Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending November 15, 2024

​1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK:  Hitting another motherlode this week with this highly bookmarkable Guide to SaaS Metrics from equals.com, which covers all the greatest hits and more (ARPA, LTV:CAC, Burn Multiples, etc.)


2. FINANCIAL FORECAST: Your 2025 new financial year is just around the corner! Now is always the second-best time to start (the first was two months ago). This is a great article with a complimentary  Excel download from The SaaS CFO—it's a SaaS Financial Plan for Startups (and also works for most SMBs). It also comes with a handy complimentary video tutorial for the worksheet.


3. PRICING: The traditional SaaS model is evolving due to AI. With AI integration, companies are shifting from traditional ARR access to performance-based pricing. For instance, Intercom now charges $0.99 per AI-resolved support ticket, and Salesforce's Agentforce bills $2 per conversation (but check this cool list). This approach aligns well with discussions I had last week around costs and delivered value. It also offers customers a lower TCO for AI features and products. VBP (Value-Based Pricing) will be showing up on the block a bunch in 2025.


4. SEED: Last week's post on Seed funding was surprisingly popular, so for all of you at the earlier stages, check out this neat guide to Seed funding from Carta. It covers essentials like raising amounts ($500K to $5M), investor types (angels, accelerators, VCs), and key funding structures (SAFEs, convertible notes).


5. DEVS and AI. Early this year, after reading the Stackoverflow Dev Survey for 2023, I noted that Stackoverflow's main contribution to developers (Code search+copy+paste) looks to be under threat as the majority of Devs are using GenAI in their work, so check out this chart that I found on Reddit last week; Stackoverflow traffic looks to have fallen off a cliff. ChatGPT doesn't Gatekeep or berate, and people prefer that. Anyhow - the new 2024 version of that report has dropped. 62% of developers now incorporate AI tools into their workflows (with 81% citing productivity gains as the primary benefit). Trust in AI outputs remains divided, which is fair. A much better insight is that 70% of professional developers do not view AI as a threat to their jobs, indicating a general optimism about AI and dev.


6. MARKETING: Here are "5 B2B Marketing Trends for 2024-25". This article covers some essentials for AI-leveraged modern marketing: AI-powered personalization, a strong focus on Account-Based Marketing, and a shift toward quality over quantity in content creation.


7. VENTURE: How do investors value startups and navigate ownership? Check this article on VC Math with some TL;DR points that include understanding valuations (pre- and post-money), the impacts of dilution, and popular valuation methods (like the Dilution and Venture Capital methods). Founders also need to get familiar with convertible instruments like SAFEs and understand how market conditions can seriously impact valuations and investor appetite.


8. AI: Check out this Allied Advisers PDF report covering advancements and challenges in AI. The big one is that by 2030, AI's contribution to the global economy is projected to reach $19.9 trillion. Such a big forecast TAM (3.5% of global GDP) and AI adoption in corporate is now 65%, up from 33% in 2023. The bigger challenges (briefly mentioned in last week's newsletter) are the high infrastructure cost, training AI models, and managing data quality, which present significant challenges as organizations navigate these evolving technologies.


9. BOARD: Want to be more effective at startup board meetings? Here is a list of some top tricks. Try starting each meeting by reiterating the company's mission and vision for context in discussions. The CEO's "State of the Union" should offer an open assessment of the company's current status (key successes and areas for improvement). Prioritizing product discussions over financial metrics to focus on long-term strategy is a great one, as is Go-to-market updates should concentrate on strategic objectives rather than tactical details.


10. CASE STUDY: CJ Gustafson has a good read covering three stories of big tech startup names (Asana, Fastly, and Confluent) that are still trading below their IPO prices for reasons.


POD OF THE WEEK: What really matters in SaaS in 2025 with Jason Lemkin and Dave Kellogg, where they delve into five key topics in SaaS and cloud for 2025, discussing the future of AI in B2B, strategic pricing changes, the impact of moving customer success to sales, and the state of private equity deals.