cac-payback-playbook
Calculates CAC payback period for funded startups AND bootstrapped SMBs. Startup route covers investor-grade benchmarks, cohort presentations, and Q&A prep. SMB route covers channel-level ROI triage, cash flow constraints, and marketing spend decisions. Use when user mentions 'CAC payback,' 'customer acquisition cost,' 'unit economics,' 'marketing ROI,' 'is my marketing working,' 'payback period,' 'channel ROI.' This is the CAC payback methodology.
Inputs
- Funded or self-funded?** — determines which workflow applies
- Revenue model** — subscription, project-based, transactional, retainer
- Data availability** — exact numbers, estimates, or "I have no idea
- Urgency** — internal planning vs. investor/board presentation
- For SMBs — ** Monthly cash reserves and marketing budget tolerance
How you ask
- Calculate our CAC payback period for our Series A deck
- How does our CAC payback compare to SaaS benchmarks?
- Prepare me for investor questions about unit economics
- Where do we sit on the NDR/CAC matrix?
- Is my marketing spend paying back fast enough?
- Which of my marketing channels should I cut?
- How fast can I grow without running out of cash?
- I spend $5K/month on marketing — is it working?
Outputs
- Obsidian markdown document
Levelbeginner
Inputconversation
Outputdocument
Setup[none]
Roles[CEO / Founder, Finance Manager]