CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

The fully-loaded cost of acquiring one new paying customer — sales, marketing, tools, and headcount included.

What CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) means

CAC is total sales-and-marketing spend divided by new customers acquired in the same period. 'Fully loaded' means including salaries, ad spend, tooling, agency fees, and demo/onboarding cost — not just paid media.

The number matters most as a ratio: LTV:CAC (target 3× or better at maturity) and CAC payback in months (target <18 months for SaaS, faster for lower ACV). A short CAC payback is often more compelling to investors than a high LTV — it means the model self-funds growth.

Related fundraising guides (40)

• Cap Table
• Convertible Note
• Dilution
• Discount (SAFE / Note)
• Due Diligence
• Friends and Family Round
• Gross Margin
• KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
• Liquidation Preference
• LTV (Customer Lifetime Value)
• MFN Clause (Most-Favored Nation)
• MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
• Option Pool
• Oversubscribed Round
• Post-Money Valuation
• Pre-Money Valuation
• Pre-Seed Round
• Pro-Rata Rights
• Revenue Multiple
• Roll-Up Vehicle (RUV / SPV)
• Runway
• SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)
• Seed Round
• Series A
• Series B
• Term Sheet
• Valuation Cap
• Vesting
• Go-to-Market
• Grant Funding
• Grants vs Equity
• Grants vs VC
• GraphQL vs REST
• Gross Margin
• Growth Loops
• GTM Motion
• GTM Strategy
• Startup Fundraising Guides
• Angel Investors: The Founder’s Complete Guide (2026)
• Startup Due Diligence: The Founder’s Complete Guide (2026)

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