--- title: Catch-Up - Definition & Examples | RGM® Glossary url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/glossary/catch-up/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/glossary/catch-up/ --- Growth Glossary — Definition SHT CATCH-UP # Catch-Up Provision allowing GP to catch up to carry split after hurdle. A working definition from the RGM marketing glossary. Provision allowing GP to catch up to carry split after hurdle. Term : Catch-Up Field : Venture Capital Category : Capital & Investing ## A working definition Look at it this way.Catch-Up is a capital concept your team should define once. A loose definition misaligns budgets and reporting. Provision allowing GP to catch up to carry split after hurdle. Within Capital & Investing, Catch-Up is a capital concept. Get the definition right and the work that follows gets easier. ## Where the mechanics matter Look at it this way.There is no single setting for Catch-Up. It bends to the audience, the channels, and the wider plan. Catch-Up is not a switch you flip. It names a moving idea, and the way it plays out shifts with the setup. A lean team running one paid channel applies Catch-Up differently than a brand running ten. Use Catch-Up loosely and teams pull apart; pin it down and the math lines up. The working rule is plain. Agree what Catch-Up covers first, then act on it. Skip that order and Catch-Up loses its shared meaning, and two teams end up measuring two different things. Keep this in mind. ## When teams use it Read that twice.Reach for Catch-Up when a real decision rides on it -- a budget, a metric, or a comparison. Otherwise it is reference. Catch-Up matters at the point of a decision. In capital & investing, three moments come up again and again. Outside them, Catch-Up is reference material. 1. **Setting budget.** Catch-Up helps decide which channel gets the next dollar. 2. **Choosing a metric.** Catch-Up separates a causal read from a coincidence. 3. **Comparing options.** Catch-Up keeps a head-to-head from fooling the reader. ## Worked example Read that twice.Below, Catch-Up is put inside a a Series B marketplace setting -- real trade-offs, a clear baseline, and a figure to test it. Look at a Series B marketplace. In a CAC-to-LTV review, Catch-Up drove the decision rather than sitting in a footnote. A baseline came first, then a single agreed meaning of Catch-Up, then the read: runway extended after re-pricing a 3:1 segment. The numbers behind Catch-Up -- illustrative only, RGM analysis | Stage | What the team did | What it bought | | Baseline | Read the starting point before any change to Catch-Up. | A reference to judge against. | | Define | Locked the scope of Catch-Up so it stayed stable. | A shared definition up front. | | Act | A CAC-to-LTV review — one variable. | One change, a clean read. | | Result | Runway extended after re-pricing a 3:1 segment | An outcome you can trust. | Treat the Catch-Up figures as illustrative, labeled RGM analysis. Reuse the sequence, not the digits. ## Common mistakes One idea, plainly put.The errors with Catch-Up are predictable: one blanket rule, no context, chasing the word, raw benchmarks. Each is avoidable. - **One blanket rule.** Applying Catch-Up the same way everywhere. Split it by audience, channel, and business model. - **No context.** Reporting Catch-Up with no baseline. A bare number cannot be judged. - **Chasing the word.** Optimizing Catch-Up for its own sake. Check it tracks a real outcome. - **Bad compares.** Benchmarking Catch-Up with no adjustment. Account for the model differences first. ## Frequently asked questions What does Catch-Up mean? Provision allowing GP to catch up to carry split after hurdle. Settle what Catch-Up covers first; the strategy follows from there. What makes Catch-Up worth knowing? Catch-Up shows up in budget reviews and channel reporting. Use it loosely and teams pull apart; use it precisely and the numbers line up. How do teams use Catch-Up? Catch-Up supports a real choice: where money goes, what gets measured, which option wins. The a Series B marketplace case traces it. What is the most common mistake with Catch-Up? Treating Catch-Up as one blanket rule and reporting it with no baseline. Both hide a soft assumption. What does Catch-Up mean? : Provision allowing GP to catch up to carry split after hurdle. Settle what Catch-Up covers first; the strategy follows from there. What makes Catch-Up worth knowing? : Catch-Up shows up in budget reviews and channel reporting. Use it loosely and teams pull apart; use it precisely and the numbers line up. How do teams use Catch-Up? : Catch-Up supports a real choice: where money goes, what gets measured, which option wins. The a Series B marketplace case traces it. ### Related reading ### Related terms