# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending May 22, 2020

Published: 22 May 2020
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-may-22-2020

Feel free to share the knowledge outside of your bubble [via this social distancing platform](https://www.top10in.tech/)!

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

The Nag Metric. This one is fun (but not for everyone). A call to action within a site or customer journey is kinda like a parent trying to get their kid to clean up. It just gets a bit naggy after a while. This can impact your brand/NPS over time or just irritate people into churn. The Nag Score - [outlined in detail here](https://lg.substack.com/p/the-nag-metric), is an attempt to quantify this.

Link: https://lg.substack.com/p/the-nag-metric

## 2. LEADERSHIP

With the rise of COVID-19 across all of our business and personal lives, leadership and strategies for operating through these uncertain times has become heavily discussed. This article on the topic resonated hard for me - centered on the idea of a [Human Centric CEO](https://medium.com/@schlaf/the-rise-of-the-human-centric-ceo-3a870d913f78). Not just because it’s not just the right thing to do, but because the author believes it will inevitably lead to healthier organizations. Also - for fun. In these unprecedented times Leadership/Execs [have ramped the use of the word “unprecedented” on earnings calls](https://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=0c60818e26ecdbe423a10ad2f&id=3885bcb4f7&e=d825ed986f&utm_source=CB+Insights+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2284a87d42-newsletter_general_Wed_20200520&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9dc0513989-2284a87d42-88805413).

Link: https://medium.com/@schlaf/the-rise-of-the-human-centric-ceo-3a870d913f78

## 3. ONBOARDING

Onboarding success is often de-prioritized with scrappy fast-growing business but giving customers all the tools they need to succeed with your product is the best way to ensure that they stick around. Profitwell [review the importance of good SaaS onboarding](https://www.profitwell.com/blog/saas-onboarding) and discuss steps to create an awesome program. Userpilot also have a great tactical [complimentary post here](https://userpilot.com/blog/customer-onboarding-software-saas/) on the best customer onboarding software options for SaaS companies.

Link: https://www.profitwell.com/blog/saas-onboarding

## 4. VENTURE

From Gabe Kleinman of Obvious Ventures [a great article positing that the entire VC industry needs a reset](https://marker.medium.com/venture-capital-needs-a-complete-reset-25afddb7c450), making a strong case that VC's are missing out on the most transformative ideas of our time (opposed to incremental ones) and PointNine ask from another angle - If entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, [then why do all VC's look the same](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/if-entrepreneurs-can-come-from-anywhere-then-why-do-all-vcs-look-the-same-3e5c809762aa)? There is a reasons why the (kinda) parody site [VCStarter Kit](https://vcstarterkit.com/) exists you know.

Link: https://marker.medium.com/venture-capital-needs-a-complete-reset-25afddb7c450

## 5. PROFIT

There are myriad opinions on how well software companies perform, especially in public markets. SaaStistics analyze this across two article. The first asks the question '[Are Software Returns Really That Good?](https://medium.com/@saastistics/how-good-are-software-returns-really-1b667a92b0fd)’ TL;DR - heck yeah. The second one asks - cool! [So which ones are the best](https://medium.com/@saastistics/what-are-the-best-performing-software-stocks-75914cf15d0b)? TL;DR Shopify…..but also Zoom!

Link: https://medium.com/@saastistics/how-good-are-software-returns-really-1b667a92b0fd

## 6. LEGAL DOCUMENTS

In startup land there is a long tail of legal documents that need drafting just to run the business. Here are some great resources for free legal documents so you can stick to the mission: [Avodocs](https://www.avodocs.com/documents) - 3 free per month. [Cooley Go](https://www.cooleygo.com/documents/) has a library of documents for the US and UK, from Penn State Law School - a [startup Kit](https://www.law.upenn.edu/clinic/entrepreneurship/startupkit) bundle and for those of us in NZ, Simmonds Stewart has a [comprehensive library of agreements and templates](https://simmondsstewart.com/resources/templates/).

Link: https://www.avodocs.com/documents

## 7. INSURTECH

From CBInsights is the (PDF Download) [Q1 2020 report on the insurance tech sector](https://www.cbinsights.com/reports/CB-Insights_Insurance-Tech-Q1-2020.pdf). Optimism and confidence are on a COVID-pause with a 54% dive in funding from last Q totaling $912M across 96 deals.

Link: https://www.cbinsights.com/reports/CB-Insights_Insurance-Tech-Q1-2020.pdf

## 8. SALES

Cold calling and email is increasing as a tool during our new sales regimes but these methods historically have very low response rates (1.48% for cold calls and 1% for cold emails). Jason Bay has some [methods to optimize response](https://blissfulprospecting.com/reply-method/) rates and Gong has some [recommendations on cold calling](https://www.gong.io/blog/is-cold-calling-dead/).

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

## 9. MARKETING

Here is a relatively new phase for my SaaS dictionary - buyer intent data. I have posted all kinds of articles in this newsletter on Marketing strategies and tactics - but there is never a one-size fits all channel for a company. So how does a business find out what are the best marketing channels for them? [This article suggests that everything needed to answer that questions is already within the data a business generates](https://www.leadfeeder.com/blog/how-to-use-buyer-intent-data/) every day.

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

## 10. AAS

Made you look. From my buddies at VentureBeat is a validating post on [why ‘as-a-service’ business models will likely reign in a post-pandemic world](https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/16/why-as-a-service-models-will-reign-in-a-post-pandemic-world/). (But these will not be the “growth at all costs” pre-pandemic ones).

Link: https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/16/why-as-a-service-models-will-reign-in-a-post-pandemic-world/

## POD OF THE WEEK

“Jobs to be done” isn’t a phrase, it’s a methodology for getting stuff done - listen more on [the concept here](https://pod.co/product-led-podcast/jobs-to-be-done-with-product-led-growth-with-alan-klement-partner-at-revealed).

Link: https://pod.co/product-led-podcast/jobs-to-be-done-with-product-led-growth-with-alan-klement-partner-at-revealed