Parker Conrad Wrote a Memo Instead of a Pitch Deck. It Raised $200M.

The Rippling Series F investor memo is one of the most copied fundraising documents in startup history. Here is the full version.

Most founders obsess over their pitch deck. Parker Conrad never made one.

Since 2019, Rippling has raised every single round with a written memo instead. No slides. No fancy design. Just a clear, structured argument for why the company deserves capital.

The approach worked well enough that other founders started copying it. The investor memo is now a widely accepted alternative to the standard deck across top-tier VC firms.

In March 2024, Conrad published the lightly redacted version he used to raise the Series F round and tender offer. $200M raised. The company valued at over $13B.

Why This Memo Is Worth Studying

Conrad updates and rewrites the memo with every new financing round. Reading the 2024 version alongside the original 2019 version shows exactly how Rippling’s strategy, narrative, and market positioning evolved over five years of building.

A few things stand out:

▫️ The memo carries the entire narrative. The metrics deck is described as “just the facts.” The story lives here.

▫️ It doubles as a recruiting tool. Conrad sends it to every candidate before the first meeting. Prospective employees read the same document investors read.

▫️ The structure is replicable. Any founder preparing to raise can study the argument flow and apply it directly.

This is one of the few real documents that shows how a founder-led fundraise actually works at scale. Not a cleaned-up post-mortem.

The actual memo used in the actual $200M round👇