# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending November 12, 2021

Published: 12 November 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-november-12-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: CAC payback (

and accounting for the upsell) Often time many of the base metrics (CAC, CAC/LTV, etc) are in service to VCs and operationally don't tell us enough to make great decisions. [This article takes an operator view on CAC Payback](https://www.saastock.com/blog/advanced-saas-metrics-upsell) that includes (and celebrates) the value of net revenue retention and Tomasz Tunguz chimes in this week on the need for [two types of payback period calculations](https://tomtunguz.com/payback-period/) - because Cash is the bigger driver.

Link: https://www.saastock.com/blog/advanced-saas-metrics-upsell

## 2. BLOCKCHAIN 2.0

aka Web3. The crypto hype of 2018 is back and legit to the point where CB Insights has produced a [State Of Blockchain Q3’21 Report](https://www.dropbox.com/s/p75txp8ccwlyl9o/CB-Insights_Blockchain-Report-Q3-2021.pdf?dl=0). Blockchain startups have raised $15B of cold, hard FIAT so far in 2021 which is up 384% from last year and there were 12 blockchain unicorns added last quarter. SIDE NOTE: NFTs have JUMPED to[friggin' $11B this Quarter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqvxfIYzBnQ).

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p75txp8ccwlyl9o/CB-Insights_Blockchain-Report-Q3-2021.pdf?dl=0

## 3. VENTURE

Hands up if you thought that the Pandemic could be a great equalizer of Venture Capital distribution? I certainly did. Well [here are some truths](https://www.fastcompany.com/90692195/founders-outside-silicon-valley-investment-crowdfunding) for us all to mull on: Startups in California, NY, and Massachusetts commanded over 3/4 of all venture capital dollars dished out in the U.S so far this year, venture funding going to female-only founders dropped to 2.2% in 2021 (lowest it’s been in five years) and in 2020, Black founders received only **0.6%** of venture funding!

Link: https://www.fastcompany.com/90692195/founders-outside-silicon-valley-investment-crowdfunding

## 4. FIRST PRINCIPLE THINKING

Want to be more like Elon (but without the Twitter dramas)? Take a read here on the concept of [First Principles Thinking](https://fs.blog/2018/04/first-principles). Not gonna lie, I've re-read it again this week and it still makes my brain hurt. Want more? Fine. [Here is a full guide/website](https://fpt.guide/). Now that you are an expert on this principle, [here is how First Principle Thinking can be applied IRL - in this example towards a Product Lead Growth business](https://productled.com/first-principles-of-a-successful-product-led-growth-strategy).

Link: https://fs.blog/2018/04/first-principles

## 5. CUSTOMER SERVICE

In this current age of the customer, enhanced by COVID, SaaSx makes the argument that in the SaaS world, [Customer Success is actually the product](https://saasx.com/2019/10/06/customer-success-is-product/). Want to start building out that product? Check the HubSpot guide on [getting started](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/saas-customer-service-team) with your Customer team.

Link: https://saasx.com/2019/10/06/customer-success-is-product/

## 6. MARKETING

Add this one to your 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 question is already within the data a business generates](https://www.leadfeeder.com/blog/how-to-use-buyer-intent-data/) every day. (you're gonna need Personas - so don't skip #5)

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

## 7. FRAMEWORKS

Beyond metrics, a successful framework can distill complex processes or models to make execution more of a simple recipe. Kinda why OKR's 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

## 8. MRR LEVERS

OK -so what are the best ways that SaaS companies can grow their MRR? Check [this article that looks at two (of the five) elements of MRR growth](https://blog.chartmogul.com/reactivation-expansion-mrr/) that often fly under the radar of acquisition (expansion and reactivation).

Link: https://blog.chartmogul.com/reactivation-expansion-mrr/

## 9. PLG FLYWHEELS

As a refresher, [read this to understand the 4 basic principles behind PLG](https://www.profitwell.com/blog/growth-recurnow) and then [check this article out](https://userpilot.com/blog/user-adoption-flywheel) that goes into lengthy detail of how to design for PLG across the customer journey (and creating a flywheel). This is different from a sales funnel, as [the flywheel model is designed to build momentum from one phase to the next](https://productled.com/blog/product-led-growth-flywheel), which also gives you a good way to segment users

Link: https://www.profitwell.com/blog/growth-recurnow

## 10. CASE STUDY

OKTA - [who earlier this year acquired Auth0 for a mere $6.5B](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/okta-acquires-identity-orchestration-and-ciam-vendor-auth0-for-6-5b) - are an under-the-hood Tech company ("one of those" SOMA 2nd Street Tech Companies is the SF reference) but surpassing $1B in ARR. So check [this SaaStr Case Study on the growth of the OKTA business](https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-okta-at-1b-in-arr) on how they got there.

Link: https://www.forrester.com/blogs/okta-acquires-identity-orchestration-and-ciam-vendor-auth0-for-6-5b

## POD OF THE WEEK

Scott Farquhar (co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian) on [how he built Atlassian (and used Smart pricing)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scott-farquhar-co-founder-and-co-ceo-of-atlassian/id1503577438?i=1000488022371)

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scott-farquhar-co-founder-and-co-ceo-of-atlassian/id1503577438?i=1000488022371