# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for the week ending May 21, 2021

Published: 21 May 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-may-21-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: CPA

cost *per* acquisition. This is often conflated with the 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 CAC accurately).

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

## 2. VALUATION

Complete with a downloadable sheet for ya: [This SaaS-Capital Index worksheet (Excel)](https://www.dropbox.com/s/peu5jijdvp1wahd/SaaS-Financial-Model-v1.64.xlsx?dl=0) can be used as a starting point for a comprehensive valuation analysis of a (your!) SaaS business. Check the [whitepaper PDF here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/pu3rj8ing6qg2bn/Whats-Your-SaaS-Company-Worth-Oct-2019.pdf?dl=0) as the starting point to work through this Excel sheet (especially the bit on how revenue should be measured). SaaS-Capital also reports quarterly on [how this valuation index is performing overall](https://www.saas-capital.com/blog-posts/private-saas-company-valuations-q1-2021-update/). An impressive observation specific to growth rate is that every 1% increase in growth rate corresponds to a 0.38 increase in valuation multiple (starting with a flat growth valuation of 5.1x ARR). All part of the growth-at-the-expense-of-profit strategies.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/peu5jijdvp1wahd/SaaS-Financial-Model-v1.64.xlsx?dl=0

## 3. FREEMIUM

Freemium is continuing to gain popularity as an effective growth strategy for B2B SaaS companies. Canva and Slack have contributed to the re-emergence of this growth strategy. So, why is Freemium becoming popular again? [Read more on that here](https://blog.chartmogul.com/freemium-business-model), then check the [3 main flavors of Free](https://goodbetterbest.substack.com/p/the-flavors-of-free) and then [these 3 Famous Freemium SaaS Strategies](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/freemium-model-examples) (And why they’re so good). But perhaps the more pragmatic article is from a company called Chameleon on [making freemium models actually work for you](https://www.trychameleon.com/blog/making-freemium-models-work).

Link: https://blog.chartmogul.com/freemium-business-model

## 4. CONTENT MARKETING

Mastering great content writing is a skill - and I've [snagged a great guide for us all here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/w3az7q1haxqxrs9/mastering-content-writing-businesses.pdf?dl=0) on that topic and [here is great info on how to plan a data-backed B2B content marketing strategy](https://www.smartinsights.com/b2b-digital-marketing/b2b-content-marketing/how-to-plan-data-backed-b2b-content-marketing-strategy/)

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/w3az7q1haxqxrs9/mastering-content-writing-businesses.pdf?dl=0

## 5. SECURITY, SECURITY, SECURITY

If you didn't notice - a big US gasoline pipeline got [ransomwared last week](https://www.cnet.com/news/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-hack-and-gas-shortage-fears-what-you-need-to-know/) leading to some [serious gas shortages](https://www.ft.com/content/39127d5e-310c-4462-8824-6f0b60e5e7a0). So time to revisit this: Security should be an integral [part of your dev cycle](https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/what-teams-should-know-about-devsecops/)and you need to know your weak spots. Founder Institute discusses [6 points of vulnerability in your tech stack](https://fi.co/insight/keep-your-startup-safe-from-cyber-attacks-know-your-weak-spots) that I bet may be a bit leaky. These high-profile breaches are going to make [Due Diligence](https://www.saasbrief.com/cybersecurity/?open-article-id=13115014&article-title=saas-cybersecurity-due-diligence&blog-domain=opexengine.com&blog-title=opexengine) a lot trickier to navigate (there is a [growing need for chief compliance officers](https://www.complianceweek.com/cyber-security/solarwinds-hack-turning-into-pandoras-box-of-cyber-risk/30001.article) for example). What should you start focusing on? [Start with more detailed Log Management](https://sharedassessments.org/blog/solarwinds-operational-due-diligence/) (listen to the Podcast below to understand why in the now infamous Solar Winds case)

Link: https://www.cnet.com/news/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-hack-and-gas-shortage-fears-what-you-need-to-know/

## 6. SALES TEAMS #1

[Betts Recruiting](https://bettsrecruiting.com/) releases a compensation guide every year and [the 2021 version is now out](https://www.dropbox.com/s/fzerg50clrddg76/AE1n2xMKT9aW7STCRKo2_BettsRecruiting-2021-Compensation-Guide.pdf?dl=0) (Or check [this for the more interactive version](https://experience.bettsrecruiting.com/e/2021-comp-guide-602420f980272) if you don't want the PDF). It covers salaries of some of the most important roles at high growth (mainly tech, mainly sales) companies. Big take-home: Covid hit hard in Sales this year. People moved out of the sales hots spots big time (of NYC and SF); AE's had the first year of no overall Compensation increase; SDR's saw about a 3% rise and; Sales leaders saw about 5% rise.

Link: https://bettsrecruiting.com/

## 7. SALES TEAMS #2

Now that you have some great baseline metrics based on the reports above from Betts, take a good read of this article from David Sacks on [the simple math you can use to set up a sales team.](https://sacks.substack.com/p/simple-math-to-set-up-a-sales-team) With Individual plans, team plans, and expansions/renewals considered for a high growth sales team structure.

Link: https://sacks.substack.com/p/simple-math-to-set-up-a-sales-team

## 8. SMS

Did you know that the average open rate for marketing emails is around 20%, while SMS open rates range between 82-98%. Check [this article for this fact and more on SMS-Marketing basics](https://builtin.com/marketing/sms-marketing).

Link: https://builtin.com/marketing/sms-marketing

## 9. BUSINESS MODEL

You will be asked often (especially when pitching) about your go-to-market business model: [This is a pretty long, but very high value, read from Alex Jarvis](https://www.alexanderjarvis.com/if-you-do-this-one-thing-your-startup-business-model-is-doomed-to-succeed) with real-life examples of good business models (with some good humor thrown in). The business model is ***always*** more important than the product (but of course they both matter - but so does timing). There is a longer PDF version - [so I got that for ya too](https://www.dropbox.com/s/i71z9ddy68u04ou/If%20you%20do%20this%20one%20thing%20your%20startup%20business%20model%20is%20doomed%20to%20succeed.pdf?dl=0).

Link: https://www.alexanderjarvis.com/if-you-do-this-one-thing-your-startup-business-model-is-doomed-to-succeed

## 10. CASE STUDY

Check this [complimentary case study](https://growandconvert.com/content-marketing/saas-content-strategy/) to #4 above on how Leadfeeder used a long-term Content marketing strategy to increase their monthly signups.

Link: https://growandconvert.com/content-marketing/saas-content-strategy/

## POD OF THE WEEK

Expanding the security post (#5) this week, take a listen to the a16z [tear down of how the Solar Winds hack went down](https://a16z.com/2021/01/31/16mins-solarwinds-hack-teardown-supply-chain-compromise-cloud-security/)(technically). Really great listening for anyone that loves Serial-style podcast covering super tech issues.

Link: https://a16z.com/2021/01/31/16mins-solarwinds-hack-teardown-supply-chain-compromise-cloud-security/