Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending October 25, 2019

1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: RUNWAY! This is the number every founder hates talking about - How much cash you have left to either a) Raise more or b) Be profitable. The SaaS CFO covers this metric in detail (along with a free download on how best to calculate it). Also references this site - which seems great!
2. AUTOMATION: Like it or not, automation is on the rise. McKinsey discuss what the impacts of automation could be (and the challenge it holds for CEO’s) in relation to Economic Disparity. Brookings also weigh in on the possible impacts from a policy perspective.
3. DIVERSITY in VC: Total VC deal value has reached $96.7 billion through the first three quarters of 2019 (on pace to be the second highest in terms of venture capital investment behind last year’s record totals), Crunchbase just released their 2019 Q3 Diversity Report:  $20B of that has been Invested In Female-Founded, Co-Founded Startups. Not bad, but still only just above 20% of total. Also keep in mind - the gender gap in pay at VC’s is still very real.
4. WHEN TO QUIT: With the right (curiously optimistic) lens, this is a really great article with really sound pointers a start-up should be asking around traction, use, and market potential of your product. This is also a great complimentary one on a strategy to make hard decisions.
5. SUSTAINABILITY: A reality check has hit the tech (and psuedo-tech) industry hard this year. In essence companies can build products and experiences leveraging tech that consumers absolutely love (such as Uber, WeWork, Lime, and Bird) - but all of these businesses suffer from the inevitable flaw of being far away from having any semblance of profitability. Crunchbase look hard at the economics of Scooternomics and micro-mobility, Investorplace suggest Uber could go Bankrupt and WeWork just had a MASSIVE down-round.
6. MARKETING SPEND: How much does the average SaaS Company spend on Marketing? Tomasz Tunguz has taken a look and even supplied a simple worksheet. Looks like 10% (of your revenue) is about right.
7. LAND AND EXPAND: A word of warning on this strategy from The Godfather of SaaS, Jason Lemkin - don’t assume a small deal at a big company will magically blossom into larger, pan-enterprise deals, without putting in a lot of work.
8. TEAMS: At scale this is the biggest challenge to address for success. Here are some key lessons learned from 4 different tech startups. Convincing someone to join your startup is a sales pitch all in itself. Y-Combinator partner Dalton Caldwell gives his advice on how to pitch this and here is solid advice on how to level up as a leader.
9. SEGMENTATION: From Point Nine Capital is a great article on Customer Segmentation with a complimentary article here on Cohort Analysis (with a free Cohort Analysis template!)
10. TRAILBLAZER: My office is situated next to the SalesForce towers (there is more than one) and overlooks SalesForce Park, so I have a more acute interest than most on what it’s CEO has to say (HINT: It’s a lot for the head of a CRM business). But he is certainly full of amazing insight and value, especially for his shareholders - who are up something like 3,500% since Salesforce went public in 2004. The Dreamforce conference is also looming in my neighborhood (with 180,00 hoody-clad Salesforce attendees about to show up on the streets as well as Neil Finn and the rest of Fleetwood Mac), so here is an interview from Mark Benioff via Fortune Mag - it’s seriously a really great read.

POD OF THE WEEK:  Todd Farnham tuned me on to this one. It’s a really great listen to understand ways to solve challenges on staff Incentivisation (Also called Goodharts Law - who knew?)

BONUS: This is just straight up cool. Harvard have published this new data visualization tool data which can be used to understand the economic dynamics and new growth opportunities for every country worldwide - have a play! Tech for NZ weighing in at 5.35%.