After analyzing growth metrics across 500+ companies spanning B2B SaaS, e-commerce, marketplaces, and emerging sectors like climate tech, clear patterns emerge that separate top performers from the rest. This report synthesizes 8 years of growth marketing data to provide actionable benchmarks for executives and growth leaders.
Benchmarks are derived from first-party data shared by portfolio companies, anonymized industry surveys, and public company filings. All metrics are normalized by company stage (Seed, Series A, Series B+) and segmented by industry vertical. Data represents primarily US-based companies with $1M-$100M ARR.
Detailed metrics by industry vertical. Click each industry to explore benchmarks, insights, and optimization strategies.
The LTV:CAC ratio is the single most important metric for evaluating growth efficiency. It measures how much value you create for every dollar spent on acquisition. Here's what the data tells us:
Losing money on every customer
Room for optimization
Industry standard target
Ready to scale aggressively
There are only two levers: increase LTV or decrease CAC. The most successful companies work both simultaneously.
CAC payback measures how long it takes to recover your customer acquisition investment. It's the critical metric for understanding capital efficiency and cash flow requirements.
A company with 10x LTV:CAC but 36-month payback will run out of cash before a company with 4x LTV:CAC and 6-month payback. Cash flow timing matters as much as eventual returns.
Many startups focus on LTV:CAC while ignoring payback. With 18-month payback and 40% YoY growth targets, you'll need to finance 1.5 years of CAC for every new customer cohort before seeing returns. This compounds quickly into significant capital requirements.