The +40% campaign that net-lost money on payment terms
ROI said winner. Cash flow said I was funding the advertiser's float. Both were true.
— The setup: a strong CPA campaign, +40% ROI, $200/day spend, network paying net-30.
— The move: I scaled to $500/day because the ROI was real — and three weeks in, my prepaid ad cards ran dry while my first payout was still 9 days out.
— The numbers: at $500/day I was laying out $3,500/week. Net-30 meant I'd front roughly $15,000 before the first dollar came back. The campaign was +40% on paper but I was capital-locked and had to throttle back to $200/day mid-scale, killing momentum and re-triggering learning phases. Lost efficiency cost an estimated 8 points of ROI during the throttle weeks.
— The lesson: ROI and cash flow are different animals. A profitable campaign can still bankrupt you on timing if you scale faster than your payout cycle funds it.
What I'd do differently: Size the scale ramp to my actual working capital and payout frequency, or negotiate net-7/weekly before scaling. I let ROI seduce me past my cash limit. Numbers illustrative; the net-30 capital trap has stalled more real campaigns than bad creative ever has.
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