Guide
Sharing financials and evidence with investors securely: scope, watermark, revoke, and know who looked
Share company evidence with investors through a link you control rather than an attachment you cannot take back: scope each link to one recipient and the documents that conversation needs, watermark every page with their name and the time, let them download only when you choose, and withdraw the link the moment the conversation ends. Attachments and open folder links cannot be revoked, cannot be traced, and are forwarded more often than founders expect.
By Vanward. Published 2026-09-14. Updated 2026-09-14.
A raise means showing strangers the inside of the company. Some of them will invest; most will not, and a few will end up on the board of a competitor. The goal is not to hide anything. It is to share exactly what each conversation needs, to know what happened to it, and to be able to take it back.
The four controls that matter
Scope
Each recipient gets their own view containing only the documents their stage of the conversation needs. An associate deciding on a first meeting sees the deck and the KPI summary. A partner with a term sheet sees everything. When the term sheet falls through, the view goes with it. Scoping per recipient also means you can change one investor's view without touching another's.
Watermark
Every page carries the recipient's name or email, the company name, and the moment of viewing. It does not stop a screenshot; it makes a screenshot attributable, which is what changes behavior.
Downloads, on your terms
Allow downloads by default so the investor can keep a diligence file, and switch a link to view-only when there is a reason. Be honest with yourself about what view-only buys: it discourages copying, it does not prevent it. The watermark and the revoke are the controls.
Revoke
The conversation ends, the view ends. A revoked link should stop working immediately, even in a tab that is already open, and any file links should expire within a minute.
Know who looked, and at what
A record of opens and file views per recipient is not surveillance; it is the same information a sales team gets from a proposal tool, and it is the most useful signal a founder has during a raise. Three opens of the financials and none of the contracts says the investor is modeling. No opens for ten days says they have moved on. Use it to decide where to spend your follow-up.
Attachment, folder link, or live link
| Email attachment | Shared folder link | Live link (ReadiLink) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can be withdrawn | No | Yes, but copies already made remain | Yes, immediately; files expire within a minute |
| Scoped per recipient | By hand | By hand, easy to get wrong | Yes, per link |
| Watermarked | No | No | Yes, name and time on every page |
| Shows the current version | No, a snapshot | Yes if you overwrite files | Yes, always the current record |
| Shows verification and date | No | No | Yes, on every item |
| Records who opened what | No | Rarely | Yes, per link and per file |
| Forwardable | Freely | Freely | The link works, but every page names the original recipient |
What to share at each stage of the conversation
| Moment | Share | Hold back |
|---|---|---|
| Cold outreach or intro | Deck, one-paragraph summary | Everything else |
| First meeting | Deck, KPI summary with definitions, product overview | Cap table detail, contracts, customer names |
| Second meeting or partner meeting | Cap table, historical financials, model, use of funds | Contracts, employee census |
| Term sheet in hand | Everything on the stage checklist | Nothing; this is confirmatory diligence |
| Passed or went quiet | Nothing | Revoke the link |
Three habits
Name every link after the person, not the firm, so you can revoke one without the other. Set an expiry at creation (60 to 90 days covers a raise) so forgotten links close themselves. Replace documents at the source rather than sending updates, so every live view shows the current version and nobody is working from the model you sent in March. This is how ReadiLinks work in CapReadi.
Questions founders ask
- Is it safe to email my financials to an investor?
- It is common and it is the least safe option. An attachment lives forever in their inbox and in every inbox they forward it to, with no record and no way to withdraw it. A link you control does the same job with a trail and an off switch.
- What should a watermark say?
- The recipient name or email, the company name, and the date and time of viewing. That combination makes a screenshot attributable without making the page hard to read.
- Should I let investors download?
- Usually yes. Most investors keep a diligence file and will ask for a copy anyway. Allow downloads on the link and rely on the watermark; switch a link to view-only when you have a specific reason.
- What happens when I revoke a link?
- The view stops working immediately, including in a browser tab that is already open, and any file link expires within a minute. What the recipient downloaded while the link was live stays with them, which is why the watermark matters.
- Should I use an NDA before sharing?
- Institutional investors rarely sign NDAs before a first look, and asking can slow the conversation. Scope what you share to the stage of the conversation instead: the deck and summary metrics first, contracts and customer names once a term sheet is on the table. Ask a lawyer about your specific situation.
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