STARTUP · SOLO FOUNDER
Solo Founder Unit Economics
LTV, CAC, payback period, and break-even customers calibrated for bootstrapped scale.
Try a preset
Result
- With organic acquisition, even $20/mo ARPU can be profitable because your CAC is effectively $0. Your LTV of $400 is pure upside. Focus on reducing churn to extend customer lifetime beyond 20 months.
LTV vs CAC
Compare lifetime value against acquisition cost.
How to use it
- Enter your MRR, number of paying customers, and ARPU. For bootstrapped products in the $5-50/month range, even small ARPU differences compound over customer lifetime.
- Set your monthly churn rate and CAC. If you acquire customers organically (content, SEO, word of mouth), set CAC to $0 — this dramatically changes the economics in your favor.
- Enter monthly fixed costs like hosting, tools, and subscriptions. The tool calculates how many customers you need to cover these.
- Read LTV, LTV:CAC ratio, payback period, and break-even customer count. With organic acquisition ($0 CAC), your LTV:CAC is effectively infinite — focus on reducing churn instead.
- Use the insight to identify your strongest lever: reducing churn, increasing ARPU, or growing customer count. Re-run monthly to track trajectory.
Questions people usually ask
How is this different from the Unit Economics Calculator?
This tool is calibrated for bootstrapped scale — $5-50/month products, organic or near-zero CAC, and solo founder operations. It includes interpretation like 'with organic acquisition, even $5 ARPU can be profitable because your CAC is effectively $0.'
What if my CAC is $0?
Organic acquisition (SEO, content, word of mouth) means $0 CAC. This makes your LTV:CAC ratio effectively infinite and payback instant. The key metric shifts to churn rate and break-even customer count to cover fixed costs.
What LTV:CAC ratio should I aim for?
The standard benchmark is 3:1 or higher. For bootstrapped products with near-zero CAC, this ratio is often infinite — focus on reducing churn and growing ARPU instead.
How is customer lifetime calculated?
Customer lifetime = 1 / monthly churn rate. At 5% monthly churn, average customer lifetime is 20 months. At 2% churn, it is 50 months. Small churn improvements compound dramatically.
Is this tool free and private?
Yes. All calculations run in your browser. No data is sent anywhere. No signup required.
Related Resources
Learn the decision before you act
Every link here is tied directly to Solo Founder Unit Economics. Use the explanation, formula, examples, and benchmarks to pressure-test the calculator output from first principles.
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