Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending May 10, 2024

1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: Buyer Intent Data. There is never a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy and channel for a business. 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 every day. (You're going to need Personas, so don't skip the links below.)


2. PERSONAS: SaaS B2B Marketing is a pretty unique beast, and getting into the minds of an idealized customer often requires creating personas. You should try it - it will definitely make you a better SaaS marketer. For most SaaS companies, creating multiple personas is often a strategic necessity. So here is an additional differentiator (and what the difference is compared to a persona) of an Ideal customer profile.


3. AI (part 1): Check out Stanford's AI trends and index report. A few key highlights: 1. AI is better than humans only on a small subset of tasks; 2. Foundational models are getting more expensive to train, 3. Most AI innovation is happening in the US (but the regulators are coming).


4. AI (part 2): Read this in Yodas voice: "Begun the AI Wars has." VCs poured $50B+ into AI last year, with significant investments from big tech and Nvidia's $50 billion in AI chip sales, totaling over $120 billion in AI investment. This boom has led to a few other companies jumping into the ring, including Adobe, Amazon, Meta, and (reported last week) Apple. This surge raises questions about whether AI models are in a bubble, will remain valuable products, or become commoditized, impacting profitability and future AI developments. AI is already fueling Microsoft's surge in cloud revenue, stealing market share from rivals and boosting its enterprise business, and OpenAI may challenge Google.


5. SEO: Sooooooo, do we really still need it? (TL;DR, yes and no)- if you are in the yes camp, check this more modern SEO guide: The Ultimate Guide for AI-powered SaaS SEO, probably written by AI, but it details several benefits of using AI in SEO


6. INDUSTRY (part 1): Last week's newsletter was notable as I had the most ever clicks on one post ever - Is SaaS Dead? Part of the current issue with SaaS is the lack of future liquidity via poor M&A and IPO markets. With IPOs, Tech Companies have a general hesitancy because of perceived "size." Meritech Capital did the analysis, and it turns out there is no "Size Problem." It's all about business quality rather than the size of the revenue base. Read more here


7. INDUSTRY (part 2): ChartMogul's April Benchmark data is out and shows that SaaS is remaining stable - we're in the "it's not getting worse" phase - with growth rates remaining steady. But drilling deeper reveals some potential positivity: Growth is picking up more broadly. PitchBook data takes a bit of a different take: VC investment in the US slowed in Q1'24, especially for large deals and IPOs. AI remains a hot investment area, while M&A activity is stalled.


8. ROADMAPS: We all need them, even in today's Agile workplaces. They are a reference point and sense of direction for what's to come beyond their more myopic Sprint cycles. Read here for the reasoning behind this, along with five roadmap templates to use. I took inspiration from Atlassian and published a public access roadmap - it works well! ChartMogul also has one, and if you want to venture in, first check these seven roadmap-making fails.


9. CYBERSECURITY: Cyber threats are going nowhere fast in 2024. Regardless of the size of your SaaS business, security should be part of your dev cycle but also know your weak spots. Bessemer Ventures has a great article this week covering Cybersecurity trends in 2024. CISOs (or whomever in your org assumes that role) are refocusing on security basics due to evolving threats and regulations, plus AI exploits are on the rise.


10. CASE STUDY: SEARCH: What has broken Google Search? Before ChatGPT and the like threatened Google's somewhat laissez-faire monopoly of search, Google's search revenue had already faltered back in 2019, triggering a "code yellow" crisis. According to this article (with solid sources), Google's ad and finance teams pushed for aggressive growth measures, resulting in the current compromised search quality and user experience to boost revenue. This internal conflict revealed what the real problem may be - a shift in Google's focus from user-centric innovation to revenue-driven tactics. Of course, it may not all be Google's fault (in fact, they already penned a strongly worded letter of complaint to the author - and he's responded, taking none of their antics) - the other problem is that the web has also gone to shit and a lot of it has become "too inauthentic to trust."


POD OF THE WEEK: YC Partner Gustaf Alströmer talks about Growth for Startups, including how to measure product market fit, how to decide on a growth channel, metrics that lie about PMF, and other mechanics of growth for startups.