# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending April 28, 2023

Published: 27 April 2023
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-april-28-2023

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

Space Metrics. The [biggest rocket in history launched](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01377-3) (and exploded) last week, so here is a great deep dive into the [relevant Space industry metrics, acronyms, and Market Sizing](https://www.spaceworks.aero/survival-of-the-fittest_launch_industry/) that's driving real competition (including [the loss of Virgin Orbit](https://gizmodo.com/how-virgin-orbit-went-bankrupt-1850361416)earlier this month) - Why should we care? The rise of Heavy Launch Vehicles has just started, and see Pod of the Week for more details - TL;DL - it's all about the global movement of goods and materials.

Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01377-3

## 2. SHAPE UP

A refresher for your tech dictionaries and reading list. Software product development requires innovative strategies based on today's cadence expectations of continuous integration, micro-services, feature delivery, and scale. The team at [Basecamp](https://basecamp.com/) (I'm an old-school fan) has developed [ShapeUp, its publications, and a toolbox of techniques that can eliminate chaos when it comes to designing, prioritizing, and shipping products/features](https://basecamp.com/shapeup).

Link: https://basecamp.com/

## 3. SALARY

Hey Founders, a recent TechCrunch article recommends that founders pay themselves rather than doing it for the equity - after all, paying people is what Venture should be for, right? So how much? This doesn't mean you get Market Rates; startup founder's and CEO salaries can often range from zero to a gated raise based on ARR. See here for [lots of good answers and also lots of different situations](https://www.saastr.com/one-simple-rule-on-how-much-to-pay-yourself-once-you-raise-venture-capital). According to Nathan Latka, a good rule of thumb is that if [you're two-co-founders and just hit $1m in ARR, you should make about $100k per year and Increase to $150k at $2m in ARR](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1vUNDCGViU).

Link: https://www.saastr.com/one-simple-rule-on-how-much-to-pay-yourself-once-you-raise-venture-capital

## 4. PRODUCT BENCHMARKS

I'm hoping for an updated report soon, but this report is a must-read for those of you starting or deep into product-led growth. It's year 3 of the Openview product Benchmark Reports - [downloadable here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2d7gwyb68v877u/2022%20OpenView%20Product%20Benchmarks%20Report.pdf?dl=0). Products continue to perform well as acquisition, conversion, and expansion tools, so this is an excellent report to gauge what's good vs. what is great regarding product conversion. In a hurry to benchmark yourself? [Use this interactive calculator](https://openviewpartners.com/2022-product-benchmarks-calculator) to see how your user journey compares to businesses of a similar size and scale. FUN FACT: 61% of companies in [the Cloud 100](https://www.bvp.com/cloud100)—including Calendly, Amplitude, and GitLab—leverage a PLG model.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2d7gwyb68v877u/2022%20OpenView%20Product%20Benchmarks%20Report.pdf?dl=0

## 5. GO-TO-MARKET

The team at ContentBeta has teased their now-released [Go-To-Market Playbook for 2023](https://www.dropbox.com/s/o5yzecgjtkvrxai/Q3_2022_PitchBook_Analyst_Note_Down_Rounds_Impacts_and_Exit_Opportunities.pdf?dl=0). Check here for some great nuggets - guides, ebooks, and research reports are still the best content assets to differentiate your software (more than video), and cold email is still a strong go-to.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o5yzecgjtkvrxai/Q3_2022_PitchBook_Analyst_Note_Down_Rounds_Impacts_and_Exit_Opportunities.pdf?dl=0

## 6. COLD EMAIL

So based on #5 above, cold email remains a go-to modern-day sales tool - but diving deeper, this method historically has a shallow response rate (1% for cold emails historically but has dropped below 1% in recent years). 1. Jason Bay has spot-on [methods to optimize response](https://blissfulprospecting.com/reply-method/)rates, 2. Predictable Revenue has this[PowerPoint deck](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1s3PJdZpkZSSFT9MqHcHIQly7z9X3IMIb0fOvDy3bi9E/edit#slide=id.g8d379308d7_0_193)on the four pillars they think constitute a quality sales-based email campaign. 3. This is a quality case study for anyone with email marketing as part of their businesses - a [deep dive into a single cold email and why the author actually opened it](https://medium.com/better-marketing/the-best-cold-e-mail-ive-ever-received-bfa224677b64) (TL;DR - yes, it's all about everything in the design of the email, but its more about how targeted the message is). 4. So here (from LeadIQ) is their [3-step guide to getting noticed by email](https://www.dropbox.com/s/h1bihjgyvmha3fg/ebook-email-your-way-out-of-the-ice-ages-leadiq.pdf?dl=0). And finally, with a VERY focused mission on getting to Demo - [a guide to booking 70+ demos/month/rep](https://www.cliently.com/blog/guide-to-book-70-demos-from-cold-emailing-per-month-per-rep) using cold email.

Link: https://blissfulprospecting.com/reply-method/

## 7. SAAS SPEND

Maybe in part to the AI boom of '23, but there is a growing demand for [cloud that will push spending to about $600 billion](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-04-19-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-reach-nearly-600-billion-in-2023) by the end of the year, according to a new report from Gartner, with 1/3 of that spending on SaaS (about $200 million up 18% YoY)

Link: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-04-19-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-reach-nearly-600-billion-in-2023

## 8. EARLY STAGE FUNDING

Startups go through various fundraising lifecycles. [This article guides understanding startup funding/investing](https://startupxplore.com/en/blog/types-startup-investing/) for all of you at the early stage of Startup life.

Link: https://startupxplore.com/en/blog/types-startup-investing/

## 9. ONBOARDING

Userpilot has just released their [State of User Onboarding for 2023](https://www.dropbox.com/s/jq7nrkrv01ucqg4/State-of-SaaS-onboarding-report-2023_compressed.pdf?dl=0). 74% of SaaS companies offer a free trial, up from 43% in 2022. There may be a bit of survey bias here as they state that only 4% of companies relied on demos for customer acquisition - prob a ton of enterprise b2b SaaS that would disagree. It may be a hangover from their prior MarTech focus.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jq7nrkrv01ucqg4/State-of-SaaS-onboarding-report-2023_compressed.pdf?dl=0

## 10. CASE STUDY

[AutoGPT](https://writesonic.com/blog/what-is-autogpt/): OK - it's been a couple of weeks since AutoGPT was launched (which is like a year in AI time); here[is everything you need to know](https://twitter.com/nathanlands/status/1646101184384573446?s=12&t=IYzgSgfNdjukVX8jnUj5aQ) (via a Twitter thread) - until, of course, things change.

Link: https://writesonic.com/blog/what-is-autogpt/

## POD OF THE WEEK

Complementing number 1 above. Why should we care about Space? Well, [listen to the All In Podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvTTDxMuAis) that hosted SpaceX investors and team members discussing how transportation (especially of goods and materials) could rapidly change in the next 10 years by traveling sub-orbital, at scale, and in big-ass rockets).

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