Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending May 9, 2025

1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: Revenue & Burn per Employee. In this profits-over-growth new SaaS world, forget vanity metrics. This post makes the case for tracking Revenue and Burn per Employee as core performance metrics. Why? They reveal whether you're scaling efficiently—or just adding bodies. It also includes great benchmarks across stages.


2. CLOSEDAI?: OpenAI wants to drop the "nonprofit" label - at least in practice if not in name. This article takes a deeper look at what the heck that means with a shift toward profit-maximizing governance. This will bring a bunch of pretty understandable tension with its current mission and how it's navigating the AGI arms race. AI power play shenanigans are well underway.


3. VENTURE 1: On paper Q1 2025 saw a funding rebound. $113B in VC funding—AI took $60B of it, with OpenAI alone raising $40B. Late-stage deals soared 147% YoY, but if you strip out OpenAI's $40B mega-round, early and seed-stage funding actually fell. Seed dropped 14%, Asia hit decade lows, M&A saw $71B in exits. TL;DR: Big rounds for the few, AI dominance, early-stage getting squeezed.


4. VENTURE 2: Whoa! Silicon Valley is the opposite of dead. In Q1 2025, the Bay Area accounted for the majority of all US VC volume value and DOMINATED deal value - as in more dollars than the next five regions combined ($58.7B vs NY in second place at $7.1B). Startups may be everywhere, but the money's still coming from the Valley.


5. BATMAN EFFECT: OK. I'm in just based on the name! But hey - do you struggle with focus or performance in this modern multi-screen, notifications everywheeeere, distracted world? So just pretend you're someone else. Research shows that adopting an alter ego (like Batman - yup, I said it in Batman's voice) helps kids AND adults alike push through tough tasks. Sounds stupid, but works brilliantly (again - I just said that in my Batman Voice).


6. PRODUCT MARKET FIT 1: Product Market Fit - is it getting harder? Mostly Metrics digs into why hitting product-market fit feels tougher than ever - because it is! Blame crowded markets, high expectations, and tighter budgets. PMF ain't dead—but it's definitely moved.


7. PRODUCT MARKET FIT 2: Adding on from number 5 above, this Startup-ism is important because more than 50% of the time, the lack of PMF factors into the reason a startup fails (keep reading this article though as it goes through how StartupOS figured their own PMF out). AirTree Ventures has this article looking at what metrics VCs like them look at for signs of Product-Market Fit - and also what the red flags are.


8. GTM TEAMS: It's experientially obvious - but only if you have lived through it. Early GTM hires can make or break your cadence and sales motions. So check this list of 9 hiring mistakes, which includes skipping onboarding, premature AE hires - big one!


9. P&L + COGS: SaaS P&Ls are structured in specific ways, as defining what goes into the cost of goods sold (COGS) section is important. So take a good read of what the SaaSCFO recommends to include for COGS and how to structure a SaaS P&L. According to the Author - 90% of them are structured incorrectly, 5% are close, and 5% are correct.


10. CASE STUDY: Pro-Rata! Pro rata rights let VCs keep their ownership in future startup rounds - but the VC often skip them. This case study shows how one VC passed on a $2B outcome by doing just that. This " pro rata trap" reveals how to fund math, bias, and timing can block big wins.


POD OF THE WEEK: Is Predictable Revenue Dead? Fascinating (but long) podcast with Collin Stewart of Predictable Revenue with statements like building an SDR team takes 730 days, not 90. What????