# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending August 18, 2023

Published: 17 August 2023
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-august-18-2023

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: CLV.

How far out should you calculate your customer's lifetime: two years, three years, five years? Turns out [the shape of the decay curve matters, as does max customer lifetime](https://www.reidtandy.com/p/how-far-out-should-you-forecast-clv).

Link: https://www.reidtandy.com/p/how-far-out-should-you-forecast-clv

## 2. CLOUD 100

Bessemer Ventures/Forbes created a "Cloud 100" list eight years back, an annual ranking of the world's top private cloud companies. [The 2023 list looks](https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-cloud-100-benchmarks-report) a little different. This year saw the first-ever drop in overall aggregate value. Also, Stripe has been dethroned from its usual #1 spot by, surprise, surprise, AI with OpenAI, who also made the list for the first time. Combined, the top 10 companies in the Cloud 100 are worth a staggering $211 billion and average 26x ARR in forward multiples.

Link: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-cloud-100-benchmarks-report

## 3. NETWORK EFFECTS

Building and scaling products like Slack and Zoom is still quite challenging, so [read this conversation between Andrew Chen and Des Traynor on building networks that make your product thrive](https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/andrew-chen-on-growth-with-network-effects).

Link: https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/andrew-chen-on-growth-with-network-effects

## 4. VENTURE

According to the [Q2 2023 US VC Valuations Report from Pitchbook](https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2023-us-vc-valuations-report), early-stage startup median valuations dipped to [$38.5M in Q2 2023 from the Q3 2022 peak of $45M](https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2c1c6d805uv3iqh9xuscg/corner-office/valuation-compression-hits-early-stage-venture-capital)- interest rates, bank drama, and economic volatility look to be major influences, which is why investors are eagle-eyed for solid fundamentals.

Link: https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2023-us-vc-valuations-report

## 5. VENTURE

This week, Tomasz Tunguz notes that [the correlation between public market trends and venture activities during the 2008 financial crisis might not have felt apparent at the time](https://tomtunguz.com/what-will-a-turnaround-feel-like/), but historical analysis reveals a strong connection - which we may be able to learn from this time around.

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/what-will-a-turnaround-feel-like/

## 6. PRODUCT MARKETING

In [this article, Kim Caldbeck of Bessemer Ventures outlines "The Six Ps" framework](https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-six-ps-of-lean-product-with-kim-caldbeck) from Dan Olsen's [Lean Product Playbook](https://leanproductplaybook.com/) for effective product marketing. These Ps - persona, problem, proposition, positioning, product, and promotion strategy - form the foundation for successful product marketing.

Link: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-six-ps-of-lean-product-with-kim-caldbeck

## 7. PLG MODELS

Free trials and a freemium model [aren't the only options for "free" experiences](https://productled.com/blog/6-product-led-free-models-and-examples) you can give to your users: Opt-In Free Trials, Opt-Out Free Trials, Usage-Based Free Trials, Freemium, New Products, and Sandbox.

Link: https://productled.com/blog/6-product-led-free-models-and-examples

## 8. PMF

OMG - we now have [a Product Market Fit Report](https://pmf.highalpha.com/)! High Aplah has put together some research on PMF to help those founders benchmark their progress against others on the same path: Only 56% believe they have product-market fit, and 29% think they will do this within the first 12 months of founding.

Link: https://pmf.highalpha.com/

## 9. ROBOTAXIS

Self-driving companies Waymo and Cruise have been [given permission to launch 24/7 driverless taxi services in San Francisco](https://www.engadget.com/waymo-and-cruise-get-approval-to-offer-247-paid-robotaxi-rides-in-san-francisco-050152855.html). This is a substantial industry shift, allowing these companies to expand operating and charging models; what could [possibly](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-12/cruise-robotaxis-come-to-a-standstill)go [wrong](https://insideevs.com/news/670739/cruise-robotaxi-stuck-musk-replies/)?.

Link: https://www.engadget.com/waymo-and-cruise-get-approval-to-offer-247-paid-robotaxi-rides-in-san-francisco-050152855.html

## 10. CASE STUDY

This one is for the CFOs: [Five CFO Learnings scaling from $10M to $100M+ ARR](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/from-10m-to-100m-arr-five-cfo-learnings).

Link: https://openviewpartners.com/blog/from-10m-to-100m-arr-five-cfo-learnings

## POD OF THE WEEK

Take a watch of [Four SaaS experts who discuss sales tech stacks](https://youtu.be/e_Pxf9ph56k?list=PL74FyCHTSnDtK87EzugRXNANK036UMl1L), emphasizing the importance of purpose-driven tools and the need to understand your problems before adding software.

Link: https://youtu.be/e_Pxf9ph56k?list=PL74FyCHTSnDtK87EzugRXNANK036UMl1L