This data should be such a wakeup call for GTM teams.

SaaS companies used to get way more efficient as they scaled. This was part of the magic of SaaS! But it’s no longer the case.

More mature SaaS companies are facing dual crises of team bloat paired with decelerating growth. Public SaaS companies ended Q1 with an estimated average gross margin-adjusted CAC payback period of 57 months!

The average CAC payback period over the past twelve quarters is now 41 months. CAC payback periods haven’t been healthy since Britney Spears’s conservatorship ended in 2021!

The bright spot: early-stage startups have gone in the opposite direction.

They’re much smaller than in previous years and seeing far higher ARR per employee. There used to be a time when a big team = a big moat. Not anymore. Small, AI native startups are shipping releases at a blistering pace, riding the wave of improving LLMs, automating processes from day one, and finding first-mover advantages as new opportunities arise.

The real question: will legacy SaaS companies be able to maintain the pace?