# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending November 29, 2019

Published: 29 November 2019
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-november-29-2019

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

Renewal and Up-sell Rates. in SaaS you need to understand more than the headline ARR metric; you need to [understand the layers of recurring revenue and also the health of that recurring revenue](https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-your-renewal-rate-upsell-rate).

Link: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-your-renewal-rate-upsell-rate

## 2. SALES

A lot of it is a management problem. Given the high turnover rate of productive sales reps (average tenure is currently [under 1.5 years](https://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/2018-sdr-metrics-report)), optimizing their time is key for optimizing their value. [Chartmogul covers the ways good management can help optimize value](https://blog.chartmogul.com/sales-knowledge-management/) and minimize, or automate, the mundane.

Link: https://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/2018-sdr-metrics-report

## 3. MARKETING

Marketing is a practice [covering many different disciplines](https://tomtunguz.com/bill-macaitis-talk/) and specialties. Which one should a startup [hire first](https://tomtunguz.com/most-frequent-mishire)?

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/bill-macaitis-talk/

## 4. CAPITAL

First Round Capital have a sound article centered on the much-needed [strategic approach to raising capital](https://firstround.com/review/the-fundraising-wisdom-that-helped-our-founders-raise-18b-in-follow-on-capital/), with MondayNote looking at the [five mistakes entrepreneurs make misunderstanding VCs](https://mondaynote.com/five-ways-entrepreneurs-misunderstand-vcs-39fb02c6e53b).

Link: https://firstround.com/review/the-fundraising-wisdom-that-helped-our-founders-raise-18b-in-follow-on-capital/

## 5. SEGMENTATION

[Great article on how Segmentation can be combined with LTV (Life Time Value) to grow MRR](https://blog.chartmogul.com/busterbox-segmentation-ltv) (from a subscription box startup).

Link: https://blog.chartmogul.com/busterbox-segmentation-ltv

## 6. EMAIL

When it comes to outbound marketing, email still works really well! Digital Olympus has [a great guide on effective email outreach](https://digitalolympus.net/email-outreach/). (HINT: This takes time and effort!)

Link: https://digitalolympus.net/email-outreach/

## 7. SCRUM

Agile methodology is a modern software development process that encourages flexibility. It's an umbrella term for multiple management frameworks on how to get things done. Scrum is one of those frameworks and [AngelList provide a primer](https://angel.co/blog/scrum-a-primer-on-adaptive-techniques) on Scrum based techniques.[https://angel.co/blog/agile-methodology-a-primer-on-moving-fast](https://angel.co/blog/agile-methodology-a-primer-on-moving-fast)

Link: https://angel.co/blog/scrum-a-primer-on-adaptive-techniques

## 8. CUSTOMER SUCCESS

A pretty [succinct article from ChartMogul](https://blog.chartmogul.com/customer-success-team/) on what and how to get started with your customer success efforts - especially as a remote team.

Link: https://blog.chartmogul.com/customer-success-team/

## 9. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

A lot of SaaS businesses require flat fee based Implementation and deployment cost charges, often captured as revenue from Professional Services. This naturally increases with customer size (and complexity) [capping out as an average of 11%](https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/img_5d9cb5d8cdd26-e1570551296442.png) of all revenue at Enterprise size customers.

Link: https://dskok-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/img_5d9cb5d8cdd26-e1570551296442.png

## 10. SCALE

Salesforce is currently the only $100B ARR pure SaaS company - Jason Lemkin says there are many more coming and [asks the question of what would it takes for a business to reach this kind fo scale](https://www.saastr.com/how-to-build-a-100-billion-saas-company). Great nuggets in this article of how companies like Salesforce sell to their customers.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/how-to-build-a-100-billion-saas-company

## POD OF THE WEEK

Many technical founders believe that great products and ideas sell themselves, without any extra effort or marketing. But in reality, they often need public relations (PR). [A16z explore how brand-building really works in this Podcast.](https://a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/brand-building-a16z-ideas-people-marketing-2GCv41uF)

**BONUS**: RayGun’s Tech Leader Events have been a [great success](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=439488486639863) in NZ and they are now taking them tooth US (Seattle and Portland in early December). The [Portland one will be live-streamed too](https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/livestream-portland-tech-leaders-tickets-82558878829) so check them out online or in-person.

Link: https://a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/brand-building-a16z-ideas-people-marketing-2GCv41uF