If you haven’t heard 🙉, CAC is rising.
Yes, VC money plays a part in this outcome, but we should also talk about the mechanisms at the execution level that impacts almost all online businesses.
+ percentage of ad spend incentivizes scaling ad spend instead of optimizing CAC.
By leaving meat on the bone, we all end up paying a little more for every bite.
The Farmer’s Dog @thefarmersdog - raised $47M
Ollie @olliepets - raised $17M
Wild One @wildonepets - Seed Round $unknown
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It really tickles my millennial fancy from almost every angle:
1/ Priced to spur my consumer reflexes into action
2/ Aesthetics: dog toys + my wife’s macrame piece + accent wall = 👌🏾
3/ Digital: their site is a doggy daydream 🐶😴
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ECxju44X4AAZbYx.jpg)
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- prioritize audience development and sell directly to their owned channels -
... it requires consistent high quality and engaging content, and good content is expensive to make.
And even harder to differentiate in a crowded market.
*Every* brand in this thread is facing this challenge.
The competition to acquire in other verticals has a direct effect on the acquisition models of almost all digitally native products and services.
Startups lose.
Customers lose.
Platforms win.