# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending July 31, 2026

Published: 31 July 2026
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-july-31-2026

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

QUOTAS: Top reps carry more than you think. Per ICONIQ's 2026 GTM data that I [referenced a couple of weeks back](https://www.top10in.tech/posts/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-july-17-2026), top-quartile quotas now run $750K (SMB), $1.35M (mid-market), and $2.25M (enterprise) - and attainment is UP, 85-90% vs the usual 65-75%. Jason Lemkin has a warning: if your enterprise AE is still on $1.5M, [you're leaving about 30% on the table](https://www.saastr.com/sales-rep-annual-quotas-what-high-performers-are-actually-carrying), but crank it without the pipeline to back it and attrition will spike.

Link: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-july-17-2026

## 2. PRICING

Here's the gut-punch in AI pricing: [the customer who loves your product most is also probably the one bleeding you dry](https://www.saastr.com/sales-rep-annual-quotas-what-high-performers-are-actually-carrying/?mkt_tok=NzIwLVJTVC0zMTkAAAGjGXecQW5m1NRESrdyJKKt2G-hOcEAubTk6TQydTofgrMbXXWcqfYAKArHbHyaDPMPoHsMUF5iGAdOqMMGOI8I53MGuTf86A-JvQMDCubGT8t2). On a flat plan, the power user running the biggest model all day can cost several times what they pay, while the light user quietly subsidizes them. The AI Corner's pitch isn't subscription vs usage, it's charging for the outcome, not the tokens.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/sales-rep-annual-quotas-what-high-performers-are-actually-carrying/?mkt_tok=NzIwLVJTVC0zMTkAAAGjGXecQW5m1NRESrdyJKKt2G-hOcEAubTk6TQydTofgrMbXXWcqfYAKArHbHyaDPMPoHsMUF5iGAdOqMMGOI8I53MGuTf86A-JvQMDCubGT8t2

## 3. BENCHMARKS

A [meaty one from SaasRise](https://www.saasrise.com/blog/saas-benchmark-report-2026) - (and actually a mashup of other reports and studies): 15+ datasets and 2,500 SaaS companies in one place. The headlines: median growth 26%, NRR down to 101%, gross margin 75%, LTV:CAC 3.3x. AI-native firms grow \~4x legacy but get leaky at the low end. Segmented by size, AI type, and vertical. Tons of good content in there.

Link: https://www.saasrise.com/blog/saas-benchmark-report-2026

## 4. MARKETING

[Great article (and a self-retrospective review by the author)](https://newsletter.posthog.com/p/the-stuff-nobody-tells-you-about) for a bunch of you early stagers running marketing by yourself. 7 wish-I-would-have-known-tips. For example - Found one channel that works? The instinct is to go list 10 more to try - that's how you end up six months later with a pile of stuff that flopped and no idea why - Don't! Went viral on LinkedIn once? Post daily.

Link: https://newsletter.posthog.com/p/the-stuff-nobody-tells-you-about

## 5. PROMPTING

If you're building on AI (and I know y'all are), your carefully layered instructions are probably hurting you now. Teachable moment - [Anthropic stripped 80%+ of Claude Code's system prompts](https://claude.com/blog/the-new-rules-of-context-engineering-for-claude-5-generation-models) on newer models and coding scores held up. The old habits (examples, hard rules, repeating yourself) constrain today's models. Apparently we need to trim our prompts and let the thing use its judgment.

Link: https://claude.com/blog/the-new-rules-of-context-engineering-for-claude-5-generation-models

## 6. SEARCH

What we all assumed was a big decline in "Googling" due to Gemini resulting in revenue decline at Alphabet was wrong! [Google Ad Revenue is up 14.5% with Revenue Up 24%](https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/message-ceo/alphabet-earnings-q2-2026/) - it's their biggest quarter ever. They are also sending [billions of clicks](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7483916000103583744/) to websites weekly through AI search.

Link: https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/message-ceo/alphabet-earnings-q2-2026/

## 7. LEGITIMACY

This one is a longer read for your morning coffee. [Tech is gaining the most power it's ever had over society ](https://www.michaeldempsey.me/blog/2026/07/23/beyond-techs-power/)at the exact moment it also seems to have stopped caring how society sees it. It all seems like an insider game, and none of it buys legitimacy with the actual society tech is busy reshaping. So be tech contrary. The flex might be the opposite of lean. The article pitches, in a world scared of AI taking jobs, go 'employeemaxing' - hiring lots of humans, junior ones, beyond just coastal cities.

Link: https://www.michaeldempsey.me/blog/2026/07/23/beyond-techs-power/

## 8. SOFTWARE

According to a16z, [public software is trading at its lowest premium on cash flow since 2014](https://www.a16z.news/p/charts-of-the-week-softwares-selective). Cyber, observability, and vertical SaaS seem to be holding up; horizontal SaaS and infrastructure are getting dumped. Sticky ARR, huge feature sets, broad adoption is yesterday's news. The market's verdict: software alone is no longer your moat. What is then?

Link: https://www.a16z.news/p/charts-of-the-week-softwares-selective

## 9. AEO

Getting recommended by an LLM isn't an SEO problem, it's a positioning one. Adam DuVander says t[he question isn't your rank but the gaps](https://www.heavybit.com/library/article/aeo-geo-seo-differences-and-why-they-matter): where do you beat competitors on a use case, where are you invisible? Add a couple words to a prompt, and the context flips - so tight positioning actually wins.

Link: https://www.heavybit.com/library/article/aeo-geo-seo-differences-and-why-they-matter

## 10. CASE STUDY

Oura (smart rings) grew from $0 to $1B revenue in 10 Years - [here is an overview of 9 growth levers](https://www.startupriders.com/p/oura-growth-playbook) behind it.

Link: https://www.startupriders.com/p/oura-growth-playbook

## POD OF THE WEEK

Most Valuable Skill of 2026? [Managing AI Agents](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJEy3nP2_C8)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJEy3nP2_C8