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

Published: 9 January 2025
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-january-10-2025

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

ARR per FTE**:** See #3 below for the why: The 2022 KeyBanc report pegs the median at [$143K for private SaaS](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ho1fmqylo3i31h4dvshbr/11-ARR-per-FTE.png?rlkey=qxxzw0jtqfdsqr4320yzj5z1b&e=1&dl=0), while public companies double that. [High Alpha/OpenView's benchmarks](https://www.highalpha.com/2024-saas-benchmarks-report) show ranges from [$42K to $250K](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bm62ezacswfzk0fry4efh/Rev-per-FTE.png?rlkey=b9zbe1k1cyugp537gpcyivwo9&e=1&dl=0) depending on stage, highlighting ARR growth per team as a [top KPI](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hhhkh2x3agvfx1h7aoxkv/ARR-per-FTE.png?rlkey=84ptlgewvrlm0p675sidahs7o&e=2&dl=0). Meritech has [a great visual](https://www.meritechcapital.com/benchmarking/operating-metrics/arr-fte) with TriNet, Epxensify, and Shopify being in the top 3.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ho1fmqylo3i31h4dvshbr/11-ARR-per-FTE.png?rlkey=qxxzw0jtqfdsqr4320yzj5z1b&e=1&dl=0

## 2. PREDICTIONS 1

Kicking off the new year with a list of predictions of what 2025 may bring in Tech - [25 of them](https://chartmogul.com/blog/25-predictions-for-saas-in-2025) from 25 founders. TL;DR: The AI takeover of SaaS continues, personalization (in real-time) will be here, and vertical SaaS (along with market consolidation) will rise.

Link: https://chartmogul.com/blog/25-predictions-for-saas-in-2025

## 3. PREDICTIONS 2

Tomasz Tunguz lays out some [bold SaaS predictions for 2025](https://tomtunguz.com/2025_predictions/). A big one is that PLG growth will stall as AI-powered tools dominate buyer preferences, GPT-driven products shift GTM strategies (nice!), and efficiency metrics like ARR per FTE take center stage - I already called that one!

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/2025_predictions/

## 4. SPACE TECH

One of my personal favs and 2025 is looking to have [a stellar ;-) lineup of space missions](https://theconversation.com/from-new-commercial-moon-landers-to-asteroid-investigations-expect-a-slate-of-exciting-space-missions-in-2025-243645?): commercial moon landers, Universe mapping, asteroid mining, and new satellite tech.

Link: https://theconversation.com/from-new-commercial-moon-landers-to-asteroid-investigations-expect-a-slate-of-exciting-space-missions-in-2025-243645?

## 5. AI WARS

I talked about that [quite a lot in 2024](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.top10in.tech+%22AI+Wars%22&rlz=1C5CHFA_enNZ914NZ914&oq=site%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.top10in.tech+%22AI+Wars%22&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRg60gEIOTYxNGowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8), and now we're starting off 2025 with [ChatGPT pivoting its business model into being a very-much-for-profit](https://openai.com/index/why-our-structure-must-evolve-to-advance-our-mission/) by pivoting into a Tech-Standard Delaware C Corp, OpenAI says it can pursue commercial operations, but the nonprofit will have a "significant interest" in the for-profit corp - not a unique biz model (look to [Mozilla > Firefox](https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/who-we-are)). OpenAI also said they will need 'more capital than we'd imagined,' which is insane as it [raised a $6.6 B round in October.](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/02/openai-raises-at-157-billion-valuation-microsoft-nvidia-join-round.html)

Link: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.top10in.tech+%22AI+Wars%22&rlz=1C5CHFA_enNZ914NZ914&oq=site%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.top10in.tech+%22AI+Wars%22&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRg60gEIOTYxNGowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

## 6. GOOGLE

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has [pushed an end-of-year rally for his Google employees](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/27/google-ceo-pichai-tells-employees-the-stakes-are-high-for-2025.html) and has a pretty high-stakes vision for 2025. The focus is doubling down on AI innovation (Gemini did get better toward the end of 2024 tbh), defending search dominance ([pffft](https://medium.com/north-america-tech-for-kiwis/s-e-oh-no-how-google-search-is-going-straight-to-garbage-town-62a8c6b313a2)), accelerating cloud growth to outpace competitors (GCP currently carries approx [11-12% of the cloud market](https://www.statista.com/chart/18819/worldwide-market-share-of-leading-cloud-infrastructure-service-providers/) so has room to move ), and figuring out their Monopoly issues (including possibly being forced to [divest Chrome](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/20/doj-pushes-for-google-to-break-off-chrome-browser-after-antitrust-case.html))

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/27/google-ceo-pichai-tells-employees-the-stakes-are-high-for-2025.html

## 7. FOUNDER QUESTIONS

What can drive success for all y'all in the early stages in 2025? Check out [these 16 questions](https://www.focusedchaos.co/p/16-questions-i-ask-founders) you can be prepared to answer around strategy, customer focus, scaling plans, etc.

Link: https://www.focusedchaos.co/p/16-questions-i-ask-founders

## 8. VENTURE

Dealroom has a [global venture capital roundup for 2024](https://dealroom.co/guides/global) and has some cautious optimism for us all in 2025. Yup, we still have some historically low funding volumes, but AI-driven sectors continue to attract capital, and early-stage investments are rebounding - whoop! (and of course, the US still leads the way by an insane amount - >340% than the country in second position - China)

Link: https://dealroom.co/guides/global

## 9. PRIVATE EQUITY (a Guide)

This is actually [a detailed guide for those of you looking at Private Equity this year](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p4iav71k7cfxn0yna60zx/From-VC-to-PE-A-Guide-for-Tech-Startups-1.pdf?rlkey=5ryj2lzfjeuim83biyw2atio1&dl=0) (after raising Venture), highlighting what makes a transitioning startup attractive to buyout firms: Psst - its ARR growth, capital efficiency, and strong retention.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p4iav71k7cfxn0yna60zx/From-VC-to-PE-A-Guide-for-Tech-Startups-1.pdf?rlkey=5ryj2lzfjeuim83biyw2atio1&dl=0

## 10. CASE STUDY

It's the [Billion Dollar Revenue Club study](https://nbt.substack.com/p/the-billion-dollar-revenue-club) - which reveals some of the secret sauce of SaaS giants achieving $1B+ ARR. (mastering product-market fit, strategic expansions, and a relentless focus on customer retention.

Link: https://nbt.substack.com/p/the-billion-dollar-revenue-club

## POD OF THE WEEK

Advocating for people's happiness is part of my day job and mentoring mindset, so it's nice when McKinsey comes out with a podcast about [why it's cool to be kind](https://omny.fm/shows/mckinsey-talks-talent/it-s-cool-to-be-kind-the-value-of-empathy-at-work).

Link: https://omny.fm/shows/mckinsey-talks-talent/it-s-cool-to-be-kind-the-value-of-empathy-at-work