# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending June 25, 2021

Published: 25 June 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-june-25-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

LTV:CAC - the [LTV:CAC ratio is often interpreted as a true value of a companies customers](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics-2-definitions-2/). I say it can be a way to measure the viability of a companies business model. The question is simple: How much money will a customer spend on you versus how much effort is spent acquiring that customer? This ratio needs to be quantified to validate go-to-market strategies, monetization strategies, product strategies. If one of those isn't working - that ratio will be whack.[It is almost folkloric now that this ratio has to be 3:1](https://userpilot.com/blog/ltv-cac-ratio-saas/#fk2h2) - but is that true? [The SaaSCFO takes a look](https://www.thesaascfo.com/ltv-to-cac-ratio-of-three) - TL;DR - kinda yup. It's a good rule of thumb.

Link: https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics-2-definitions-2/

## 2. VENTURE

From Gabe Kleinman of Obvious Ventures [a great article positing that the entire VC industry needs a reset](https://marker.medium.com/venture-capital-needs-a-complete-reset-25afddb7c450). Gabe makes a strong case that VC's are missing out on the most transformative ideas of our time (opposed to incremental ones). PointNine ask from another angle: If entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, [then why do all VCs look the same](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/if-entrepreneurs-can-come-from-anywhere-then-why-do-all-vcs-look-the-same-3e5c809762aa)? There is a reason why the (kinda) parody site [VCStarter Kit](https://vcstarterkit.com/) exists you know.

Link: https://marker.medium.com/venture-capital-needs-a-complete-reset-25afddb7c450

## 3. PRODUCT LED GROWTH

Total banger of an article here this week (thanks for the link [Christelle Blanchet-Aissaoui](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cblanchet/)). It's a Product-Led-Growth playbook for B2B startups. complete with metrics, scale-up strategy, and experiments. Want to know how far along your organization is on the PLG maturity spectrum? Check this [Product Led Growth Maturity Grader](https://openviewpartners.com/product-led-growth-maturity-grader) from OpenView.

Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cblanchet/

## 4. COLD CALLS

Cold calling and email are increasing as a tool during our new sales regimes but these methods historically have very low response rates (1.48% for cold calls and 1% for cold emails). Jason Bay has some [methods to optimize response](https://blissfulprospecting.com/reply-method/)rates and Gong has some [recommendations on cold calling](https://www.gong.io/blog/is-cold-calling-dead/).

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

## 5. ZERO-BASED DESIGN

Another concept for the dictionaries: [Zero-based design](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/how-to-extract-maximum-value-from-a-zero-based-design-approach-to-customer-journeys) has emerged as a potent approach for businesses to improve performance and [redesign their products, services, and even organizations](https://www.bain.com/insights/radical-change-through-zero-based-redesign/). McKinsey go even deeper with a look at this from what they call [Operations Practice](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/technology-operations-a-flywheel-for-performance-improvement) and is the kind of modernization process problem that companies such as [ProMapp](https://www.promapp.com/)help solve.

Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/how-to-extract-maximum-value-from-a-zero-based-design-approach-to-customer-journeys

## 6. LEGAL DOCUMENTS

In startup land, there is a veeeery long tail of legal documents that need drafting in order to run a business, never mind grow one. Here are some great resources for free legal documents so you can stick to the mission: [Avodocs](https://www.avodocs.com/documents)- 3 free per month. [Cooley Go](https://www.cooleygo.com/documents/) has a library of documents for the US and UK, from Penn State Law School - a [startup Kit](https://www.law.upenn.edu/clinic/entrepreneurship/startupkit) bundle For those of us in NZ, Simmonds Stewart has a [comprehensive library of agreements and templates](https://simmondsstewart.com/resources/templates/).

Link: https://www.avodocs.com/documents

## 7. MLP

For your tech dictionaries - Minimum Lovable Product. MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is OK but what if no one likes it? [FirstRound capital uses the analogy of burnt pizza](https://firstround.com/review/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products) - pointing out that the fastest and cheapest functional prototype could produce a poor or flawed version of something that people may actually love.

Link: https://firstround.com/review/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products

## 8. SUSTAINABILITY

There has been a major push throughout this pandemic - of survivability - that's transferring [into sustainability in SaaS](https://www.opexengine.com/top-factors-impacting-the-saas-business-environment-for-2021-part-one/). Building and growing a SaaS company isn’t a sprint – it’s a marathon and while Growth is a great moat, [sustainable growth is ultimately what we all need to be focused on](https://fortune.com/2019/12/17/term-sheet-crystal-ball-predictions-2020/) (and this is a Pre-Covid Article) - so [here are 5 tips to become more business and environmentally sustainable in 2021.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/06/04/five-ways-to-make-your-saas-business-more-sustainable-in-2021)

Link: https://www.opexengine.com/top-factors-impacting-the-saas-business-environment-for-2021-part-one/

## 9. NO, NADA, NOPE!

Two sides of the no-coin here….a bit of a NO deep dive. This first one was shared by one of my team and it's too good to not share. Learning to say no [is the most important skill a programmer can learn](https://medium.com/free-code-camp/the-most-important-skill-a-programmer-can-learn-9d410c786baf) - TL;DR - it’s all about keeping the codebase small and solving the right problems/jobs! On the flip side - when it comes to selling, "No" is almost a curse word. So[this article goes into depth on ways to be 'Yes', rather than have to say no](https://staysaasy.com/product/2020/09/01/enterprise-selling-dont-say-no.html) - it’s a great way to think about how to say yes through the product.

Link: https://medium.com/free-code-camp/the-most-important-skill-a-programmer-can-learn-9d410c786baf

## 10. CASE STUDY

Freemium: In a Profitwell report they demonstrate how Trello, Slack, WordPress, and Dropbox [leverage Freemium to drive MRR](https://www.profitwell.com/recur/all/how-dropbox-trello-automattic-and-slack-drive-mrr-with-subscriptions-and-freemium) they also dive into Notion's freemium strategy, [noting how Notion leverage customer empathy](https://www.profitwell.com/recur/all/notions-freemium-play) in their packaging model.

Link: https://www.profitwell.com/recur/all/how-dropbox-trello-automattic-and-slack-drive-mrr-with-subscriptions-and-freemium

## POD OF THE WEEK

Expanding on #8 above [Sustainable growth in SaaS using data and pricing](https://www.saastock.com/blog/sustainable-growth-in-saas-using-data-and-pricing-paul-lynch-chargify-ceo), with Paul Lynch, the CEO of Chargify

Link: https://www.saastock.com/blog/sustainable-growth-in-saas-using-data-and-pricing-paul-lynch-chargify-ceo