# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending April 10, 2020

Published: 10 April 2020
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-april-10-2020

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

ARPA, or [Average Revenue Per Account](https://saasmetrics.co/average-revenue-per-account/) (not annual) is the measure of the revenue generated per account, which can be measured per year or per month. Really helpful identifying which segments, products are high value. Buffer [provide excellent commentary on how they grew to $20m ARR by being hyper-focused on ARPA](https://blog.chartmogul.com/buffer-growing-arpa/)

Link: https://saasmetrics.co/average-revenue-per-account/

## 2. CUSTOMER REFERENCE

. Last week I referenced/suggested putting some effort and focus on Churn and [optimizing ways to keep that number low](https://userpilot.com/blog/crisis-customer-retention/). Let's take it a step further this week by leveraging those frothiest of customers into a referral channel. [Here is a playbook from SaaStr](https://www.saastr.com/the-playbook-to-building-a-customer-reference-program-with-talkdesk-svp-of-client-services-gillian-heltai-video-transcript/).

Link: https://userpilot.com/blog/crisis-customer-retention/

## 3. SLACK vs TEAMS

TL;DR both platforms are growing like crazy, one more so. Ok, I'm a Mac guy and I’m also a Slack guy, so I’m also biased. But these days pretty much everyone WFH is using either Slack or Microsoft Teams as their collaboration platform de jour. [Last weeks #8 got quite a few reads](https://twitter.com/stewart/status/1243000487365861376) and reactions regarding Slacks crazy week and [this week Go Practice take a look at their astonishing recent growth](https://gopractice.io/blog/slack-vs-teams-as-we-go-remote/) and soberingly compares it to the growth of Microsoft Teams - there is a huge delta in Teams’ favor, even when ignoring the fact that any Office Microsoft 365 users get Teams by default. When you look at DAU - it’s significant too.

Link: https://twitter.com/stewart/status/1243000487365861376

## 4. BUSINESS MODEL

[This is a pretty long, but very high value, read from Alex Jarvis](https://www.alexanderjarvis.com/if-you-do-this-one-thing-your-startup-business-model-is-doomed-to-succeed) with real life examples and some good humor. The business model is always more important than the product (but they both matter), as does timing. There is a longer PDF version - [so I got that for ya too](https://www.dropbox.com/s/i71z9ddy68u04ou/If%20you%20do%20this%20one%20thing%20your%20startup%20business%20model%20is%20doomed%20to%20succeed.pdf?dl=0) (it’s longer).

Link: https://www.alexanderjarvis.com/if-you-do-this-one-thing-your-startup-business-model-is-doomed-to-succeed

## 5. PLG

Yeah you know me. In this Covid-19 world PLG is becoming more viable as a go-to-market strategy for more businesses. Here are a couple of good PLG-first articles - [this one](https://www.profitwell.com/blog/plg-crash-course-recurnow) is from Profitwell, and [a PLG Virtual Summit](https://transformer.productled.com/) is happening on April 15th.

Link: https://www.profitwell.com/blog/plg-crash-course-recurnow

## 6. PRICING

It’s a hypothesis, as pricing will never be perfect. [Chargify provides 5 pricing scenarios a SaaS company can test](https://www.chargify.com/blog/5-pricing-scenarios-to-test-for-saas-companies/). Intercom make the case that [a solid pricing strategy helps shape an entire business model](https://www.intercom.com/blog/pricing-strategy-business-model)

Link: https://www.chargify.com/blog/5-pricing-scenarios-to-test-for-saas-companies/

## 7. CASH

Is king, and that statement has never been more important for a startup that right now. [MYOB have some good advice on cash flow management](https://www.myob.com/au/blog/cash-flow-management-during-coronavirus-covid-19/) in a Covid-19 world and SaaS academy have [solid recommendations on how to preserve your runway](https://www.thesaasacademy.com/small-business-cash-flow-problems)

Link: https://www.myob.com/au/blog/cash-flow-management-during-coronavirus-covid-19/

## 8. EVENTS

We’re all going virtual, so Google has [a pretty comprehensive guide](https://www.dropbox.com/s/0s5s5oqgiz2z4nh/Think_Copy_of_EE_Playbook__Taking_Events_Online_-_2020_EXTERNAL_VERSION.pdf?dl=0) and how to pivot live events to virtual gatherings.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0s5s5oqgiz2z4nh/Think_Copy_of_EE_Playbook__Taking_Events_Online_-_2020_EXTERNAL_VERSION.pdf?dl=0

## 9. RECRUITING

Wondering how best to recruit remotely? Forbes has [some recommendations for you](https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/03/30/remote-recruiting-in-a-post-covid-19-world/#79b9d3bf599f) and Recruitee has [7 hiring tips](https://blog.recruitee.com/remote-hiring/).

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/03/30/remote-recruiting-in-a-post-covid-19-world/#79b9d3bf599f

## 10. VALUATIONS

Data is starting to trickle in how COVID-19 will impact valuations. Check [The Startup’s Work](https://medium.com/swlh/how-covid-19-will-impact-startup-valuations-2550f0826f9e) and Tom Tunguz takes a swing at [what sectors will be most impacted.](https://tomtunguz.com/layoff-categories-2020-04-06/)

Link: https://medium.com/swlh/how-covid-19-will-impact-startup-valuations-2550f0826f9e

## POD OF THE WEEK

WFH life for Customer Success teams - [the CEO of ChurnZero has a perspective on how to build this function remotely](https://www.saastock.com/blog/you-mon-tsang-churnzero-podcast)**. BONUS**: I'm now fully registered and attending the (pivot) SaaStr Virtual Summit: Bridging the Gap on April 22. You can too: [https://register.saastrsummit.com](https://register.saastrsummit.com).

Link: https://www.saastock.com/blog/you-mon-tsang-churnzero-podcast