed so far: [TIMELINE]
Impact: [on revenue, cash runway, customers, people, legal exposure - with numbers where known]
Cause, as best I understand it: [DIAGNOSIS, and what's still uncertain]
What we're already doing: [ACTIONS and owners]
What I need from the board: [e.g. "nothing yet, just informing", "approval for X", "a call this week"]
Board dynamics: [e.g. "lead investor is anxious about burn"]
Draft:
1. An email to the full board: lead with the problem in the first two sentences, then impact, cause, plan, next update date, and the ask.
2. Talking points for a 1:1 call with my lead investor or chair before the email goes out, so they aren't surprised in front of others.
3. A short list of what I should NOT say yet (speculation, blame, unconfirmed figures).
Rules:
- Own it plainly. No minimizing, no over-apologizing, no blaming individuals in writing.
- Separate what's confirmed from what's still being investigated.
- Mark all estimates as estimates and any missing figures as [CONFIRM].
- If there's possible legal, regulatory, or disclosure exposure, flag that I should speak with counsel before sending.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Email & Workplace Communication prompts
What to fill in
- TIMELINE
- DIAGNOSIS, and what's still uncertain
- ACTIONS and owners
- e.g. "lead investor is anxious about burn"
- CONFIRM
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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