# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending July 29, 2022

Published: 28 July 2022
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-july-29-2022

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: CPA

Cost per acquisition. This is often conflated with 'Cost of acquisition', but they differ. [Andrew Chen dives into the details as to why](https://andrewchen.co/how-to-actually-calculate-cac) (and also how to calculate CAC accurately).

Link: https://andrewchen.co/how-to-actually-calculate-cac

## 2. CAPITAL

The VC downturn of 1H '22 has resulted in an increasing number of startups turning to alternative sources of capital - such as venture debt and revenue-based financing. [According to PitchBook data](https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/venture-debt-financing-capchase-pipe-fundraising), venture debt deals for tech startups in the first half of this year have reached $14.1B. [Here is more on how Venture Debt works and what these financiers care about](https://blog.chartmogul.com/revenue-based-financing/)

Link: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/venture-debt-financing-capchase-pipe-fundraising

## 3. PERSONAS

SaaS B2B Marketing is a [pretty unique beast](https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-saas-marketing-is-different/) - and getting [into the minds of an idealized customer](https://www.getbeamer.com/blog/saas-personas) often requires going through the practice of creating personas - [you should try it](https://userguiding.com/blog/user-persona-examples/)- it will definitely make you a better SaaS marketer. For most SaaS companies [creating multiple personas](https://tomtunguz.com/marketing-to-two-different-people-at-the-same-time) is often a strategic necessity. So here is an additional differentiator (and what the difference is compared to a persona) [of an ideal customer profile](https://blog.close.com/ideal-customer-profile-vs-buyer-persona).

Link: https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-saas-marketing-is-different/

## 4. MARKETING

More for your SaaS dictionary: *Buyer Intent Data*. There is never a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy and channel for a business. So how does a business find out the best marketing channels for them? [This article suggests that everything needed to answer that question is already within the data a business generates](https://www.leadfeeder.com/blog/how-to-use-buyer-intent-data/) daily. (you're gonna need Personas - so don't skip the links above)

Link: https://www.leadfeeder.com/blog/how-to-use-buyer-intent-data/

## 5. LANDING PAGES

You may not need [25,000 landing pages](https://ryanberg.co/how-zapier-reached-35m-arr-with-this-saas-seo-strategy/) like Zapier does - but you probably need >1 - so how about you bookmark [this resource of the best 690 SaaS landing page examples](https://saaslandingpage.com/) sorted by category (about-us, Pricing, features, etc.)?

Link: https://ryanberg.co/how-zapier-reached-35m-arr-with-this-saas-seo-strategy/

## 6. CUSTOMER DATA

Customer data management is a *practice*, not a technology. I love that simple message. Bluconic gives the crib notes/5-steps [in this article about developing a strategy to optimize and improve customer experience](https://www.blueconic.com/blog/customer-data-management) using good data management practices.

Link: https://www.blueconic.com/blog/customer-data-management

## 7. LAW

Not the litigious kind - from CBInsights is a [67-page report covering the 11 laws driving success in tech](https://www.dropbox.com/s/urw27exp9y9ub5e/CB-Insights_Laws-Driving-Success-In-Tech.pdf?dl=0), such as Amazon's 2-pizza rule, the 80/20 principle, and more.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/urw27exp9y9ub5e/CB-Insights_Laws-Driving-Success-In-Tech.pdf?dl=0

## 8. FRAMEWORKS

Beyond the above laws, a successful framework can distill complex processes or models to make execution more of a simple recipe. Kinda why OKRs exist. Sarah Tavel has [compiled a great list of compelling Frameworks](https://sarahtavel.medium.com/frameworks-12c220e775eb) covering: The 10x model, The hierarchy of engagement, Hype cycles, and more!

Link: https://sarahtavel.medium.com/frameworks-12c220e775eb

## 9. CRYPTO

[This article dives deep into the foundations of the entire crypto/web3 financial system](https://cryptobanking.network/the-crypto-banking-system/) and its components, and this[complimentary article highlights the differences in crypto vs. traditional (and shadow) banking](https://cryptobanking.network/crypto-banking-differences-with-traditional-and-shadow-banking/).

Link: https://cryptobanking.network/the-crypto-banking-system/

## 10. CASE STUDY

This one is fun - it's [a history of user interfaces (all OS based ) over the years](https://history.user-interface.io/) going all the way back to the start of the Internet in the 70s.

Link: https://history.user-interface.io/

## POD OF THE WEEK

Being first to market is not necessarily a winning advantage - Des Traynor (co-founder at Intercom and a great speaker) [dives into elements that make a move into Enterprise effective](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/twenty-minute-vc-venture-capital-startup-funding-pitch/id958230465?i=1000570291248).

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/twenty-minute-vc-venture-capital-startup-funding-pitch/id958230465?i=1000570291248