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

Published: 9 November 2023
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-november-10-2023

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: MRR

! Recurring revenue models and usage-based pricing can be complex to reconcile, but [David Kellogg's insights on transitioning from annual to monthly and leveraging Implied ARR](https://kellblog.com/2022/10/13/mapping-from-annual-to-monthly-and-usage-based-saas-metrics/) are enlightening. According to [this article](https://chartmogul.com/blog/reactivation-expansion-mrr/), there are only 5 types of MRR growth, and they hinge on expansion and reactivation - areas traditionally overlooked. Benchmark your MRR [here](https://chartmogul.com/blog/understanding-mrr-movements/).

Link: https://kellblog.com/2022/10/13/mapping-from-annual-to-monthly-and-usage-based-saas-metrics/

## 2. CUSTOMER OPERATING SYSTEM

What exactly ***is*** the difference between Customer Success and Customer Support? [Get started here](https://blog.totango.com/2020/10/customer-success-vs-customer-support-what-are-the-differences-fc) to understand the nuances. They are both part of the same customer journey spectrum, and [Totango](https://www.totango.com/) posits, [in this recent SaaStr Annual presentation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63fsg2Ha39A), that we need a fresher look at Success and Support that they coin the "Customer Operating System" (Like the presso? [Here are the Google Slides deck](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTWX7PAduzydSRYf3xtrDdSb-k6-zvGaJMkv-6_ebTML3Dk68c3HWgdIHn5f924bjClTheAxX90pv4m/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000&_hsmi=94995844&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--XE7fEBjetFNx0zVOD5vrOJogrdF0FrFciO3xVh71RVEzkRfeA45RZJnPzOnq_J6IxrTji9SfDBnLiqh0tYdLEfi4Jmw&slide=id.g63bb278342_0_210)).

Link: https://blog.totango.com/2020/10/customer-success-vs-customer-support-what-are-the-differences-fc

## 3. OPERATIONAL PLAN

Because your new strategic year is just around the corner and now is the second best time to get started, Dave Kellogg has an excellent How-to guide on [presenting your amazing new operating plan to your board](https://kellblog.com/2022/11/23/how-to-present-an-operating-plan-to-your-board/).

Link: https://kellblog.com/2022/11/23/how-to-present-an-operating-plan-to-your-board/

## 4. PRICING 1

The title of this article says it all -[5 SaaS pricing mistakes you're probably making](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/5-saas-pricing-mistakes). Stop lowballing!, pick the right metric, make purchasing easy, optimize upsells, and keep pricing dynamic.

Link: https://openviewpartners.com/blog/5-saas-pricing-mistakes

## 5. PRICING 2

The Quarterly report from Vendr: [The SaaS Trends Report for Q3 2023](https://www.vendr.com/insights/saas-trends-report-q3-2023) (b2b only) is out. The remarkable drop-off in ACV that we [referenced a few months back](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-august-11-2023) for Q2 looked like a blip, but ACV is still down 17% YoY. We're all hiking prices like crazy, though, and CAC is at a 3-year high - doubled since 2020!

Link: https://www.vendr.com/insights/saas-trends-report-q3-2023

## 6. VENTURE

Here is an interesting side note from Carta late last month: [Seed and Series A funding sizes are rising](https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q3-2023); median seed at $3.2M, Series A at $9.1M, showing a positive trend for startups for the first time in 2 years. Hopefully, this remains a positive trend, as I [reported](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-october-13-2023) a few weeks back, [Carta's Q2 report](https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q2-2023/) painted a far from rosy picture of about a 1-in-5 raises also being a down round.

Link: https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q3-2023

## 7. QUOTAS

Planning time again - Tomasz Tunguz asking questions related to #5 last week but with a sales focus given rises in AI, CAC, decreases in ACV, and budgets: How much should Quotas increase next year? [His back of the napkin Math is 20%](https://tomtunguz.com/how-much-should-quotas-increase-next-year/).

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/how-much-should-quotas-increase-next-year/

## 8. GOOGLE

This one is juicy - thanks to an ongoing court case, [we get to temporarily peak into Google's most lucrative search queries over one week](https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/1/23941766/google-antitrust-trial-search-queries-ad-money). The top Google revenue queries are dominated by iPhones, insurance, flights, and cable/internet services, where advertisers bid aggressively for high-value customer acquisitions. Unfortunately, there is no indicator of what the cost per click is - but judging by the Hubspot study they also referenced, they look to be in the high three to the low four-figure range.

Link: https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/1/23941766/google-antitrust-trial-search-queries-ad-money

## 9. AI

Big announcements on the high end of AI town. [OpenAI officially launched the ChatGPT Store](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/06/app-store-for-ai-build-your-own-gpt-and-sell-it-on-openais-gpt-store/), with the potential for massive revenue growth via third-party developers. They are not calling them apps, though - but "GPTs." Microsoft, in its earnings call, announced that [GitHub Co-Pilot has over a million paying users](https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-has-over-a-million-paying-github-copilot-users-ceo-nadella), which is an indicative ARR of about $150 million.

Link: https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/06/app-store-for-ai-build-your-own-gpt-and-sell-it-on-openais-gpt-store/

## 10. CASE STUDY

Complementing #4 and #5 above, Pricing: it varies. [So check these case studies](https://wraptext.equals.com/the-perfect-pricing-model/): Atlassian had one model; Intercom, several; Loom (now part of Atlassian!) changed with growth. There is no perfect pricing; there are always trade-offs and deep experimentation.

Link: https://wraptext.equals.com/the-perfect-pricing-model/

## POD OF THE WEEK

See#4, #5, and #10 - one of the best growth levers you can work on for 2024 is pricing and monetization. So check the podcast about [the art and science of pricing](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan#details) from Lenny's Podcast.

Link: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan#details