Executive Summaries: Telling Your Story in One Page

Your CEO has 30 seconds to glance at your report.

You have 100 pages of analysis.

You need to tell a story in one page.

This is the executive summary: A distilled version of your analytics that answers the key question in seconds.

What Goes in an Executive Summary

1. The headline (1 sentence)

State the most important finding.

Good: “Revenue is up 15% but churn increased 3%, offsetting 60% of growth.”

Bad: “Various metrics changed this month.”

2. The metric (1 number)

The most important metric for this report.

For a monthly report: MRR, growth rate, or a key KPI.

Example: “MRR: $234k (+8% MoM)”

3. The context (2-3 sentences)

What’s the baseline? How does this compare to expectations?

“We projected $225k MRR. We’re $9k ahead of plan due to strong expansion revenue. However, churn is 2x our target.”

4. The traffic light (green/yellow/red)

Quick visual status:

Green: On track or better
Yellow: Watch list (slight concern)
Red: Problem (needs immediate action)

Example:

Revenue: Green (on plan)
Churn: Red (double target)
CAC: Yellow (slightly trending up)

5. The action (1-2 items)

What do we do?

“ACTION 1: Investigate why churn increased (scheduled call with CS team)”
“ACTION 2: Reduce CAC by shifting budget to organic (test this month)“

Header:

[Company Name] - Monthly Analytics Summary
November 2024 | Prepared by [Name] | [Date]

Section 1: At a Glance

Key Metric: MRR $234k (+8% MoM, +12% YoY) ✓ GREEN

Headline: Strong growth driven by expansion, but rising churn is a concern.

Section 2: The Numbers

Create a simple 3-column table:

Metric	Current	Status	Trend
MRR	$234k	🟢 On plan	↑ +8%
Customer count	234	🟢 On plan	↑ +5
Churn rate	6%	🔴 High	↑ (was 3%)
CAC	$1,200	🟡 Rising	↑ +5%
CAC Payback	11 mo	🟡 Watch	↔ Stable

Section 3: The Story

Two paragraphs. Tell what happened and why.

Paragraph 1: What changed?

“MRR grew 8% MoM, beating plan by $9k. New customer acquisitions were in line with expectations (+5 customers), but existing customers drove most growth through expansion revenue (upsells and increased usage). Enterprise segment performed especially well (+$18k from 2 large renewals).”

Paragraph 2: What’s concerning?

“Churn rate doubled from 3% to 6%, the highest in 18 months. This is driven by the SMB segment (10% churn, vs. historical 4%). Early analysis suggests these customers are hitting feature limits we don’t support. We’re losing them to [Competitor] who has better [feature].”

Section 4: Actions

🔴 URGENT
- Investigate SMB feature gaps (call 3 churned SMB customers today)
- Evaluate [Competitor] feature set (brief by Friday)

🟡 THIS MONTH
- Test organic channel to reduce CAC
- Implement early churn warning system for SMB segment

🟢 NEXT MONTH
- Plan product roadmap to close feature gaps

Traffic Light Methodology

The traffic light system speeds up communication:

🟢 Green (on track):

Metric is at or above target
No action needed
Keep current strategy

🟡 Yellow (warning):

Metric is slightly below target or trending wrong
Monitor closely
Consider preventive actions

🔴 Red (crisis):

Metric is significantly below target
Immediate action required
Change strategy

Example assessment:

KPI	Target	Actual	Status
Revenue	$250k	$234k	🟡 Yellow (-6%)
Churn	4%	6%	🔴 Red (50% above target)
CAC payback	10 mo	11 mo	🟡 Yellow (10% above target)
NRR	110%	112%	🟢 Green (beating target)

Audience Matters

Your one-pager changes based on who you’re presenting to:

For the CEO: Focus on: Revenue, growth rate, runway, biggest risks

“MRR $234k (+8%). Churn is elevated. We’re discussing [Feature] to address.”

For the board: Focus on: Growth vs. benchmarks, unit economics, TAM expansion, strategic bets

“We’re outpacing SaaS benchmarks (8% MoM vs. 5% median). But churn in SMB suggests segmentation opportunity.”

For investors: Focus on: Growth rate, path to profitability, competitive advantages, use of capital

“We’re at 8% MoM growth with 95% gross margins. Churn uptick is from SMB (low LTV anyway). Focusing efforts on Enterprise where LTV is $40k+.”

For the team: Focus on: What’s working, what needs fixing, what to focus on

“Great month! Expansion revenue is strong. Help wanted: We need to fix SMB churn. If you have ideas, share them.”

Monthly one-pager: For regular stakeholders (board, exec team, investors)

Quarterly one-pager: Longer and more strategic (bigger picture, trends over 3 months)

Annual one-pager: Full-year summary, strategic retrospective, next-year outlook

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Too much data

5 pages of detailed metrics isn’t a one-pager.

One pager = 1 page. If it’s 3 pages, you have too much.

Cut ruthlessly. Only include metrics people need to make decisions.

Mistake 2: No clear headline

Reporting numbers without a story.

“MRR $234k, CAC $1,200, Churn 6%…” — So what? What does this mean?

Every one-pager needs a headline that summarizes the story.

Mistake 3: No actions

Report findings but don’t say what to do.

“Churn is up.” — OK, what does the team do about it?

Always end with clear actions.

Mistake 4: Wrong traffic light assessment

Being too optimistic (coloring red metrics green) erodes trust.

Being too pessimistic (coloring green metrics red) triggers unnecessary panic.

Be honest. If something is a problem, call it red.

Making It Visual

A one-pager should be scannable:

Use bolding for key numbers
Use colors (green/yellow/red)
Use simple charts if needed (but minimize them)
Use white space (don’t clutter)
Use short paragraphs (never more than 3 sentences)

Someone should understand 80% of the message in 30 seconds of glancing.

The Takeaway

An executive summary is about communication, not completeness.

Your job is not to report all data. Your job is to tell the story and drive action.

The story answers three questions:

What happened? (Here are the numbers)
Why did it happen? (Here’s the context)
What do we do? (Here are the actions)

Format it in one page. Use traffic lights. Make it scannable.

We help you create effective one-pagers, identify the key story in your data, and communicate findings in a way that drives decisions.