# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending March 22, 2024

Published: 21 March 2024
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-march-22-2024

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

In 2024, efficiency is a key measure - see [this post from SaaStr](https://www.saastr.com/yes-everyone-has-to-be-2x-as-efficient-as-they-used-to-be-its-just-math) and this one from IceHouse Ventures. On the balance sheet, People are the most important (and expensive) metric for any company, especially SaaS. [Revenue per FTE](https://www.mosaic.tech/financial-metrics/revenue-per-head) is one metric for company efficiency via people efficiency. What should my annual recurring revenue (ARR) be per employee? [Here is the chart in one TL;DR visual,](https://www.saas-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2021-Revenue-Per-Employee-Benchmarks-for-Private-SaaS-Companies.png) but if you want to read the whole article, you can [check it out here](https://www.saas-capital.com/blog-posts/revenue-per-employee-benchmarks-for-private-saas-companies/) (and also [here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/4djka6qce8u0h60/2021-Benchmarking-Private-SaaS-Company-Growth-Rates.pdf?dl=0) as a PDF).

Link: https://www.saastr.com/yes-everyone-has-to-be-2x-as-efficient-as-they-used-to-be-its-just-math

## 2. M&A

Navigating an acquisition process is a relatively unexplored topic in this newsletter, so check out this [guide to running an M&A process as a Founder from First Round Review.](https://review.firstround.com/how-to-sell-your-startup-the-complete-guide-to-running-an-manda-process-as-a-founder)

Link: https://review.firstround.com/how-to-sell-your-startup-the-complete-guide-to-running-an-manda-process-as-a-founder

## 3. NOLS FRAMEWORK

Management talk time: Not all decisions are made equally, and as a former outdoor educator and part of the National Outdoor Leadership School's (NOLS) network, I love articles from another life that apply today. This one [focused on group decision-making, outlining 6 different ways to make decisions in a group](https://mollyg.substack.com/p/decision-making).

Link: https://mollyg.substack.com/p/decision-making

## 4. MONETIZATION

What are the best ways to monetize based on market segment? It's kinda obvious: For the SMB market (100-200 employees), self-serve is critical. Product-led sales are optimal in the mid-market (200-1000 employees). At the enterprise level (1000+ employees), sales-led reigns supreme. But a bigger question to ask (and Jason Lemkin asks it): [How Cheap a Product Can You Have And Still Have Salespeople](https://www.saastr.com/smb-sales-reps-how-low-can-you-and-your-acv-go)?

Link: https://www.saastr.com/smb-sales-reps-how-low-can-you-and-your-acv-go

## 5. RAISING

There is quite a big gap for startups at the Seed and Series A stages, so [check this guide for founders to understand the difference between raising their Seed round vs. their Series A](https://magid.substack.com/p/understanding-series-as). Some seed investors should also read this.

Link: https://magid.substack.com/p/understanding-series-as

## 6. VENTURE

Last week, we referenced [Corporate Venture](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-march-15-2024), so this week, let's look at Family Offices. The Western World is amid a massive transfer of intergenerational wealth, from the Baby Boomers down to the young-uns. This is also true in the Family Office world, and [according to Pitchbook](https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/generational-wealth-transfer-family-office-vc), the VC industry could witness a huge influx of the $100T or so worth of family office assets being transferred over the next 25 years.

Link: https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-march-15-2024

## 7. AI 1/2

Quite a few moves in AI this week and two from Apple: Apple [acquired Canadian AI Startup DarwinAI](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/14/apple-acquires-ai-startup-specializing-in-overlooking-manufacturing-components) (which specializes in manufacturing efficiency, which makes sense and only Apple's 3rd acquisition in over 2 years)), but surprisingly, rumors are circulating of [Apple integrating Google Gemini](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-18/apple-in-talks-to-license-google-gemini-for-iphone-ios-18-generative-ai-tools), into their devices, all part of Tim Cooks promise last month to have AI news "[later this year](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/01/apple-earnings-top-estimates-higher-profit-margin)." On the infrastructure side, NVIDIA, fresh off a banner market cap year, unveiled its [next-generation AI GPUs](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/01/apple-earnings-top-estimates-higher-profit-margin) and is apparently in advanced talks to acquire [AI infrastructure platform Run:ai](https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rkmbe9e0p).

Link: https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/14/apple-acquires-ai-startup-specializing-in-overlooking-manufacturing-components

## 8. AI 2/2

This post speaks volumes to me and my daily use of AI co-pilots/assistants and where I also see it headed (and see the use case for users in my B2B SaaS day job): [AI copilots transitioning to "AI co-workers" that can complete tasks and workflows on their own](https://adityanaganath.substack.com/p/ai-copilots-to-coworkers).

Link: https://adityanaganath.substack.com/p/ai-copilots-to-coworkers

## 9. COMPENSATION

Carta's [State of Startup Compensation (H2 2023)](https://carta.com/blog/startup-compensation-h2-2023/) came out last week and has all kinds of interesting data - one is broken down into [this Twitter post](https://twitter.com/PeterJ_Walker/status/1767947258639823338?lh_aid=3853160&lh_cid=epli4v7twt&di=ba0f6fadc56a16b00f4ea19b6831e8b9) outlining what the first 5 hires at a startup typically receive in terms of equity compensation. BONUS CONTENT: New Zealand Tech industry [compensation report from Potentia](https://www.potentia.co.nz/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBMnluSWc9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--c48e137192bcec79a106668f359bd59f463434d8/Potentia%20Q1%202024%20Compensation%20Report.pdf?hf=124609103&type=0&utm_campaign=website&utm_source=Herefish&utm_medium=Email).

Link: https://carta.com/blog/startup-compensation-h2-2023/

## 10. CASE STUDY

[Last week's Podcast](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-march-15-2024), which discussed lessons learned launching new products at Atlassian, was surprisingly popular, so let's double down again this week with a case study via Tara Seshan (ex PM at Stripe and Watershed), who [shares lessons from her playbook for going multi-product](https://review.firstround.com/from-flagship-back-to-fledgling-lessons-on-going-multi-product-from-an-early-stripe-pm).

Link: https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-march-15-2024

## POD OF THE WEEK

From Peter Walker discussing [Startup funding in 2024](https://www.leahtharin.com/p/49-peter-walker-startup-funding-in), the year of layoffs or recovery? And why down rounds may not be such a bad thing.

Link: https://www.leahtharin.com/p/49-peter-walker-startup-funding-in