# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending March 15, 2019 Published: 15 March 2019 Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-march-15-2019 ## 1. RIP PASSWORDS? Last week, the [World Wide Web Consortium approved WebAuthn](https://www.w3.org/2019/03/pressrelease-webauthn-rec.html), a new authentication standard for password-free logins. This new standard allows websites to communicate with a security device to let a user log into their service. Dropbox and MSFT have been early adopters of the standard so far. Link: https://www.w3.org/2019/03/pressrelease-webauthn-rec.html ## 2. 5G Verizon [outlined it's 5G growth strategy](https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-outlines-5g-era-growth-strategy-investor-conference) late last month and rollouts (in the US) are [not expected until 2022](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/telecommunications/our-insights/cutting-through-the-5G-hype-survey-shows-telcos-nuanced-views). [The war to win 5G](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/telecommunications/our-insights/who-wins-in-a-5g-world) is definitely starting to heat up and is creating an opportunity for wireless network operators to [expand their potential subscriber bases into the home](https://www.evernote.com/l/AAFWTBcLhxpBd4syR2TUZ-ci5PhHzOEw5vU). ISP’s should be [nervous and/or starting to partner.](http://thein.fo/07d8d918bbb921f7) Link: https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-outlines-5g-era-growth-strategy-investor-conference ## 3. BIG RETURNS FOR THIEL Peter Thiel (an early [Investor in Xero](https://www.xero.com/blog/2010/10/peter-thiel-to-invest-in-xero)), operates the VC firm [Founders Fund](https://foundersfund.com/) which [beats the pack](https://www.wsj.com/articles/founders-fund-a-premier-venture-firm-in-transition-has-outsize-returns-11551214841) when it comes to returns on investment in the VC industry. Link: https://www.xero.com/blog/2010/10/peter-thiel-to-invest-in-xero ## 4. SaaS IN CHINA I know nothing about this topic. Luckily the team at ChartMogul do. [Here is their report](https://blog.chartmogul.com/saas-in-china) (TL;DR its about a 5-10 year lag to the US, which is the land of early adoption). Link: https://blog.chartmogul.com/saas-in-china ## 5. SECURITY The RSA conference just finished up in SF this week. NZ businesses were there and here are some top highlights: [The long tail impact of small scale data breaches](https://4iq.com/2019-identity-breach-report); [Cyber Threats on Mobile](https://www.pradeo.com/media/Pradeo_mobile_threat_report_S12019.pdf); Kyla Guru an amazing 16-year-old high schooler on [Tales of a Teenage Security Supergirl](https://youtu.be/ZKvc5YsgMOY). Link: https://4iq.com/2019-identity-breach-report ## 6. RETENTION (of teams) In much the same way that companies measure life-time-value (LTV) of customers. We should also look at [similar strategies with our internal teams](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/maximize-the-lifetime-value-of-your-sales-force) (especially team members who are revenue focused). Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/maximize-the-lifetime-value-of-your-sales-force ## 7. FINTECH 2019 1/5 [Part one of a Five part series on the Future of Fintech](https://nztradeandenterprise-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/jon_davies_nzte_govt_nz/EecXH34jGtxBvVkPr11H7cMBGbPyvhGIUW2uy2zPoz8FGA?e=r5z7X3) by Business Insider. I’ll be posting each one weekly as it is published. This first part covers the surging of fintech financing across the globe.. Link: https://nztradeandenterprise-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/jon_davies_nzte_govt_nz/EecXH34jGtxBvVkPr11H7cMBGbPyvhGIUW2uy2zPoz8FGA?e=r5z7X3 ## 8. SALES [Choosing the Right Sales Metrics](https://salesloft.com/resources/blog/2019/01/right-sales-metrics-management) to measure for a SaaS business need to include the efficiency, quality and effort of all revenue focused activities. Link: https://salesloft.com/resources/blog/2019/01/right-sales-metrics-management ## 9. STARTUP TIPS There are some brilliant nuggets in [this article from Punit Soni](https://firstround.com/review/navigating-the-leap-from-big-tech-to-startups-advice-from-a-former-google-and-flipkart-exec/) around his experience navigating the leap from a big tech to a startup….\ “Worry about go-to-market, not product” and "Serve the user, not yourself". Link: https://firstround.com/review/navigating-the-leap-from-big-tech-to-startups-advice-from-a-former-google-and-flipkart-exec/ ## 10. AI? Not so fast with the Buzzwords tech startup! Close to half of startups jump on the Artificial Intelligence bandwagon [without actually implementing any AI tech](https://www.zdnet.com/article/close-to-half-of-startups-jump-on-the-ai-bandwagon-without-the-tech). But spending on AI globally is [forecast to reach $35.8 billion this year](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/333013/ai-spending-projected-to-reach-358-billion-this.html), an increase of 44% from last year. Link: https://www.zdnet.com/article/close-to-half-of-startups-jump-on-the-ai-bandwagon-without-the-tech ## POD OF THE WEEK [How to Spot and Build in Non-obvious Markets](https://soundcloud.com/firstroundreview/elad-gil-on-how-future-founders-can-spot-and-build-in-nonobvious-markets) from First Round Capital **BONUS**: REFORGE is a part-time and online growth, retention deep-dive, and advanced growth strategy program designed for Product Managers, Marketers, Engineers, Data Analysts, and UX/Designers in both B2B and B2C companies run by [Andrew Chen](https://andrewchen.co/) of [a16z](https://a16z.com/). Applications here: [https://program.reforge.com/apply](https://program.reforge.com/apply) Link: https://soundcloud.com/firstroundreview/elad-gil-on-how-future-founders-can-spot-and-build-in-nonobvious-markets