# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending March 27, 2020

Published: 27 March 2020
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-march-27-2020

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

CPA - cost per acquisition. This is often conflated with Cost of acquisition, but they are different. [Andrew Chen dives into the details as to why](https://andrewchen.co/how-to-actually-calculate-cac) (and also how to calculate e CAC accurately).

Link: https://andrewchen.co/how-to-actually-calculate-cac

## 2. MARKETS

Here we go - [the first report of Q1 2020 from Pitchbook](https://files.pitchbook.com/website/files/pdf/PitchBook_Q1_2020_Analyst_Note_COVID-19_the_Sell-Everything_Trade_and_the_Impact_on_Private_Markets.pdf), it's jammed with Pandemic and Stock Market news, so it ain’t a pretty picture for what’s in store for PE and VC firms but they look at past downturns as a perspective of this new market. Crunchbase is also noting that the [2020 VC slowdown hasn't happened, yet](https://news.crunchbase.com/news/massive-slowdown-in-2020-vc-funding-hasnt-happened-yet/), but [Angular VC is saying that they have](https://medium.com/angularventures/straight-talk-on-vc-fundraising-today-5d23166a4615) (completely)

Link: https://files.pitchbook.com/website/files/pdf/PitchBook_Q1_2020_Analyst_Note_COVID-19_the_Sell-Everything_Trade_and_the_Impact_on_Private_Markets.pdf

## 3. IoT

Whats in store for the Internet of Things in 2020? [Business Insider have a (pre-Covid) report for you](https://www.dropbox.com/s/dw0vo7xk2ut4w3f/bii_internetofthings_2020.pdf?dl=0) focused on IoT in the Enterprise. Forecasting $2.4 trillion in investments by 2027 and 41 billion IoT devices in use worldwide.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dw0vo7xk2ut4w3f/bii_internetofthings_2020.pdf?dl=0

## 4. BITCOIN

It’s been a while since we have referenced anything Crypto in this newsletter - but times are changing and Crypto may well come out of this recession/pandemic thriving. Two things to note: 1. [Bitcoin is currently very expensive, not to buy, but to mine](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020/03/01/bitcoin-using-electricity-per-transaction-british-household/). Billy Bambrough from Forbes is also forecasting that [the $2 Trillion US stimulus package will also mean a surge in bitcoin and crypto interest](https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/03/25/bitcoin-demand-is-about-to-skyrocket-on-massive-2-trillion-coronavirus-stimulus/#466532756f6e) (the argument is that with this much money being pumped into the economy, there is no way the USD can hold it’s value).

Link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020/03/01/bitcoin-using-electricity-per-transaction-british-household/

## 5. MARGINS

[Sammy Abdullah takes a look at publicly traded SaaS companies reporting in comparison to the SaaS-rule-of-thumb of spend: The 40/40/20 rule](https://medium.com/@sammyabdullah/what-saas-margins-really-are-9612c43bdea), (where 40% of spend should be on research and development, 40% on Sales and Marketing and 20% on Admin). The takeaway is that the rule looks, in reality, more of a 30/50/20 split. Yup - HALF of spend is on Sales and Marketing (unless you are Zoom, then it’s 73%!!!!)

Link: https://medium.com/@sammyabdullah/what-saas-margins-really-are-9612c43bdea

## 6. AUTOMATION

Lockdown and work-from-home scrambling has lead to [a massive uptick in Tech Automation demand](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/amazon-startups-see-surge-in-demand-for-automation-tech-amid-pandemic). Increased automation was always something the tech industry touted AI would bring, but there is apparently nothing like a pandemic to accelerate that claim.

Link: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/amazon-startups-see-surge-in-demand-for-automation-tech-amid-pandemic

## 7. AI

So given the observations in the above article - that we all now need to accelerate our knowledge of all things AI - [here (with a Google spin) is all the things, from A-Z that you need to know](https://atozofai.withgoogle.com/intl/en-US/).

Link: https://atozofai.withgoogle.com/intl/en-US/

## 8. TRENDS

The search term for “how to make hand sanitizer” has grown by 4,950% worldwide in this past month. How, as an entrepreneur, can we track these kind of rapid trends? [Google lays down the lesson](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/how-to-use-google-trends) on how to stay on top of market trends leveraging…..you guessed it: Google Trends.

Link: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/how-to-use-google-trends

## 9. OUTBOUND

LinkedIn a pretty good source to secure outbound opportunties. From the Predictable Revenue team is a great article on [how SDR’s can turn 100 LinkedIn profiles into 10 meetings](https://predictablerevenue.com/blog/how-to-turn-100-linkedin-profiles-into-10-meetings-with-tom-abbott) and Forbes give a view on [the pros and cons of cold calling](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2020/03/17/the-pros-and-cons-of-cold-calling).

Link: https://predictablerevenue.com/blog/how-to-turn-100-linkedin-profiles-into-10-meetings-with-tom-abbott

## 10. PRICING

: It’s never right and [we are all not charging enough](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-duckies/) - HubSpot have a quick read on [5 key steps you can use to find the sweet spot in your product pricing](https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/how-to-price-products). And also a neat [downloadable sales pricing strategy calculator](https://www.dropbox.com/s/me69jgm40nv8qj8/HubSpot%20%E2%80%93%20Sales%20Pricing%20Strategy%20Calculator.xlsx?dl=0).

Link: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-duckies/

## POD OF THE WEEK

Product Lead Growth: [The Podcast](https://growth.transistor.fm/20#). With examples of SaaS companies that have successfully implemented product-led growth tactics.

**BONUS**: Just because you are Sheltering In Place - doesn't mean you can’t attend conferences. [SaaStock have launched their remote conference](https://www.saastock.com/remote) - June 10-11

Link: https://growth.transistor.fm/20#