# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending February 19, 2021

Published: 19 February 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-february-19-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

NRG - Natural Rate of Growth. Now that I’ve slow-burn convinced a bunch of people subscribed to this newsletter to go all-in with Product Lead Growth (PLG), it’s time to reference the metrics you need to know. [It requires us to get halfway through this article before that becomes clear](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/new-saas-metric/). But hey - it’s totally worth the scroll. With Natural Rate of Growth (NRG), the assumption is that a PLG business has an organic, self-service growth engine at their core (because they’re built to attract the end-user). Keep reading as the article comes complete with benchmarks towards the bottom. Hungry for more best-practice PLG metrics? [I got ya!](https://productled.com/key-metrics-for-every-team-in-a-product-led-company)

Link: https://openviewpartners.com/blog/new-saas-metric/

## 2. DEATH TO SAAS

Made ya look! Last week I discussed the challenges of [adding value via data into pricing](https://www.saasoperationaltactics.com/post/pricing-in-saas-usage-vs-per-seat-pricing) for a subscription/SaaS company - This TechCrunch article takes this premise further highlighting that [many SaaS Companies are shifting to usage-based models](https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/29/subscription-based-pricing-is-dead-smart-saas-companies-are-shifting-to-usage-based-models/?utm_campaign=General%20Marketing&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=109933002&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8WJkZIcuVeFvdwcCxTLeQW31JV1DmBlHZwrVPjms4AUpRKhgBi1iDD1iwWpWonuSKiCbSj7hvWb53168UwIv49JHfE4w&utm_content=109543480&utm_source=hs_email&guccounter=1) (full confirmation-bias disclosure - I operate a hybrid pricing model).

Link: https://www.saasoperationaltactics.com/post/pricing-in-saas-usage-vs-per-seat-pricing

## 3. EMAIL (deep dive)

On the non-PLG end - Cold email outreach is a go-to modern-day sales tool but this method historically has very low response rates (1% for cold emails historically but it dropped below 1% for the first time in 2019!). 1. Jason Bay has some spot-on [methods to optimize response](https://blissfulprospecting.com/reply-method/)rates, 2. Predictable Revenue has this[PowerPoint deck](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1s3PJdZpkZSSFT9MqHcHIQly7z9X3IMIb0fOvDy3bi9E/edit#slide=id.g8d379308d7_0_193)on the four pillars they think constitutes a quality sales-based email campaign. 3. This is a quality case study for anyone with email marketing as part of their businesses - a [deep dive into a single cold email and why the author actually opened it](https://medium.com/better-marketing/the-best-cold-e-mail-ive-ever-received-bfa224677b64) (TL;DR - yes it’s all about everything in the emails design, but its more about how targeted the message is). 4. So here (from LeadIQ) is their [3-step guide to getting noticed by email](https://www.dropbox.com/s/h1bihjgyvmha3fg/ebook-email-your-way-out-of-the-ice-ages-leadiq.pdf?dl=0).

Link: https://blissfulprospecting.com/reply-method/

## 4. PRICING FEATURETTE

Adding on from last week (as it was a popular post) - FUN FACT: On average, a 1 percent price increase translates into an 8.7 percent increase in operating profits - but optimizing Pricing is hard and it’s never (ever) perfect. a) If companies decide to have a pricing page on their site (which is a whole [other topic](https://www.inboundmantra.com/blog/pricing-page-right-for-your-saas-business#:~:text=For%20many%20businesses%20with%20a,website%20will%20work%20the%20best.&text=For%20enterprise%20customers%2C%20pricing%20does,the%20SaaS%20company%20is%20offering.)), [Jason Lemkin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin/), the founder of [SaaStr](https://www.saastr.com/), lays out some thoughts of [what makes a good pricing page](https://www.saastr.com/what-do-you-think-makes-a-good-saas-pricing-page). b) McKinsey gets technical, outlining how to[leverage big data to make better pricing decisions](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/using-big-data-to-make-better-pricing-decisions). c) Want to look at competitor prices? [Comptera](https://competera.net/) has a great article on [how to conduct a high-fidelity competitive pricing analysis project](https://competera.net/resources/articles/competitive-pricing-analysis).

