# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending November 22, 2019

Published: 22 November 2019
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-november-22-2019

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

Beyond Customer Satisfaction Surveys or Net Promoter Scores is this idea of a [Customer Engagement Score](https://www.evergage.com/blog/what-customer-engagement-score). This is a useful tool for managing a companies customer base, making segment decisions easy, therefore enabling different, priorities and engagement strategies - and being able to measure the impact of those strategies over time. [Get started reading this article](https://www.evergage.com/blog/3-ways-to-manage-customers-with-a-customer-engagement-score/).

Link: https://www.evergage.com/blog/what-customer-engagement-score

## 2. PE vs VC

Private Equity is very different than Venture Capital and there are fundamental shifts happening in capital markets that are likely to drive a long-term trend toward much [larger PE opportunities](https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/heres-why-2019-could-be-another-fundraising-boom-year-for-us-pe) vs. traditional public equity models. Private Equity fundraising in the US [hit an all time high this month](https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/private-equity-fundraising-in-the-us-hits-all-time-high) - $246 billion year-to-date. Crunchbase [break down the differences between both](https://news.crunchbase.com/news/risky-business-the-difference-between-private-equity-and-venture-capital) VC and PE.

Link: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/heres-why-2019-could-be-another-fundraising-boom-year-for-us-pe

## 3. PRICING

It’s never right as it has to evolve (and [we are all not charging enough](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-duckies/)). Intercom make the case that [a solid pricing strategy helps shape an entire business model](https://www.intercom.com/blog/pricing-strategy-business-model)

Link: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-duckies/

## 4. SALES

Selling success depends on the lens of the buyer - who have never been more in control (and increasingly indifferent to sellers). In B2B it also often [involves a Team](https://www.saleshacker.com/team-selling/). CSO Insights commissioned a research recently into the current state of B2B sales, the emerging opportunities for B2B sellers, and the best practices and solutions - [download it here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/upc84sxs25dso8q/Engaging-Modern-Buyer_Outreach.pdf?dl=0).

Link: https://www.saleshacker.com/team-selling/

## 5. MLP

(thats Minimum Lovable Product). MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is OK but what if no-one likes it? [FirstRound capital use the analogy of burnt pizza](https://firstround.com/review/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products) - pointing out that the fastest and cheapest functional prototype could produce a poor or flawed version of something that people may actually love.

Link: https://firstround.com/review/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products

## 6. BURNOUT

[This personal story](https://open.buffer.com/burnout) from a co-founder of Buffer is something that all founders should read - and what can happen (and 4 steps you can actively take to prevent it).

Link: https://open.buffer.com/burnout

## 7. CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION

CI is a process that dev teams use to iterate and ship software quickly, it can easily be confused with [Continuous Deployment](https://sdtimes.com/cicd/developers-using-ci-cd-report-finds/) and Continuous Delivery - but they are not the same. [This article from Angel.co](https://angel.co/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-continuous-integration) helps clarify the differences and makes the case why CI is the optimal dev strategy for great customer experiences.

Link: https://sdtimes.com/cicd/developers-using-ci-cd-report-finds/

## 8. SECURITY

To expand on above - as CI becomes widely adopted, security needs to be rolled up into the process as well - [DevSecOps](https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/what-teams-should-know-about-devsecops/) being the new port-portmanteau [or is that SecDevOps?](https://www.cspi.com/devsecops-vs-secdevops-blog) - anywhoooo……beyond the DevSecOps article, [Heavybit also have a great article](https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/navigating-cloud-infrastructure-security-challenges/) discussing cloud security challenges (as apparently, if we extrapolate this out, [88% of SaaS](https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/img_5d9cb4f575998-e1570551047347.png) is now sitting on public cloud).

Link: https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/what-teams-should-know-about-devsecops/

## 9. GROWTH

This article is really great, using well known tech company examples. From Paddle, each software product has [3 times the competition they have 3 years ago](https://www.battery.com/powered/software-2019), so [how to optimize growth](https://paddle.com/blog/saas-growth-strategies-five-stars-framework) in this competitive $600 billion industry?

Link: https://www.battery.com/powered/software-2019

## 10. TRANSPORTATION

I now have an [Alexa Auto](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VTK654B/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_h0fXDbX3ZM5TF) in my car (after firing Siri) and Big tech is investing big into transportation - from Business Insider [this report covers the big 3](https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggxd7bxolh5igjm/bii_big-tech-in-transportation-november-2019.pdf?dl=0) (Amazon, Apple, and Google) and their efforts in the sector so far, identifying some opportunties outside of the big ones for tech companies.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VTK654B/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_h0fXDbX3ZM5TF

## POD OF THE WEEK

From [This Week in Startups](https://thisweekinstartups.com/) **-** HubSpot CEO on his [insights on inbound Marketing](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-startups-audio/id315114957?i=1000456015515).
**BONUS**: Need to raise a bunch of money? LinkedIn learning have a great course covering the fundamentals of [raising startup capital](https://www.linkedin.com/learning/entrepreneurship-raising-startup-capital/welcome).

Link: https://thisweekinstartups.com/