# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending November 13, 2020

Published: 13 November 2020
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-november-13-2020

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

EXPANSION: A lot of SaaS companies are fixated on customer acquisition, leaving customer expansion as an underrated growth strategy that SaaS companies often gloss over. Hard facts: [Every dollar of new customer revenue in 2020 costs $1.60](https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Slide13.png) - expansion is the growth bargain - with each dollar of expansion revenue costing $0.69. Using the analogy of Ice Cream (you had my attention right there) [this article goes in-depth to identify and separate out three differing kinds of expansion](https://baremetrics.com/blog/customer-expansion) along with five strategies you can deploy.

Link: https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Slide13.png

## 2. DATA

I don’t think I have more to add than the title of this article: "[You Cannot Be Data-Driven Without Experimentation](https://www.reforge.com/blog/you-cannot-be-data-driven-without-experimentation?ref=saas-weekly)” but the opposite of that is also a truth to hammer home "You Cannot run experiments successfully without being data-driven”. We all [overestimate our experimentation skills AND our Data collection skills](https://www.reforge.com/blog/why-most-analytics-efforts-fail).

Link: https://www.reforge.com/blog/you-cannot-be-data-driven-without-experimentation?ref=saas-weekly

## 3. MARKETING

I like the fact that the authors of this article didn't use the words "ultimate" or "top" in their [B2B SaaS Marketing Guide - 2020 edition](https://www.kracov.co/writing/b2b-saas-marketing-guide). It's a collection of learnings for founders and b2b marketers who are looking to build their b2b marketing programs - very much a book-markable link.

Link: https://www.kracov.co/writing/b2b-saas-marketing-guide

## 4. FORWARD MULTIPLES

This is a preferred metric used to value SaaS companies, who generally carry very few assets, little to no profitability, but all kinds of potential. That number is wildly variable and often bonkers - as of June 2020, the [median SaaS valuation multiple for public companies stands at 11.4x](https://www.saas-capital.com/blog-posts/private-saas-company-valuations-q2-2020-update/) ARR. So how is that number calculated? The answer?.....it depends: [But a companies revenue growth and sales efficiency dominate the model](https://tomtunguz.com/correlates-to-forward-multiple). Cash flow margins, net income margins (profitability), gross margins, and many other metrics are largely irrelevant.

Link: https://www.saas-capital.com/blog-posts/private-saas-company-valuations-q2-2020-update/

## 5. SALES

Deal mechanics! How can Account Executives who are getting the same amount of meetings booked by SDRs out-perform their counterparts? [According to this article - best-practice deal mechanics](https://www.saasbrief.com/edition/weekly-content-marketing-mobile-2020-10-31). It's about what also happens between meetings, using video, phone, and LinkedIn to engage all the decision-makers involved in complex enterprise deals, giving your prospects an out, and setting next steps. Jason Lemkin also swoops in this week with some top tips on [tips to help sales execs close more](https://www.saastr.com/10-simple-tips-to-help-any-account-executive-close-more/).

Link: https://www.saasbrief.com/edition/weekly-content-marketing-mobile-2020-10-31

## 6. NO CODE

Codeless apps have [been here for a while](https://medium.com/@rrhoover/the-rise-of-no-code-e733d7c0944d)! Technology infrastructure has become so commoditized and abstracted that we have now reached a point in time where web services, apps, and integrations can be provisioned visually with zero amounts of line-based code written. AWS has legitimized this practice into the main-stream via [Amazon Honeycode](https://www.honeycode.aws/), a tool that makes it possible to build web and mobile applications without coding and [this article goes into depth outlining the current squad of no-code players, tools, and haters](https://trends.vc/trends-0033-no-code/).

Link: https://medium.com/@rrhoover/the-rise-of-no-code-e733d7c0944d

## 7. CI/CD

Continuous improvement (CI) is not just a process that dev teams use to iterate and ship software quickly, the process [identifies opportunities to reduce waste and streamline work within any department or team](https://flowingly.io/how-to-foster-continuous-improvement). CI can easily be confused with [Continuous Deployment](https://sdtimes.com/cicd/developers-using-ci-cd-report-finds/) and Continuous Delivery - but they are not the same. [This article from Angel.co](https://angel.co/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-continuous-integration) helps clarify the differences and makes the case why CI is the optimal dev strategy for delivering great customer experiences.

Link: https://flowingly.io/how-to-foster-continuous-improvement

## 8. PRODUCT

Product Management - what exactly is it? [This article highlights what it is and also what it isn't](https://www.productplan.com/what-is-product-management/)(in comparison to the role of a project manager) as does [this one](https://www.productplan.com/product-management-versus-project-management) and [this article highlights a more subtle difference](https://www.producttalk.org/2020/10/product-managers-product-owners/) - one between Product Managers and Product Owners. Unfortunately for professional growth, in-person conferences for all you Product Managers out there is on hold for the foreseeable future so [here are some thought-provoking presentations for product managers](https://www.productplan.com/best-product-management-conferences-talks-through-the-years) from years past.

Link: https://www.productplan.com/what-is-product-management/

## 9. TEST TEST TEST

Evaluating the functionality of a software application at every stage is critical to shipping something awesome. [Take a good read of this PDF guide](https://info.usertesting.com/rs/220-GOX-255/images/Testing-at-every-stage-of-development.pdf) (along with real-life examples) and then bookmark this [Google Site (blast from the past) page](https://sites.google.com/site/evaluationandlanguagetesting/stages-of-test-development) for a comprehensive list of the Stages of Test Development. Thats list is kind of old school though - so take a read and sprinkle some of [this more modern (ie Agile) take on testing](https://www.business2community.com/marketing-automation/traditional-testing-vs-agile-testing-should-you-replace-the-old-testing-approach-02360376). into your QA world.

Link: https://info.usertesting.com/rs/220-GOX-255/images/Testing-at-every-stage-of-development.pdf

## 10. LINK BUILDING

This kind of seems like an SEO tactic of the past, where businesses build links to create a more organically positive Search rating. So is it still a relevant practice in 2020? Well......yah! But the rules have changed quite a lot. [Check this article on how to optimize](https://hackernoon.com/4-link-building-techniques-to-follow-in-2020-hb1t3tpd)(by careful curation and intent) what to link.

Link: https://hackernoon.com/4-link-building-techniques-to-follow-in-2020-hb1t3tpd

## POD OF THE WEEK

A continuation from #5 above: Deal Mechanics: [How to Work (And Close) 3x The Deals with Nick Cegelski](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2YQnGYN06mkGHauJmdUJZq?si=jKIyBjLRScO6Fp63q3qVqA)

Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2YQnGYN06mkGHauJmdUJZq?si=jKIyBjLRScO6Fp63q3qVqA