Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending September 19, 2025

1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: CLTV to CAC Ratio: This is the classic signal of go-to-market efficiency. Everyone quotes 3:1 (too low, likely not PMF, too high, you ain't spending enough on marketing) — but this breakdown goes deeper with benchmarks by sales motion (PLG vs enterprise), contract size, and stage. Bonus: includes a free model template to run your own numbers.


2. VENTURE: PitchBook's Q2 report is out: global VC fundraising is down 32% YoY, and new fund launches hit a decade low. But dry powder is very much still around (and remains high), and early-stage rounds are holding firm. The market is slow, but not dead.


3. BOTTOMS UP: Bottoms up adoption is hard to crack😉 (learn more about the bottoms up model here). For example, according to Gergely Orosz, Hashcorp has a total of 4,300 customers, but only ~800 of them generate 90% of their annual revenue. And here is how to forecast.


4. AI: Like the great SaaS Ponzi schemes I joke about — AI may be worse. When we all have 100 agents, who's actually doing the work? SaaStr explores what may happen next: consolidation, vertical focus, and agent collapse?


5. WORKFLOWS: Workflows are eating SaaS. Clouded Judgement breaks down why every SaaS company wants to be a system of action — not just record. Usage-based pricing, AI features, and margin pressure are all fueling the shift.


6. SCALING: Sure, software is scalable, but Startups don't scale by adding people — they scale by building systems. This breakdown covers how to layer ops, reduce founder dependency, and keep complexity from killing momentum.


7. LOOP MARKETING: Hubspot has a brand new term for your teh dictionary: Loop Marketing. It's all about ditching more traditional funnels we all know well and embracing real-time feedback loops designed to connect product, content, and community to drive growth. Sounds a bit froo froo, but this matters because now about 60% of all Google searches end in zero clicks - users are getting answers from AI overviews without ever visiting your website. Looping means getting cited there.


8. SOFTWARE 3.0: Bessemer takes a crack at mapping the future of dev tooling in the AI era and are calling it "Software 3.0," - which is eval-first workflows, agentic infrastructure, and tools that help devs manage hallucinations, kinda the new style of bugs.


9. PRIVATE MARKETS: Super interesting question: What if AI doesn't just disrupt how companies operate — but how they're valued? Colossus explores how AI could reshape underwriting, due diligence, and exits in private markets.


10. CASE STUDY: Do your profit margins need a tweak? Here are 40 strategies for improving your profit margins from Sameer Dholakia, with a case study on SendGrid (from high burn to growth and IPO)


POD OF THE WEEK: From CJ Guftason, how much revenue do you need to IPO in 2025?