Link: https://www.inboundmantra.com/blog/pricing-page-right-for-your-saas-business#:~:text=For%20many%20businesses%20with%20a,website%20will%20work%20the%20best.&text=For%20enterprise%20customers%2C%20pricing%20does,the%20SaaS%20company%20is%20offering.

## 5. SALES

This article challenges us all to [sell something bigger than your boring ass 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/how-to-sell-something-bigger-than-your-otherwise-boring-business-b08d12666252

## 6. FOUNDERS

A great (but uncomfortable for many) article on the [lessons learned through the journey of a startup](https://firstround.com/review/i-asked-100-founders-ceos-and-vcs-about-career-transitions-heres-what-i-learned)……..which may not end with a founder in charge: *"A founder creates something from nothing. A CEO manages something that already exists. They’re two totally different jobs"*

Link: https://firstround.com/review/i-asked-100-founders-ceos-and-vcs-about-career-transitions-heres-what-i-learned

## 7. BOOTSTRAPPED

[Bootstrapping is a perfectly awesome approach to growing a startup or tech company](https://medium.com/@robgo/some-thoughts-on-non-vc-funding-c13a09d3190), so take a read of the latest [State of Independent SaaS Report](https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbjvhx9n60um1fg/2020%20State%20of%20Indie%20SaaS%20Report.pdf?dl=0) based on hundreds of non-venture track, revenue-generating SaaS companies. It has really great Bootstrapped benchmarks: growth rates, demographics, validation approaches, and more......and from Pierre de Wulf are [6 (wise) things I wish I knew before I bootstrapped my first SaaS startup](https://thenextweb.com/growth-quarters/2020/11/24/6-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-i-bootstrapped-my-first-saas-startup/).

Link: https://medium.com/@robgo/some-thoughts-on-non-vc-funding-c13a09d3190

## 8. VENTURE CAPITAL

The Ying of the #6 Yang above - While bootstrapping (I've been there) is a very noble approach, more often than not, some kind of Venture Capital is needed to help fund growth and development. In last year's KeyBanc SaaS report, [only 14% of companies surveyed were Bootstrapped or Independent](https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Slide29.png). This report also found that [VC-backed businesses demonstrate better growth](https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Slide30.png), but at the total expense of margin. [Correlating these deal size categories to forecast growth](https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Slide21.png) highlights that the low end of town retained the best forecast for (25% growth). TL;DR - Growth rate really matters to VC's and you need to understand exactly why. [This article, by Jason Calacanis, lays out why VC firms aren’t focused on slow/modest growth startups](https://medium.com/@jason/why-arent-vc-firms-focused-on-slow-modest-growth-startups-11044c0a0c6e).

Link: https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Slide29.png

## 9. PRODUCT

This one is for all you product managers. Lenny Rachitsky has [curated a list of templates and frameworks for Product Management](https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/my-favorite-templates-issue-37) (there are also a bunch of others in there too) - definitely a bookmark-able page! If you are a founder and *acting* Product Manager then [this one is a better fit for you.](https://foundr.com/be-your-own-product-manager)

Link: https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/my-favorite-templates-issue-37

## 10. CASE STUDY

[HubSpot's turn](https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-hubspot-as-it-approaches-1-billion-in-arr). - this is another SaaS company that has crossed $1b in ARR (and growing at about 30%!!). They have been around for 14 years but didn't really get started until about 2011. You can watch the $0 - IPO breakdown[here too](https://youtu.be/PE1zLA0R6rA).

Link: https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-hubspot-as-it-approaches-1-billion-in-arr

## POD OF THE WEEK

Adding onto #3 above, Profitwell run [a pricing page teardown on Accounting software company, Xero](https://www.profitwell.com/recur/pricing-page-teardown)

Link: https://www.profitwell.com/recur/pricing-page-teardown