Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending September 12, 2025

1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: Attribution - Marketing attribution models help marketers assess the data behind user touch points and conversions to understand the return on Investment and effort. Learn more here on Single-touch attribution models, Multi-touch attribution models, attribution tools,  and more to make better data-driven marketing decisions.


2. HOMEPAGES: IS your homepage a barrier to sales, opportunities, value prop comms?? This article makes the case that it is (as potential users want to get their hands on the end product as quickly as possible) - it's a time to value play across PLG and classic Sales lead SaaS.


3. CONTRADICTION: Point Nine Capital discusses the importance of embracing contradictions in business and also uses one of my new favorite phrases, "Startup Advice Industrial Complex". Startup Leaders should balance conflicting priorities, such as growth vs. profitability and innovation vs. stability, to drive success. In theory, understanding and managing these paradoxes should lead to more resilient and adaptable companies (and teams).


4. DESIGN: For the first time ever, I got the most comments from last week's post based on the Pod of the week - focused on Design Thinking for non-humans (agents, cars, etc), so I figure I should up the Product/Design listings in this newsletter. Most SaaS software/tools today feel like Costco - designed for bulk use, not necessarily individual joy. This sharp piece explains why "good design" now means consistency, speed, and scale over delight or elegance.


5. VC LANDSCAPE: AI now powers 47% of all new VC-backed startups. The Median time from pitch to term sheet? Just 6 days!!!!! Whut?? Infra is hot (as I mentioned last week), fintech is cooling, and round sizes are holding steady. Always Charts galore with The Data Driven VC.


6. MARKETS: Silicon Valley Bank's H2 2025 report is out (yup - SVB is still very much around): flat funding, cautious investors, and a "slow burn" recovery - all the negative hits still on repeat. But signs of life in AI infra and B2B SaaS. Profitable growth remains in vogue - burn multiples are under the microscope. SaaStr also takes a deep look into the market and adds color - some startups are thriving, while others are circling the drain.


7. AI MARKET SIZE: SaaStr pulled some data from a bunch of different sources and made a bold call: AI will be bigger than cloud by 2030. (Despite being 15 years its junior). AI is scaling so much faster, embedding deeper, and monetizing more aggressively than cloud ever did (or could).


8. VENTURE: Anyone that's raised here has heard the dreaded phrases: "Too early," "too crowded," "not in our thesis" - VC-isms. This article breaks down the real reasons VCs say no. 10 rejection themes, decoded with some brutal clarity. A must-bookmark/read in prep for your next raise.


9. EARNINGS: Snowflake just posted $900M in Q2 revenue, growing 35% YoY. Tomasz Tunguz unpacks the numbers - usage-based pricing is working, AI workloads are rising, but headcount growth is flat. Efficiency remains the neo-scale.


10. CASE STUDY: SaaStr shipped 3 IRL apps using Vibe Coding (and lived to tell the tale). What worked: shipping fast with small teams. What didn't: vague specs and AI guesswork. Brutally honest, super helpful.


POD OF THE WEEK: Benchmark's Miles Grimshaw drops gold on what actually makes startups venture-scale. Jason Lemkin (SaaStr) and Marc Benioff are also there and go deep on what makes SaaS great — and what breaks it. ​