# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending July 5, 2019

Published: 5 July 2019
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-july-5-2019

## 1. UPSELL

Sammy Abdullah of Blossom Street Ventures backs up my [on-going opinion](https://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/get-more-sales-from-existing-customers.html) that net dollar retention (and by proxy upsell) is [the most important metric in SaaS](https://blossomstreetventures.com/2019/06/06/upsells-are-critical-to-saas-growth)

Link: https://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/get-more-sales-from-existing-customers.html

## 2. SAAS MULTIPLES

Tomasz Tunguz frequently [reviews public traded SaaS companies forward multiples](https://tomtunguz.com/the-saas-valuation-environment-in-mid-2019). They are currently edging up to a seven-year high average at 9.6x (which is a recovery as it dropped to 7.7x at the end of 2018). Check out newly Public Company, Zoom in his article - an amazing 44.1x forward multiple!

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/the-saas-valuation-environment-in-mid-2019

## 3. SAAS

Complimentary to the above article, Global spending on cloud-based software [generated $23 billion in Q1 and is set to pass $100 Billion ARR for the year](https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/microsoft-salesforce-help-saas-spending-reach-100b-run-rate). It’s a big milestone. And the company on top of that? Well, it’s not Salesforce anymore. That perch has been poached a while back by Microsoft as the company continues on its strategic business model pivot and they now represent [a whopping 17% of the enterprise SaaS market](https://www.srgresearch.com/articles/saas-spending-hits-100-billion-annual-run-rate-microsoft-extends-its-leadership). Interesting to also see Adobe creeping into 3rd place (and past SAP and Oracle).

Link: https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/microsoft-salesforce-help-saas-spending-reach-100b-run-rate

## 4. CADENCE

The cadence at which a company operates is set by Senior Leadership, [who keeps the rhythm and beat](https://avc.com/2018/06/the-heartbeat). Startups and Tech companies operate at a fast cadence, often [reporting on a weekly basis](https://avc.com/2019/04/the-heartbeat-continued), some teams daily. But even in larger scale corporates, the [top economic performers follow a faster rhythm than their industry counterparts](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/the-drumbeat-of-digital-how-winning-teams-play).

Link: https://avc.com/2018/06/the-heartbeat

## 5. GROWTH

Two-sided marketplace businesses (such as Uber and Airbnb) face chicken/egg dilemmas when it comes to supply and demand. Here is a curated list from a16z’s Andrew Chen’s on [28 ways to grow the supply side](https://andrewchen.co/grow-marketplace-supply) of a marketplace.

Link: https://andrewchen.co/grow-marketplace-supply

## 6. 5G

This next generation of wireless tech will really blur the line between internet and cellular data connectivity. [This report from Business Insider](https://www.dropbox.com/s/mlx8k292vtt3i0e/bii_fixed5gdisruption_2019.pdf?dl=0) focuses on the threat to the home internet market in the US from Cellular telcos and [this report focuses on 5G deployments](https://www.dropbox.com/s/hj87l9zd43axc7p/5g%20snapshot%20-%20us%20doc%20%20%288%29.pdf?dl=0) (Stateside) so far.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mlx8k292vtt3i0e/bii_fixed5gdisruption_2019.pdf?dl=0

## 7. CUSTOMER

Survey Monkey has a downloadable PDF on [7 ways a company can actionably put customers first](https://cdn.smassets.net/assets/cms/cc/uploads/SurveyMonkey-CX-Customer-Centricity-Report.pdf), compare that to HubSpot who [also have their (CRM Focused) 7 step version](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-first-strategy).

Link: https://cdn.smassets.net/assets/cms/cc/uploads/SurveyMonkey-CX-Customer-Centricity-Report.pdf

## 8. FUNDING

Point Nine Capital have just updated their famous [SaaS Napkin](https://www.dropbox.com/s/etmgz1vbxuys1yw/SaaSNapkin2019.pdf?dl=0) for 2019 (it’s awesome) and also provided a complimentary publication on [what it t](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/what-does-it-take-to-raise-capital-in-saas-in-2019-26829debef29)[akes to raise capital (in SaaS) in 2019](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/what-does-it-take-to-raise-capital-in-saas-in-2019-26829debef29).

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/etmgz1vbxuys1yw/SaaSNapkin2019.pdf?dl=0

## 9. MOBILE METRICS

When it comes to being a Mobile-first business, what are the metrics that matter? ChartMogul has put together [this ultimate guide/Cheat Sheet](https://www.dropbox.com/s/no66kc4cb0nkuw5/The%20Ultimate%20Mobile%20Analytics%20Cheat%20Sheet.pdf?dl=0) (downloadable as a PDF!)

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/no66kc4cb0nkuw5/The%20Ultimate%20Mobile%20Analytics%20Cheat%20Sheet.pdf?dl=0

## 10. SAASTR

[SaaStr](https://www.saastr.com/) just hosted their first European conference last month and it was hugely successful (with Cecelia Shand from our London offices attending). Here is an attendee report on [top lessons for B2B SaaS companies](https://blog.usejournal.com/key-b2b-saas-lessons-from-saastr-europa-2019-c808d91129d5) learned at SaaStr Europa. SaaStr have also recently announced a new event this August in SF called [SaaStr Scale](https://www.saastrscale.com/).

Link: https://www.saastr.com/

## POD OF THE WEEK

From Y-Combinator. [Great discussion on organizing and running Growth Teams](https://blog.ycombinator.com/advice-on-organizing-and-running-growth-teams-from-dan-hockenmaier-and-gustaf-alstromer/). A fantastic discussion on what to do beyond founder-salesian a startup.

**BONUS**: Y-Combinator run a (**FREE!**) online course for founders called Startup School (**FUN FACT:** Thematic were recruited into the physical Y-Combinator Accelerator from this online class and are featured on the landing page). The 10 week course begins July 22, 2019 (Did I mention it’s FREE for everyone to participate). [Registration here](https://www.startupschool.org/).

Link: https://blog.ycombinator.com/advice-on-organizing-and-running-growth-teams-from-dan-hockenmaier-and-gustaf-alstromer/