Unit Economics

Unit Economics

Analyze unit economics for "$ARGUMENTS". Calculate the fundamental economics of acquiring and serving a customer to determine whether the business model is sustainable and scalable.

Prerequisites

None — utility skill, run anytime. Works best when financial data exists in .metapowers/finance/$ARGUMENTS/.

Process

1. Gather context:

   • If prior phase artifacts exist, read them for revenue and cost data
   • Ask for customer count, revenue, and cost data
   • Determine the business model (subscription, transactional, marketplace, etc.)

2. Calculate acquisition economics:

   • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): total sales + marketing spend / new customers
   • Break down CAC by channel (organic, paid, referral, outbound)
   • Track CAC trend over time (improving or worsening)
   • Calculate blended and fully-loaded CAC

3. Calculate lifetime value:

   • Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): monthly and annual
   • Gross margin per customer: ARPU - direct costs per customer
   • Customer lifetime: 1 / monthly churn rate
   • Lifetime Value (LTV): gross margin per customer x customer lifetime
   • Segment LTV by customer cohort, plan, or channel if data available

4. Calculate efficiency ratios:

   • LTV:CAC ratio: target > 3:1
   • CAC payback period: CAC / monthly gross profit per customer
   • Contribution margin: revenue - variable costs per unit
   • Magic number: net new ARR / prior quarter S&M spend

5. Assess scalability:

   • Does CAC increase or decrease with scale?
   • Is LTV stable, growing, or declining by cohort?
   • Where are the margin expansion opportunities?
   • What is the break-even point in units/customers?

6. Write the artifact to .metapowers/finance/$ARGUMENTS/unit-economics.md with sections:

   • Customer Acquisition — CAC by channel, blended CAC, trend
   • Lifetime Value — ARPU, churn, LTV, cohort analysis
   • Efficiency Ratios — LTV:CAC, payback period, magic number
   • Margin Analysis — contribution margin, gross margin by segment
   • Scalability Assessment — how metrics change with growth
   • Improvement Opportunities — levers to improve unit economics

Output

The unit economics analysis written to .metapowers/finance/$ARGUMENTS/unit-economics.md. Present a summary highlighting:

• CAC and LTV with LTV:CAC ratio
• Payback period
• Whether unit economics support growth investment
• Top improvement levers