Unit Economics
Master the metrics that matter. From Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Lifetime Value (LTV) to net revenue retention and churn rate, these articles explain how to calculate and model the unit economics that drive investor confidence.
SaaS Unit Economics Explained: CAC, LTV, and Payback Period
Unit economics determine if your SaaS business is sustainable. CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), LTV (Lifetime Value), and payback period show whether you can afford to grow. A heal
Net Revenue Retention: Why It Matters More Than New Sales
NRR (Net Revenue Retention) measures how much revenue you keep from existing customers after accounting for churn and expansion. Above 100% NRR means existing customers generate mo
Churn Rate: Every Way to Calculate It (And Why the Method You Choose Changes the Story You Tell)
Churn is not one number. It is a family of metrics, and the version you choose to present dramatically changes how your business looks to investors. Logo churn, revenue churn, gros
How to Model Network Effects in a Marketplace
Network effects --- the property that a product becomes more valuable as more people use it --- are one of the most powerful competitive moats in business. But they are also one of
The Metrics That Matter at Pre-Seed vs. Seed vs. Series A
The metrics investors use to evaluate a company change significantly between pre-seed, seed, and Series A. At pre-seed, investors are evaluating the team and the hypothesis. At see
How to Build a Cohort Analysis That Actually Tells You Something
Cohort analysis is the most powerful tool for understanding whether a business is actually retaining and growing customers over time. A cohort is a group of customers who started a
Gross Margin by Business Model: What's Good, What's Bad, What's a Problem
Gross margin benchmarks vary significantly by business model. What looks exceptional for one model looks catastrophic for another. A 40% gross margin is a problem for a SaaS busine
The LTV:CAC Benchmarks by Stage and Business Model
LTV:CAC benchmarks are not universal. The threshold that matters depends on the business model (SaaS, marketplace, e-commerce), the funding stage (pre-seed through growth), and whe
Unit Economics Across Multiple Markets: UK vs US vs UAE
Unit economics look very different across markets even for the same product. CAC varies by market maturity and competitive intensity. LTV varies by pricing power, average deal size
How to Model LTV for a Marketplace Business
LTV for a marketplace is more complex than LTV for a SaaS business because a marketplace often has two customer sides --- buyers and suppliers --- and the value generated is a func
Net Revenue Retention: The Number That Predicts Everything
Net Revenue Retention (NRR) measures how much revenue from an existing cohort of customers grows or shrinks over time, accounting for churn, contraction, and expansion. An NRR abov
Why Blended CAC Is a Lie (And How to Model It by Channel)
Blended CAC --- total sales and marketing spend divided by total new customers --- is a useful headline number and a misleading operational metric. It obscures which channels are a
CAC, LTV, and Payback Period: Calculated Correctly for Once
CAC, LTV, and payback period are the three most cited unit economics metrics in venture capital conversations --- and the three most frequently calculated incorrectly. CAC must inc