Understanding CAC: The Metric that makes or breaks your SaaS

Investor

02 Dec 2025 — 1 min read

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is one of the most important metrics in SaaS. It tells you exactly how much you spend to win a new customer — and how scalable your business really is.

If CAC is too high, growth becomes expensive. If CAC is low and predictable, you’ve found an engine you can pour fuel on.

Three things matter most:

1. What goes into CAC
All sales and marketing costs: salaries, tools, ads, events, contractors — everything needed to acquire a customer.

2. CAC Payback
How long it takes before a customer has “paid back” what it cost to acquire them.
Best-in-class SaaS lands in the 6–12 month range. Longer than 18 months is a warning sign.

3. LTV:CAC
The relationship between lifetime value and acquisition cost.

In short:
CAC shows whether your growth is sustainable — or just expensive.
Master it, and you control your future.

Three best practices for CEOs reporting to a Board

Written by: Chul Christian Aamodt, Partner in Metrics Venture With more than 20 years of board experience — and years as a CEO reporting into boards myself — I’ve learned that great board reporting is not about volume, but about clarity, honesty, and actionable leadership. 1. Present the real numbers — not

The network effect is one of the most underrated growth engines in any SaaS company

The idea is simple: the value of a product increases as more people use it. A classic example is the telephone. The very first telephone was almost worthless — it had no one to call. Two phones created some value. Ten made it useful. A million made it indispensable. The same

We are following up on our investment in Rayvn

The shareholder entities behind Metrics Venture are existing investors in RAYVN and are participating in the current equity financing round.

The most important metrics for a SaaS Scaleup

Growing a SaaS company isn’t about more dashboards — it’s about tracking the few metrics that actually predict success. The essentials: * ARR Growth: The simplest measure of momentum. Tells you if the market wants what you’re selling. * Net Retention (NRR): The real health indicator. If customers expand, you’

Read more

Three best practices for CEOs reporting to a Board

The network effect is one of the most underrated growth engines in any SaaS company

We are following up on our investment in Rayvn

The most important metrics for a SaaS Scaleup