Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending December 19, 2025

1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: Rounding out the year with your holiday reading list - A Guide to SaaS Metrics from, and covers all the greatest hits and more (ARPA, LTV:CAC, Burn Multiples, etc).

2. NCT: Crack open your tech dictionaries, I have a new acronym to lob your way. OKRs are old school.  Ravi Mehta’s NCT (Narrative, Commitments, Tasks) model simplifies goal setting. So instead of vague objectives, start with a clear Narrative explaining the “why” behind each goal. Next, set 3-5 measurable commitments for the quarter, with Tasks as actionable steps. The difference is that OKRs can be overly ambitious, but NCTs focus on achievable milestones that align closely with strategic priorities, more Agile in a way, as course corrections are easier (and it increases team accountability).

3. PRODUCT DISCOVERY: Does your discovery motion look good on paper but not so much IRL? This article breaks down four product discovery models your teams actually use can use - Dual-Track Agile, Continuous Discovery, Opportunity Solution Trees, and Outcome-Driven Discovery - and it also shows where each one fails in practice. Useful if your discovery motion looks good on slides but not in shipped outcomes.

4. B2B AI: SaaStr makes it painfully clear: “AI-enhanced” is not a biz model. There are only three ways B2B AI actually makes money now: replacing a full workflow; replacing human labor with agents; or selling AI infrastructure itself. Everything else gets priced to zero.

5. VENTURE:  SaaStr again, this time they look at data from Vencap, which shows how unforgiving venture really is. Most VC funds don’t meaningfully outperform public markets, and outcomes hinge on one or two breakouts per fund. Useful read if you’re fundraising (or wondering why great VCs are rare). This article also backs up the basic premise that shit's overfunded.

INNOVATION: Such an overused and poorly understood phrase, often synonymous with economic progress. This article argues that it isn't true. Treating innovation as a magical growth lever obscures strategy, and it’s uneven and one of several forces that actually drive progress.

MICRO MANAGEMENT: It's bad, right?  Depends. This article makes the case for being Pro - it’s a spectrum of involvement. Some forms of it (teaching, co-ownership, guiding on high-risk work) accelerate learning and alignment, especially early on or when trust isn’t fully built. The key isn’t rigid delegation vs control - it’s clear expectations, context, and honest signals about why you’re (overly) involved.

BENCHMARKS: High Alpha’s 2025 SaaS Benchmarks are out (covering 800+ companies). Here are some highlights - but there are way more: top-quartile growth ~300% in <$5M ARR bands, upper NRR hitting 110%+, gross margins ~85% (at scale), and best-in-class ARR per employee near $350K–$400K+ on later stage teams.

EQUITY (and other things): Mostly Metrics breaks down when employee equity stops helping and starts becoming a problem - it’s not just dilution math, but hiring incentives, refresh pools, and retention traps that can bloat cap tables with little upside. Suggestion: early option pools of ~10–15% and first-hire grants often <1%, but pushing too hard can distort incentives (and screw over future raises).

CASE STUDY: Outbound ain't dead. Check out how Workflows.io scaled to $2M+ ARR by combining your old school classic cold outreach to an ICP list with automated email plus LinkedIn campaigns layered on AI-signals (website visits, founder connections, social engagement).

POD OF THE WEEK: The New AI Benchmarks fromJanelle Teng at Bessemer Venture Partners.