# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending December 10, 2021 Published: 10 December 2021 Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/december-08th-2021 ## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK Retention. A [blended retention/acquisition strategy](https://productled.com/blog/how-acquisition-and-retention-work-together/) is critical for the long-term sustainability of a SaaS business, but what are the core retention metrics to monitor? [Take a read here](https://productled.com/blog/retention-metrics-that-matter) of how to measure and improve the ones on the list. Link: https://productled.com/blog/how-acquisition-and-retention-work-together/ ## 2. QUOTA 1/2 Hands up if you're forecasting or re-forecasting for 2022! Compensating SaaS Sales Reps is complicated and expensive. [This blog post from Kyle Racki](https://blog.kyleracki.com/how-to-compensate-your-saas-sales-reps-4f26e29240) of [Proposify](https://www.proposify.com/) has a pretty comprehensive guide on setting quotas and commissions. But here is a quick shortcut to make it easy for all you Account Executives: The average annual quota in [this report from David Skok and Co](https://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/hubfs/resources/2017_SaaS_AE_Metrics.pdf?t=1499803746776) is $770K in ACV, and on average, the quota was **5.3X OTE**. An expanded top10inTech teardown of that report (which admittedly is from 2017, so starting to get a bit long in the tooth) [can be found here](https://medium.com/north-america-tech-for-kiwis/new-saas-report-from-the-bridge-group-680c2b7cd3d6). Link: https://blog.kyleracki.com/how-to-compensate-your-saas-sales-reps-4f26e29240 ## 3. QUOTA 2/2 Thought-provoking article: [Your Sales Team has a Sales Quota. Your Marketing team has to have a quota too](https://www.saastr.com/your-vp-sales-has-a-sales-quota-your-vp-marketing-needs-a-lead-quota-period) - as they are also part of your revenue team. Getting both sales and marketing teams aligned beyond quota is a fundamental trick, and [Tomasz Tunguz has a quick diagnostic to determine if your sales and marketing teams are working well together](https://tomtunguz.com/sales-marketing-slope-connected/). Link: https://www.saastr.com/your-vp-sales-has-a-sales-quota-your-vp-marketing-needs-a-lead-quota-period ## 4. FORECASTS Outside of setting quotas, running a SaaS business relies heavily on cash flow - so it is imperative to forecast future revenue to avoid a cash crunch when trying to scale. So [check this article covering Sales Forecasts and Pipeline Reviews](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/sales-forecasts-and-pipeline-reviews-why-and-how-aa1de7f65dd7): Why and How from a cash perspective. Link: https://medium.com/point-nine-news/sales-forecasts-and-pipeline-reviews-why-and-how-aa1de7f65dd7 ## 5. PITCH The days of mandatory in-person pitch meetings to a VC are mostly behind us (at least for the foreseeable future). Pitching over Zoom is where we are at. Before you focus on getting the perfect lighting, though - check these [16 rookie errors founders make pitching to VCs](https://www.saastr.com/16-rookie-errors-founders-make-pitching-to-vcs-and-passing-the-20-minute-test/) from Jason Lemkin and read here on [how you will be Zoom-judged by the VCs you are pitching to](https://www.nfx.com/post/how-vcs-judge-your-startup-on-zoom/). Link: https://www.saastr.com/16-rookie-errors-founders-make-pitching-to-vcs-and-passing-the-20-minute-test/ ## 6. OPTIONS and ESOP Stock options are necessary for hiring and retaining the best talent in this hyper-competitive Startup Land. So how can companies build an effective option plan? During a call this week, I was referred to [this site](https://www.indexventures.com/optionplan) earlier this week that has compiled a set of benchmark data, comprising over 20,000 option grants from more than 1,650 startups across the US and Europe sorted by Seed or Venture stage. Link: https://www.indexventures.com/optionplan ## 7. SOCIAL MEDIA 2021 was a bit bonkers ([ask Google](https://blog.google/products/search/year-in-search-2021/)), especially in the [Social Media world](https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/10/14/outages-and-scandals-why-influencers-are-rethinking-facebook-and-instagram). So how will 2022 fare? Take a read of [this report from HubSpot and Talkwalker for 2022 Social Media Trends](https://www.talkwalker.com/resource/white-papers/en-final-smt-report.pdf) - they have a pretty good Top 10 list. Link: https://blog.google/products/search/year-in-search-2021/ ## 8. MULTIPLES Public SaaS and Tech companies suffered a beat down earlier this month. Did it have any significant impact on multiples of their revenue? [Overall Stats](https://cloudedjudgement.substack.com/p/clouded-judgement-12321): Median: 12.3x, Top 5 Median: 49.0x, 3 Month Trailing Average: 15.5x, 1 Year Trailing Average: 16.0x - that's a measurable downturn but keep in mind these numbers are still 86% above pre-covid highs. Link: https://cloudedjudgement.substack.com/p/clouded-judgement-12321 ## 9. UX Optimizing a User Experience is critical to the long-term success of any service or product. Google has [Web Vitals](https://web.dev/vitals/), a program that offers developers guidance about best practice benchmarks on user experience. First, Round Capital has a [DEEEEEP dive/crash Course for Founders on the principles of UX Research](https://review.firstround.com/a-ux-research-crash-course-for-founders-customer-discovery-tips-from-zoom-zapier-and-dropbox)from people at Zoom, Zapier, and Dropbox. Link: https://web.dev/vitals/ ## 10. CASE STUDY Category Creation is the Holy Grail - we all want to be up, and to the right is one of those Gartner/Forrester Quadrant reports. So here is [how Neo4 did it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLWAShU0RYk). Here is [another story from Gett](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhHcv91obXk) and a warts-and-all case story about [how OKTA made their category creation happen](https://www.bvp.com/atlas/okta-ceo-todd-mckinnon-on-powering-through-your-darkest-days-until-finally-the-category-is-born) via Bessemer Venture Partners. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLWAShU0RYk ## POD OF THE WEEK Financial Reporting for Startups is something every founder has to up-skill at - [this webinar](https://youtu.be/7-vQsKizUPU)(replay) covers operational and financial forecasts. Answering all those hairy questions - such as how do I forecast ARR when in startup mode? Link: https://youtu.be/7-vQsKizUPU