# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending August 15, 2025

Published: 14 August 2025
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-august-15-2025

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

Headcount. Headcount accounts for [60-80% of early-stage bur](https://www.svb.com/business-growth/cash-flow-management/startup-burn-rate-cash-flow)n, which means most burn starts with hiring. So check out [this headcount planning module](https://open.substack.com/pub/thevccorner/p/headcount-planning-module-excel-template?r=2l6zh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email) to track every hire and salary

Link: https://www.svb.com/business-growth/cash-flow-management/startup-burn-rate-cash-flow

## 2. SALES TRANSITION

On the mission of moving from founder-led to AE-led sales? [This article from Bain Capital Ventures makes the case that it's all about the "MVP/ICP Handshake."](https://baincapitalventures.com/insight/the-mvp-icp-handshake-how-to-move-from-founder-led-to-ae-led-sales) Nailing the alignment between your Minimum Viable Product and your Ideal Customer Profile is a key step. Without this, bringing in AEs too early can stunt growth (which has been seen [time and time again](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jasonmlemkin_the-transition-from-founder-led-sales-to-activity-7208204187690569728-ZeHy/) in [startup land](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexagrabell_founder-led-sales-is-hard-i-mean-very-very-activity-7153418202335571968-Sm8c/)). Solidify the customer segmentations and product-market fit before even thinking of adding a sales force.

Link: https://baincapitalventures.com/insight/the-mvp-icp-handshake-how-to-move-from-founder-led-to-ae-led-sales

## 3. VIBE CODING

Those "Vibe coding" tools like Replit, Lovable, and Cursor blend code, creativity, and collaboration. The TAM? Jason Lemkin takes a look, and it's likely much bigger than it looks once you count non-devs building with AI.

## 4. AI MARKETS

According to [Elad Gil](https://blog.eladgil.com/p/ai-market-clarity), core AI markets like Code, Legal, and Customer Support now have clear leaders. But sectors like Compliance, Security, and Sales are still wide open—and ripe for disruption. A great map of where AI is and where it's going.

Link: https://blog.eladgil.com/p/ai-market-clarity

## 5. FULL BREADTH

You heard of full-stack devs - so how about [Full breadth](https://justin.searls.co/posts/full-breadth-developers)? A new one for your tech dictionaries. These are engineers who go beyond deep tech skills, adding product sense, design taste, and business insight, making them deadly effective in those early-stage teams.

Link: https://justin.searls.co/posts/full-breadth-developers

## 6. AI INFRASTRUCTURE

A post on the new AI Data Centers I posted [earlier this month](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-august-1-2025) was a popular one, so it's obvious that [AI infra's second act is here](https://nextbigteng.substack.com/p/ai-infrastructures-second-act-environments-evals-experience)—moving from just GPUs to the 3 E's: environments (realistic testing), evals (robust benchmarks), and experience (seamless dev tools). The next wave is about trust, usability, and real-world performance.

Link: https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-august-1-2025

## 7. AGENTIC AI

Lots of agentic hype at the moment. [In this paper](https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone1/in/en/docs/services/engineering-ai-data/in-eaid-the-business-imperative-for-agentic-ai.pdf), Deloitte outlines why Agentic AI is the (obvious) next leap beyond GenAI; autonomous, reasoning systems executing complex, multistep tasks with minimal oversight (what could go wrong?) Success hinges on process fit, tech readiness, governance, good QA, and upskilling teams for human-AI collaboration

Link: https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone1/in/en/docs/services/engineering-ai-data/in-eaid-the-business-imperative-for-agentic-ai.pdf

## 8. VENTURE

According to this new report I've found ([The Big Book of Venture Capital](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jhs8qn74dvnf8gy0ttvb5/The-Big-Book-of-Venture-Capital-Q2-2025.pdf?rlkey=dm1sp368yklag7it070qp1fuf&dl=0)), $205B wass raised in H1'25 (up 32% YoY), mega-rounds up, valuations near 2021 highs, and M&A re-surging (driven by AI). But it's not really a comeback, more just a reshuffle favoring top firms, some AI plays, and strategic capital.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jhs8qn74dvnf8gy0ttvb5/The-Big-Book-of-Venture-Capital-Q2-2025.pdf?rlkey=dm1sp368yklag7it070qp1fuf&dl=0

## 9. WINNERS

a16z [breaks down why top startups pull ahead](https://a16zgrowth.substack.com/p/why-winners-win), they compound their advantages, build faster loops, and leverage market power. Success isn't just product or timing; it's how to build momentum that's hard to catch.

Link: https://a16zgrowth.substack.com/p/why-winners-win

## 10. CASE STUDY

Check out h[ow Carta built their own AI agent](https://www.firstround.com/ai/carta) "Equity Concierge" to automate complex equity tasks for startups. The team focused on high-value workflows, some tight human–AI loops, and fast iteration, which delivered real actual ROI.

Link: https://www.firstround.com/ai/carta

## POD OF THE WEEK

How the heck do you scale an insanely fast growth company like OpenAI's Sales Team? [Check how Maggie Hott does it](https://youtu.be/NdxLpZxIDqY) (along with three other Unicorns).

Link: https://youtu.be/NdxLpZxIDqY