Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending March 8, 2019

1. PRIVATE EQUITY: The past 5 years have been quite remarkable in the Private Equity (PE) Industry and we have seen a few NZ businesses being funded, or acquired via PE funds (especially in the last 12 months):  ProMapp, SLI Systems, and SwipedOn among others. Bain and Company offer an extensive PE report for 2019. There are fundamental shifts happening in capital markets that are likely to drive a long-term trend toward much larger PE opportunities vs. traditional public equity models.
2. SEGMENTATION DEEP DIVE: Audience segmentation isn’t a new concept.  But it's a constantly moving target and can be a hard topic for startups to master. In this rapid deep dive, learn What segmentation is:  Why it matters and How to implement. If done right, there are massive upsides. But Cohorts are also a necessary ingredient into Segmentation analysis. 
3. SaaS UPSIDE: The SaaS business model, even though being challenged by AI and Data based businesses and revenue models, is not going anywhere. The reason why is pretty basic: Both sides benefit; customer and business. We see this mutual upside represented well (fiscally) in public markets and as reporting season for Q1 2019 ends, SaaS stocks are still in very good shape, with 10x multiple valuations of revenues.
4. ONBOARDING: Onboarding is critically important for both customer conversion and retention. Here is an entire Medium publication reviewing On-Boarding Email communications, what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t.
5. AGILE: The ability to quickly re-orient organizational capabilities is becoming an important component of business sustainability in todays rapidly changing and more digital markets. McKinsey lay out a road map for implementing a more agile organization.
6. MICROSOFT: Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch a "lite" version of Windows for dual-screen devices and Chromebook competitors (and it could launch as soon as this year).
7. SaaS VITAL SIGNS: SaaS hits every industry and sector but the business model remains relatively universal, with a simple set of well understood trackers that allow the health of a business to be studied in real time. This article reviews four of the top signals to measure.
8. REGTECH: Add this to your tech vocabulary. RegTech is a subset of FinTech and helps close the gap between FinTech and traditional Financial Services. This category doubled capital invested last year (from $1.9B to $4.5B). Regtechs are likely to see continued investment as financial regulations and requirements become more complex and security more important and under more scrutiny. CBInsights report here and Business Insider report here.
9. DATA ANALYSIS: Continuing with the theme from our recent NZ8 event in Auckland on building a data driven culture, Google discuss the need to converge data silos within an organization to unify data truths and reach full fidelity of data.
10. SILICON VALLEY EXODUS: (But they didn’t wander too far). I’ve lived in the Bay Area for over 15 years and Tech Companies have been slowly drifting north from Silicon Valley to SF city limits for most of that time. Y-Combinator is the newest tech business to add to that list, due to the majority of YC employees and portfolio of founders who reside in the City. This migration is impacting housing, with rents soaring to a national high this month ($3,690/month for a one-bedroom apartment).

POD OF THE WEEK: From a16z. Product-Market Sales Fit (and what comes first?).

BONUS: SurveyMonky are hosting a great looking webinar on How to Create a Customer-Centric Culture 10:00 AM PST March 13/ 7:00 AM NZDT March 14