Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending May 27, 2022

1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: OTMM - aka One Metric That Matters. Another acronym for your Tech Dictionaries. Metrics can be personal, ya' know and sometimes, all you need is a singular focus. To get stuff done. To shift the needle. This excellent article reviews the methodology to uncover your own unique OMTM.


2. BUSINESS MODEL: You will be asked often (especially when pitching) about your go-to-market business model. This is a pretty long but very high-value read, from Alex Jarvis, with real-life examples of good business models (and some good humour thrown in). The business model is always more important than the product (but they both matter, and so does timing. There is a more extended PDF version - so I got that for ya too.


3. CAP TABLE: Last week, I referenced alternatives to Venture Capital and dilution - it was a popular post and a bit of a downer. This week let's focus on dilution from a cap table perspective. Take a read of this article from Heavybit that discusses Cap Table management concerning growth and how to manage that Option Pool.


4. DOWN MARKETS: Nope - not done with the bad news we all need to hear. This is a GREAT article from a16z on frameworks for navigating crappy markets like this - and how to build different scenario plans (Base/Best/Worst).


5. GROWTH: Even in the down market, we still need growth. So adding on from #4 above - here is a great article (with scenarios) on how to avoid nasty surprises when you're planning for fast growth (in a crappy market)


6. WEBSITE: Quick Q: "Is Your Website Stressing Out Visitors"? Read further or TL;DR - remove the noise and focus on the jobs you want the website to do.


7. CAPITAL: Since 2016, Wilson Sonsini (a US-based Tech Focused Law Firm) has published a quarterly "Entrepreneurs Report" that covers a range of data on venture financing transactions that the firm was involved in. Q1 2022 is now out, and Median pre-money valuations in Q1 2022 fell across all rounds compared to the highs reached in Q4 2021 but remained strong by pre-2021 standards - check the graph on page 3. No down or flat rounds (yet) - but they noted that there are storing indicators that this may not be the case in the Q2 2022 report.


8. UNBUNDLING: This was a strategy first thrown out by a16z in 2019. They defined it as a strategy for identifying new startup opportunities by looking at broad horizontal platforms near their breaking point. A case in the example here is Zapier. It's a cool read.


9. BROWSER WARS: Are they pretty much over? Check the video graphic from 2012 to 2022. In just 10 years, Chrome has pushed everyone else off the map. Chrome currently holds 64% of the global browser market, with the 2nd place browser (Safari) at just 19%.


10. CASE STUDY: I run a pretty big Atlassian Shop - so kind of a fan. Scott Farquhar (co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian) has this presentation on how he built Atlassian (and used Smart pricing). Jason Lemkin also took a look recently - as they are now at $2b ARR - with 121% NRR overall and 130% in enterprise. These are metrics I like!


POD OF THE WEEK: It's actually a webinar - following on from #7 above. My friends at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center are hosting a Venture Finance Trends online event with Wilson Sonsini this coming Friday at 10am PST. They will share insights from their 2022 experience in financing startups so far.