# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending August 11, 2023

Published: 10 August 2023
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-august-11-2023

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: PQL vs Activations.

In my mind, the try-before-you-buy approach to software subscriptions is the best way to get to my money - that is pretty much what PLG is - so put away your SQL and MQL metrics for a second and focus on their newer cousin: [PQL (Product Qualified Leads](https://productled.com/product-qualified-leads)) - this tracks potential customer who has exhibited buying intent based on product interest and usage. Now you know that - [measuring PQL vs. Activations are the two metrics to measure in unison](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/activation-product-qualified-leads).

Link: https://productled.com/product-qualified-leads

## 2. BURN MULTIPLES

Operators must balance growth and efficiency in this new SaaS environment. So it's time to brush up on those efficiency metrics in this 2 part post covering Burn Multiple and Sales Efficiency metrics. A Burn Multiple measures how much a startup is burning to generate each incremental dollar of ARR. [The higher the Burn Multiple, the more the startup is burning](https://sacks.substack.com/p/the-burn-multiple-51a7e43cb200) to achieve each unit of growth. [Here is how to calculate this metric](https://www.klipfolio.com/metrics/saas/burn-multiple), and [here is an example](https://www.wallstreetprep.com/knowledge/burn-multiple/).

Link: https://sacks.substack.com/p/the-burn-multiple-51a7e43cb200

## 3. VENTURE

Uh-oh. The [Carta State of Private Markets](https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q2-2023)report is out for Q2 2023, and 20% of all the VC deals were down rounds. But on the upside, venture overall is up 26% from the last Q due to the number of later stage deals (B Onwards) - but we're still down 58% year on year.

Link: https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q2-2023

## 4. CAPITAL

This is a [great deep dive on the state of fundraising for H2 2023](https://www.saastr.com/raising-capital-in-2023-what-you-really-need-to-know-with-creandum-partner-peter-specht) that covers all things early stage (Series B and prior) from Peter Specht of Creandum Partner. Volume is way down, especially in the Series A and B Space; AI companies are the dominant outliers of rounds, growth expectations, and burn expectations.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/raising-capital-in-2023-what-you-really-need-to-know-with-creandum-partner-peter-specht

## 5. PRICING

This is an excellent report from Vendr: [The SaaS Trends Report for Q2 2023](https://www.vendr.com/insights/saas-trends-report-q2-2023) (b2b only). You can compare quarters from Q1 2020 to now, and a remarkable drop off in ACV happened last Q. It may be buyers prioritizing efficiency (I know that's certainly my MO right now) - it could also be an anomaly. I will check in again next Q. It Also has a great chart by SaaS Category and top products by ACV - check out Snowflake, Netsuite, and Salesforce - all with $160k + ACV.

Link: https://www.vendr.com/insights/saas-trends-report-q2-2023

## 6. MICROSERVICES

Microservices have become the application deployment method du jour for quite some time now due to scalability and agility. But those old-school monolith apps also have value. Case in point - the Amazon Prime Video team recently shifted from microservices to a monolith and reduced costs by 90%. [The choice is case by case, though](https://www.techradar.com/pro/microservices-vs-monoliths-its-not-a-competition), Microservices can get crazy complex, and Monoliths simplify deployment but often lack scalability. So a blended approach makes sense, where core functions remain monolithic, and other components can go microservices.

Link: https://www.techradar.com/pro/microservices-vs-monoliths-its-not-a-competition

## 7. PRODUCTS

Balancing the needs of existing vs. new customers is a complicated product act to balance, and that [push and pull are nicely described in this article](https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/the-push-and-pull-of-building-products-766e4e32f40a) with some great analogies and tips on influencing the product roadmap.

Link: https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/the-push-and-pull-of-building-products-766e4e32f40a

## 8. ONBOARDING (Remote)

Fun fact - I've only ever met 3 of my team IRL; everyone else is remote, overseas, and in a different time zone. Successful onboarding is tricky, so check this [complete guide to remote employee training](https://hubstaff.com/blog/train-new-hires-efficiently/). For some solid examples, [this is how Zapier do it](https://www.process.st/effective-remote-onboarding/) (and leverages their own product to use automation to do it), and [here are some lessons learned from Slack](https://slack.com/blog/collaboration/remote-new-hire-onboarding).

Link: https://hubstaff.com/blog/train-new-hires-efficiently/

## 9. M&A

Navigating some kind of acquisition process is a relatively unexplored topic in this newsletter, so check this [guide to running an M&A process as a Founder from First Round Review.](https://review.firstround.com/how-to-sell-your-startup-the-complete-guide-to-running-an-manda-process-as-a-founder)

Link: https://review.firstround.com/how-to-sell-your-startup-the-complete-guide-to-running-an-manda-process-as-a-founder

## 10. CASE STUDY

Typeform - you have experienced and/or created at least one of their forms and surveys, and they have been around the block for quite some time, especially in PLG terms. Founded in 2012, [Typeform reached $70 million ARR in 2021, serving over 125,000 paying customers,](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/typeforms-viral-growth-and-its-disruption) and continues to innovate with AI-powered tools and a focus on user experience.

Link: https://openviewpartners.com/blog/typeforms-viral-growth-and-its-disruption

## POD OF THE WEEK

A follow-up on #4 (and #3) above - [the video presentation version covering raising capital in H2 2023](https://youtu.be/5Pf4AxFo9QI).

Link: https://youtu.be/5Pf4AxFo9QI