Table 14 Sept 2026From “What are unit economics?”

How do unit economics differ by operating model?

Table 1How do unit economics differ by operating model?

Business Model Archetype	Atomic Economic Unit	Primary Direct Cost Drivers (CTS)	Healthy Contribution Margin %	Target Payback Horizon	Benchmark LTV:CAC Ratio
Enterprise B2B SaaS	Contracted Enterprise Account	Dedicated CSM, cloud compute, custom SLAs	75% to 85%	12 to 18 months	4.0x to 6.0x
Product-Led Growth (PLG)	Active Workspace / Team	Self-serve onboarding, database storage, APIs	80% to 90%	6 to 12 months	3.5x to 5.0x
Two-Sided Marketplace	Completed Order / Transaction	Payment processing, fraud losses, buyer support	15% to 35% (Take Rate)	Instant to 3 months	2.5x to 4.0x
Usage / Cloud Infrastructure	Metered Compute / Storage Unit	Raw cloud infrastructure, GPU hosting, data egress	64% to 75%	9 to 15 months	4.5x to 7.0x
Tech-Enabled Services	Monthly Retainer / Client Pod	Direct professional labor, project management	40% to 55%	4 to 8 months	2.5x to 3.5x

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Source: Table from this essay. Sources and interpretation are given in the article.

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From the essay

Growth that compounds

What are unit economics?

Unit economics evaluate direct revenue and variable costs per fundamental business unit. Define the unit, contribution margin, CAC and payback horizon.

4 Sept 2026

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APA 7

Isoglu, S. (2026). How do unit economics differ by operating model? [Table]. isoglu.com. https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-are-unit-economics-fig02/

BibTeX

@misc{isoglu-2026-what-are-unit-economics-fig02,
  author = {Isoglu, Sinan},
  title = {{How do unit economics differ by operating model?}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Table 1, isoglu.com},
  url = {https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-are-unit-economics-fig02/},
  note = {From the essay {What are unit economics?}}
}

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  <figcaption>Table 1: How do unit economics differ by operating model?. Source: Table from this essay. Sources and interpretation are given in the article. <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-what-are-unit-economics-fig02/">View exhibit</a>.</figcaption>
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