# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending December 6, 2019

Published: 6 December 2019
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-december-6-2019

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

$116 Billion! [According to Jason Lemkin](https://www.saastr.com/saas-will-hit-116-billion-next-year-wow) of [Saastr](https://www.saastr.com/) (based on [Gartner data](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-11-13-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-revenue-to-grow-17-percent-in-2020)), this is the size of SaaS in the Cloud next year (and Cloud overall will reach $266 billion), meaning that SaaS covers about 50% of all cloud spend and there are about 25 SaaS companies at, or close too, $1B ARR

Link: https://www.saastr.com/saas-will-hit-116-billion-next-year-wow

## 2. INSURETECH

Insurtech funding [hit $3.3 USD billion globally](https://www.evernote.com/l/AAEieZdKurhHt5yM2FV3pvpLh83kvCeHYLg) across the first three quarters of 2019, hitting a new high. However the number of new entrants into Insurtech hit an all time high (3 total year to date!), indicating that the space may be getting a little crowded.

Link: https://www.evernote.com/l/AAEieZdKurhHt5yM2FV3pvpLh83kvCeHYLg

## 3. SALES

[The Startup](https://medium.com/swlh) challenges us all to [sell something bigger than your boring product](https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-sell-something-bigger-than-your-otherwise-boring-business-b08d12666252). It’s similar to the mindset of "[The Jobs That Need to be Done](https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done)” discussed in earlier posts, making the point that the true sales value is something that genuinely helps users get better or more successful at what they do.

Link: https://medium.com/swlh

## 4. RETENTION

How do publicly traded SaaS companies measure up to this metric? [KBCM Technology Group](https://www.key.com/businesses-institutions/industry-expertise/technology.jsp) (formerly Pacific Crest Securities) have [compiled a comprehensive database](https://www.key.com/businesses-institutions/industry-expertise/saas-resources.jsp) of publicly reported SaaS metrics with an easy-to-reference table, PDF version is also [here](https://www.key.com/kco/images/Public_SaaS_Company_Retention_Metrics_2019.pdf).

Link: https://www.key.com/businesses-institutions/industry-expertise/technology.jsp

## 5. DUE DILIGENCE

It’s a two-way street when it comes to raising Venture Capital. Jason Lemkin, [discusses due diligence questions](https://www.saastr.com/what-is-the-proper-way-to-do-due-diligence-on-a-vc-firm/) every founder should be asking VC's

Link: https://www.saastr.com/what-is-the-proper-way-to-do-due-diligence-on-a-vc-firm/

## 6. BIG TECH

Just how profitable are they? A great way to do this is to calculate net income per employee. Across the big 5 (Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon), [that metric has shrunk for Facebook, Apple and Google](http://thein.fo/f22e1e70a71d5fc0), remained the same for Amazon and actually had a significant up-tick for Microsoft. But Facebook still remains significantly more profitable. As a little bonus, this is a fun article on [the big-tech rivalries of 2019](http://thein.fo/61b39a67144706ce).

Link: http://thein.fo/f22e1e70a71d5fc0

## 7. PITCH

I can’t bang this drum enough. If you are looking to raise capital, burn this into memory: [You have 2-4 slides tops to grab the attention of an investor.](https://medium.com/swlh/the-killer-startup-pitch-deck-vcs-cant-ignore-3e99f277df51) Use those slides wisely and don’t go beyond 12-15 TOTAL. Oh and also do [these 4 things](https://medium.com/m8-ventures/you-need-one-of-four-things-to-make-your-startup-a-candidate-for-vc-investment-97d8d3082e85) as a business.

Link: https://medium.com/swlh/the-killer-startup-pitch-deck-vcs-cant-ignore-3e99f277df51

## 8. MARKETING

From Tomusz Tunguz, I really like the simplicity of this - [13 critical questions to answer about your startup’s product marketing](https://tomtunguz.com/the-13-critical-questions-to-answer-about-your-startup-s-product-marketing) and SaaS hacker provided [19 strategies a bootstrapped SaaS business can deploy](https://saashacker.co/saas-marketing/).

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/the-13-critical-questions-to-answer-about-your-startup-s-product-marketing

## 9. REAL-TIME OMNI-CHANNEL

As evidenced by this years [Black Friday/Cyber Monday mash-up](https://www.adobe.com/experience-cloud/digital-insights/holiday-shopping-report.html), everything is omni-channel. But how can retailers integrate omni-channel while shoppers are actively in their store and also putting their phones to work? [Google has some great ideas](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/online-in-store-shopping-search/).

Link: https://www.adobe.com/experience-cloud/digital-insights/holiday-shopping-report.html

## 10. REMOTE WORK

Can be an employment strategy that improves employee retention, hiring, and productivity. [Here is a report](https://www.owllabs.com/hubfs/Owl%20Labs%202019%20State%20of%20Remote%20Work%20Report%20PDF.pdf) that reviews the data and [this article is the TL;DR version](https://www.saastr.com/remote-work-for-business-success/).

Link: https://www.owllabs.com/hubfs/Owl%20Labs%202019%20State%20of%20Remote%20Work%20Report%20PDF.pdf

## POD OF THE WEEK

From Y-Combinator: [Why fundraising is different in Silicon Valley](https://blog.ycombinator.com/why-fundraising-is-different-in-silicon-valley/)

**BONUS**: Just raised a bunch of money? Sweet! As an add on to the podcast below, Y-Combinator provides great guidance on [How Much Should You Spend After Fundraising](https://blog.ycombinator.com/how-much-should-you-spend-after-fundraising/)

Link: https://blog.ycombinator.com/why-fundraising-is-different-in-silicon-valley/