Speaking about referral marketing:


A few years ago Robeco posted their research report sharing that Nubank acquired about 80–90% of customers through word-of-mouth or direct unpaid referrals, keeping CAC below $1.
For context, Nubank serves approximately 62% of Brazilian adults.
Is it a strong proof that referral marketing is your best GTM?
No.
Referrals work ONLY if your product has a PMF.
Nubank won because they entered an extremely fertile ground of unbanked users in Latin America. They could have had the worst possible ref terms – and they would still win.
This is a huge difference from the new gen neobank you're building in 2026.
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