Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending September 18, 2026

SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

GROWTH -: Median growth for private B2B SaaS is 22%, down from 25% last year. SaaS Capital's 15th annual survey (across 1,000+ companies). Only 7.3% reported flat or negative growth, though - the market slowed, but it didn't stall. Equity-backed medians held at 25% while bootstrapped slipped to 20%.

FOUNDERS

Daniel Dines gave his CEO job up at UiPath to some hired exec. Four months later (after one guidance cut and a 35% stock drop), he took the role back. The founder at Workday just did the same, same over at Intercom - Lemkin calls it The Last Stand - with a pre-AI B2B SaaS company that's big enough to survive, too slow to matter, but nobody but the founder can survive the rebuild needed.

CONCENTRATION

1% of OpenAI and Anthropic's customers generate 80% of their enterprise revenue (and it hasn't moved in three years) - seems like a bit of a risk. The median business spends $11.95 per employee per year on AI. The top 1% spends $7,400. The AI boom has a lot fewer buyers than the earnings calls suggest.

MOATS

There seems to be a general worry out there that some vibe-coded upstart is coming for your SaaS renewals? SaaS Capital took a good look and says it basically isn't happening - buyers grumble about building it themselves, then pay up like they always did (at least for now). The (more important) real move they're seeing is in reverse: the incumbents are doing the vibe-coding, building that adjacent tool so the client never buys it from anyone else.

BUY vs BUILD

Fast and opposing follow-up to #4 above and taking the buyer's side. The "We'll build it ourselves" objection has more than doubled in a year. Before you panic: under $25K, it's a bluff, the win rates don't move. Over $100K, it cuts your win chance 80% - and 60% of those losses aren't losses to a build. A median vendor, according to this post (only 100 anonymized companies), has nearly 10% of lost ACV tied to it.

MESSAGING

Would anyone notice if your competitor stole your homepage? It's brutal because you already know the answer. Most hero messages are interchangeable - It's category wallpaper.

AI-CESSION

Graduating into a severe recession job market typically costs someone about 10% in first-year earnings. But take a look at this data - If you are graduating in 2026 with a degree that is really exposed to AI - it costs 13% - plus a 5-point lower chance of even having a job at all.

GROWTH

Check these 64 creative growth tactics from Tom Orbach (who does this for a living at Wiz). Each of his ideas has been run at least once; most are niche. Heads up: it paywalls just past halfway - but that's 32 things - gotta be at least one for ya!

PLANNING

End of year is around the corner - so this is your annual notice that Annual planning season is open - so start with CJ Gustafson's Annual Planning Bible for 2027. Before you model your dinero, check five things: current headcount, open headcount, this month's P&L, rep attainment history, and 12 months of costs.

CASE STUDY

ElevenLabs went from $0 to $100M ARR in 20 months, then $600M+ by month 41 - it friggin accelerated as it got bigger. Also - when their AI agents close revenue on an account, the human who owns it still gets the commission. Also, sales quota is 20x base salary (traditional B2B is 5x).