# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending February 26, 2021

Published: 26 February 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-february-26-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

CPA - cost *per* acquisition - vs CAC. CPA is often conflated with the Cost *of* acquisition, but they are different. [Andrew Chen dives into the details as to why](https://andrewchen.co/how-to-actually-calculate-cac) (and also how to calculate CAC accurately).

Link: https://andrewchen.co/how-to-actually-calculate-cac

## 2. DESIGN

Bringing good design into different elements of a business is nothing new to modern businesses. But there are specialized branches of design constantly emerging. [Growth Design](https://firstround.com/review/defining-growth-design-the-guide-to-the-role-most-startups-are-missing) is my new all-time favorite - merging typical HCD/Empathy Design but adding in the pragmatism of [designing the jobs that need to be done](https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done).

Link: https://firstround.com/review/defining-growth-design-the-guide-to-the-role-most-startups-are-missing

## 3. SALES OPS

For those of us lucky enough to be in Scale-Up mode. Scaling creates real teething problems. Especially when it comes to revenue teams and moving beyond the founder being the primary (or only) salesperson. Eventually, a dedicated team will be needed ([that doesn't involve the founder)](https://www.saastock.com/blog/saas-sales-process) and, in more modern times, Sales Operations operators are needed to help coordinate cross-departmental activities to help a revenue organization hum. Take a read of t[his Sales Ops primer article from Point Nine Capital](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/a-primer-on-sales-ops-a-k-a-sops-for-early-stage-b2b-founders-1407bb168d1e) on how to get started.

Link: https://www.saastock.com/blog/saas-sales-process

## 4. DEATH

Of the SaaS kind. Sorry to make it morbid - but Y-Combinator (via the SaaStr Blog) lists [5 things that kill startups](https://www.saastr.com/5-things-that-kill-startups-with-y-combinator) (and what to do about it). It's a way deeper article than it sounds (and it ain't just 5 things) - then there is also [this Twitter Zinger](https://twitter.com/Austen/status/1357530854398984195?s=20).

Link: https://www.saastr.com/5-things-that-kill-startups-with-y-combinator

## 5. CYBERSECURITY

This is actually an expansion of the Pod of the Week below (listen to it!). Cybercrime has become big business and selling your product to larger corporates and the enterprise in a post-SolarWinds breach world has made operational and cyber [Due Diligence](https://www.saasbrief.com/cybersecurity/?open-article-id=13115014&article-title=saas-cybersecurity-due-diligence&blog-domain=opexengine.com&blog-title=opexengine) a lot trickier to navigate (there is a [growing need for chief compliance officers](https://www.complianceweek.com/cyber-security/solarwinds-hack-turning-into-pandoras-box-of-cyber-risk/30001.article) for example). What to start focusing on? [Start with more detailed Log Management](https://sharedassessments.org/blog/solarwinds-operational-due-diligence/) (listen to the Podcast to understand why in the Solar Winds case)

Link: https://www.saasbrief.com/cybersecurity/?open-article-id=13115014&article-title=saas-cybersecurity-due-diligence&blog-domain=opexengine.com&blog-title=opexengine

## 6. SEGMENTATION

Not all customers are created equal and audience segmentation isn’t a new concept. But it's a constantly moving target and can be a hard topic for startups to master. In this rapid deep dive, learn [What](https://blog.chartmogul.com/saas-metrics-refresher-segmentation) segmentation is: [Why](https://tomtunguz.com/customer-segmentation) it matters, and [How](https://labs.openviewpartners.com/customer-segmentation) to implement it. If done right, [there are massive upsides](https://blog.chartmogul.com/saas-metrics-refresher-segmentation). But [Cohorts are also a necessary ingredient](https://medium.com/entrepreneurial-resolutions/how-to-build-cohorts-c12347a3e391) in Segmentation analysis and sometimes [segmentation can be a bad idea](https://saasx.com/2018/12/05/saas-marketing-segmentation-bad-idea/).

Link: https://blog.chartmogul.com/saas-metrics-refresher-segmentation

## 7. CUSTOMER SUCCESS MODELS

Just like customers, not all CSM’s are built the same either. And it depends, based on stage and strategy, as to how your CSM teams will evolve…...but they will. [Gainsight proposes 5 basic kinds of CSM](https://www.slideshare.net/GainsightHQ/gainsight-csm-org-structures), along with a corollary org chart. But keep in mind IRL they all will be different hues. SaaSx has [this model](https://saasx.com/2019/05/26/a-saas-startup-sales-team-org-chart-example-3). Which one best resonates with you?

Link: https://www.slideshare.net/GainsightHQ/gainsight-csm-org-structures

## 8. CUSTOMER SUCCESS #2 - Quota

In past newsletters, I have referenced [AE](https://medium.com/north-america-tech-for-kiwis/new-saas-report-from-the-bridge-group-680c2b7cd3d6) and [SDR](https://medium.com/north-america-tech-for-kiwis/2018-sdr-metrics-report-from-the-bridge-group-f7fee0ad46df) metrics and quotas. But what about quota expectations in renewal and cross-sell/upsell within a Customer Success Team? [Tomasz Tunguz takes a look](https://tomtunguz.com/how-much-arr-can-a-csm-manage) based on a [report a couple of years back from Gainsight](https://www.gainsight.com/blog/customer-success-team-planning-cost-benchmarks). Most Customer Success Managers can handle between *$2-$5M in ARR* and somewhere between *10-500 accounts* (but it varies based on segment/ACMR).

Link: https://medium.com/north-america-tech-for-kiwis/new-saas-report-from-the-bridge-group-680c2b7cd3d6

## 9. MARKETING

Just save this link to your ideas/inspiration board or something. At first glance, it looks like a lightweight article. But just wait. One day you will be looking for ideas on how to elevate your product or business, when you do open up this bookmark for some true inspiration on [52 Low-Cost Ways to Promote Your Business](https://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/24waysto.htm)

Link: https://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/24waysto.htm

## 10. CASE STUDY

The Freemium and Product Lead Growth master - SLACK - and [5 interesting learnings now that they are at $1B in ARR](https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-slack-at-1b-in-arr). They are still growing revenue at 40% year-over-year - likely thanks to Covid and PLG, and thanks to their Freemium model Slack has a great 50/50 split of customers Small/Enterprise.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-slack-at-1b-in-arr

## POD OF THE WEEK

a16z's declaration of a [pivot into Media last month](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/andreessen-horowitz-new-media-property-to-debut-in-2021) was a surprise to no-one who listens to or reads any of their content. So take a listen to [this tear-down of how the Solar Winds hack went down](https://a16z.com/2021/01/31/16mins-solarwinds-hack-teardown-supply-chain-compromise-cloud-security/)(technically). Really great listening for anyone that loves Serial-style podcast covering super tech issues. The SolarWinds hack is no joke. It's a very big deal with [political ramifications](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-russia-sanctions-solarwinds-hacks/2021/02/23/b77039d6-71fa-11eb-85fa-e0ccb3660358_story.html).

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/andreessen-horowitz-new-media-property-to-debut-in-2021