# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending June 16, 2023

Published: 15 June 2023
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-june-16-2023

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: SaaS Metrics 2.0.

This is a big one - we all know the core SaaS Metrics - CAC, LTV:CAC, ACV, etc., etc. But Kyle Poyar from OpenView Partners is [making the case for the next era of core metrics](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/saas-metrics-2-0-the-case-for-next-era-metrics-playbook). Product lead, expansion, and margin profiles (such as ARRR per FTE) are at the core of this new potential playbook.

Link: https://openviewpartners.com/blog/saas-metrics-2-0-the-case-for-next-era-metrics-playbook

## 2. MARKETING

Marketing is an extensive practice covering many[disciplines](https://tomtunguz.com/bill-macaitis-talk/) and specialties. Which one should be the focus of a startup's [first hire](https://tomtunguz.com/most-frequent-mishire)?

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/bill-macaitis-talk/

## 3. ONBOARDING

Doing this well is critical to increasing value, lowering churn, and creating advocates - so here is how some of the best do it: Leveraging email, this is how [ZenDesk document their comms flow](https://medium.com/saas-onboarding-emails/zendesk-onboarding-email-breakdown-bd728323fb87), and [ChartMogul has a guide to their non-email version too](https://blog.chartmogul.com/onboarding-plan-b2b-saas/). From HeavyBit, [here is a 4-phase plan](https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/4-phases-of-building-an-enterprise-onboarding-process/), and this article covers [5 Tips to Speed up Sales Onboarding without Sacrificing Quality](https://www.business2community.com/sales-management/5-tips-to-speed-up-sales-onboarding-without-sacrificing-quality-02197033).

Link: https://medium.com/saas-onboarding-emails/zendesk-onboarding-email-breakdown-bd728323fb87

## 4. IDEAS

Everyone has them, like all the time. So here is a [framework for managing them](https://newsletter.sandhill.io/p/insights-that-drive-ideation). This one is bookmarked for me, and the template is now on my wall! The HD version of it is [here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/b65yihei62ewth5/Map%20of%20Inputs%20that%20Drive%20Ideation.png?dl=0). A little bonus is [a compilation of mental models that entrepreneurs and investors leverage to develop new startup ideas](https://medium.com/@AliKAfridi/systematic-ideation-for-startups-venture-theses-77b672ac1ae1) & venture theses from the same author.

Link: https://newsletter.sandhill.io/p/insights-that-drive-ideation

## 5. CONTINUOUS DESIGN

My [post on DesignOps](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-june-9-2023) was popular last week - so here is another design-based article: Thomas Sutton is pitching a new Continuous design framework to bridge this divide between theory and practice that I like to call "[Everything everywhere all at once](https://uxdesign.cc/continuous-design-a-framework-for-building-digital-products-6a0b9e65abf1)." A bonus here is the "[How do you design](https://www.dropbox.com/s/rj2vhkrea4vgexg/compendium%20of%20models.pdf?dl=0)" document that covers more than 100 design process models. Why are these important? This article makes the case that [Agile and UX are a failed marriage](https://uxdesign.cc/agile-ux-a-failed-marriage-bd0db1182e5a).

Link: https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-june-9-2023

## 6. FAILURES

According to data from [this morbid Crunchbase page](https://www.crunchbase.com/hub/startups-that-failed-in-2023), at least 72 startups have shut their doors in 2023. This doesn't quite indicate the trend in terms of YoY spreads - but the fact they have built a page can not be because of positive trends. The hypothesis is that a disproportional amount of failures are now occurring due to the VC Boom that ended in 2021 and the hard-core tightening of VC Wallets that happened almost immediately after.

Link: https://www.crunchbase.com/hub/startups-that-failed-in-2023

## 7. ESOP

Employee Share Option Plans are a fantastic idea to incentivize and retain great staff, but under the hood, ESOPs are complex, especially with changing valuations, both positive and negative, in today's market. Check out [Airtree Venture's best practices for communicating the value of ESOP to teams](https://www.airtree.vc/open-source-vc/communicating-esop-value-to-employees). This article also has a bonus financial model template (value calculator, salary package calculator, and vesting schedule). Check [this cheat sheet](https://www.dropbox.com/s/zdzqkw6rcddzr8y/ESOP%20Cheat%20sheet%20of%20Terms.pdf?dl=0) for standard ESOP terms.

Link: https://www.airtree.vc/open-source-vc/communicating-esop-value-to-employees

## 8. ESOP BENCHMARKS

A fast follow from #7 above is [this wonderful site](https://www.indexventures.com/optionplan) that has compiled Option benchmark data comprising over 20,000 option grants from more than 1,650 startups across the US and Europe sorted by Seed or Venture stage.

Link: https://www.indexventures.com/optionplan

## 9. BOOTSTRAP

This is a fun series just started from Inc mag (and currently at 2 parts) - [part 1](https://www.inc-aus.com/joe-procopio/how-to-start-a-tech-company-with-less-than-100.html) here and [part 2](https://www.inc-aus.com/joe-procopio/how-to-grow-a-tech-company-on-less-than-100-a-month.html) here - covering How to start and grow a Tech company with less than $100 - it's all GTM, so make sure you have that whole product thing figured out first.

Link: https://www.inc-aus.com/joe-procopio/how-to-start-a-tech-company-with-less-than-100.html

## 10. CASE STUDY

Spotify and its Squads. A few years back, a really inspiring and memorable [video circulated](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GK1NDTWbkY) (in one of those cutesy handwritten animation styles) describing the Agile Squads that Spotify employs in its apparently cooler-than-cool Utopian Developer department. Well, guess what? Sorry to burst your Spotify bubble, but they abandoned it. (How Agile of them)…. In [this post-mortem assessment](https://www.jeremiahlee.com/posts/failed-squad-goals/), the most significant fundamental failure was such a SaaS-based one: It was solving the wrong problem.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GK1NDTWbkY

## POD OF THE WEEK

From the Invest Like the Best team - a [recent interview with Bessemer Venture Partners](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invest-like-the-best-with-patrick-oshaughnessy/id1154105909?i=1000611412919) (one of my favorites). It's actually a VC firm that is over 100 years old and has a unique operating model and plans for building a VC Firm that last centuries.

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invest-like-the-best-with-patrick-oshaughnessy/id1154105909?i=1000611412919