# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending April 25, 2025

Published: 24 April 2025
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-april-25-2025

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

Margins by Revenue Stream. Understanding gross margins by revenue stream is crucial for a) SaaS profitability and b) Figuring out what products/features work and what don't. Check out [the SaaS CFO's article on proper rev stream accounting](https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-margins-by-revenue-stream) and a detailed SaaS P&L setup to enable accurate margin analysis across your revenue streams. Best-in-class SaaS gross margin for revenue is 80% as your reference point.

Link: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-margins-by-revenue-stream

## 2. JTBD

[Jobs to be Done](https://jobs-to-be-done.com/what-is-jobs-to-be-done-fea59c8e39eb) is one of my favorite frameworks - it's a way to make innovation accessible and tangible in very pragmatic ways. Take a [light read here](https://firstround.com/review/build-products-that-solve-real-problems-with-this-lightweight-jtbd-framework/) on a lightweight JTBD framework - broken down with real-world business examples, you can also [skip straight to the templates](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NmKemkMOJh4DVLmTMhVUgLjG9i0_-5mqsEdCQcYH6wI/edit?usp=sharing). Or go for the [more comprehensive one here](https://productify.substack.com/p/your-complete-guide-to-jobs-to-be) (that also [has a template)](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FWRebhpsU73VZ-OdF6cGGUevn0KzpA4zPU0dyPtFRS4/edit?gid=0#gid=0). Theory Ventures 2024 Go-to-Market Survey.

Link: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/what-is-jobs-to-be-done-fea59c8e39eb

## 3. STRATEGY

Startups often inherit secondhand problems—metrics, goals, and strategies from companies (or newsletters) nothing like them. [This post](https://blog.staysaasy.com/p/first-principles-problems-secondhand) makes the case for solving real, [first-principles-driven](https://fs.blog/first-principles/) problems instead.

Link: https://blog.staysaasy.com/p/first-principles-problems-secondhand

## 4. TERM SHEETS

Bookmark this for future reference - a [Term Sheets guide](https://thevccorner.substack.com/p/term-sheets-demystified?) that explains the most important clauses—like valuation, liquidation preferences, and anti-dilution protections—and offers some strategies for negotiating more founder favorable terms.

Link: https://thevccorner.substack.com/p/term-sheets-demystified?

## 5. AGENTIC

You'll hear "agentic" a lot this year—Bessemer breaks down their version of an [AI Agent Autonomy Scale](https://nextbigteng.substack.com/p/bessemers-ai-agent-autonomy-scale), from dumb scripts to fully autonomous workflows. The big takeaway? Most "agents" today are barely tools, but true autonomy is coming.

Link: https://nextbigteng.substack.com/p/bessemers-ai-agent-autonomy-scale

## 6. SPEND

The [SaaS Capital Spending Benchmarks for B2B SaaS Companies](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x5k7bpbpnngbzoy0s9kuw/Spending-Benchmarks-for-Private-B2B-SaaS-Companies-2025-W1.pdf?rlkey=woj1tfydc9ye093lmhj2k0lxh&dl=0) is out - bookmark this when it's time to benchmark your wallets y'all! Bootstrapped B2B SaaS companies spend 95% of ARR (hey - I do better than that!!), while VC-backed ones burn 107%. Equity-backed teams spend 100% more on marketing and 71% more on R&D.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x5k7bpbpnngbzoy0s9kuw/Spending-Benchmarks-for-Private-B2B-SaaS-Companies-2025-W1.pdf?rlkey=woj1tfydc9ye093lmhj2k0lxh&dl=0

## 7. OFFENSIVE DATA

No - not the type you don't like, the other type, that attacks! Most teams only use data when things break. [Elena Verna makes the case for offensive analytics](https://www.elenaverna.com/p/offensive-vs-defensive-data-analysis)—proactively surfacing what's working and why. From Slack to Uber to Google, some great use cases profiled!

Link: https://www.elenaverna.com/p/offensive-vs-defensive-data-analysis

## 8. CHIP WARS

[GPU/AI-based silicon is the new arms race](https://spectrum.ieee.org/hot-chips). NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and a wave of startups are battling to power the next-gen models. Speed, efficiency, and memory optimization are the focus - with big moves in open-source AI chips too.

Link: https://spectrum.ieee.org/hot-chips

## 9. FACEBOOK

Earlier this month, [some leaked emails reveal how Meta scrambled to keep Facebook "culturally relevant"](https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/20/uncovered-emails-showed-how-meta-struggled-to-keep-facebook-culturally-relevant/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter)—pitching tie-ins with Drake, new dating features, and even Taylor Swift content. Internally? Execs admitted teens were ghosting the app. A rough look inside the social media decline curve, also things that didn't help with a book from a Facebook Insider who [alleges bad behavior](https://restofworld.org/2025/careless-people-book-review-facebook-global-policy/) coming in from the top. Facebook's attempt to [stop the author from promoting or distributing the book](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5zyq0250wo) backfired - as that news made the headlines on the book's front page.

Link: https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/20/uncovered-emails-showed-how-meta-struggled-to-keep-facebook-culturally-relevant/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

## 10. CASE STUDY

This one is super useful (at least I'm well aware of it) if you ever find that you need to "warm up" a domain for bulk email or marketing purposes - [Resend shares how they warmed up their new domain to send 3M+ emails/month](https://resend.com/blog/how-to-warm-up-a-new-domain)without landing in spam land. Great tactics to pay attention to here include inbox seeding, ramp schedules, and IP warm-up. It also includes what NOT to do!

Link: https://resend.com/blog/how-to-warm-up-a-new-domain

## POD OF THE WEEK

Hiten Shah discusses [how smart founders, marketers, and leaders are using AI to win](https://youtu.be/5klyJlxeHNU?si=rBLSahW7nlXMSDho).

Link: https://youtu.be/5klyJlxeHNU?si=rBLSahW7nlXMSDho