# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending October 15, 2021

Published: 15 October 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-october-15-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

DAU/MAU. The [DAU/MAU ratio is a popular metric for companies that need to measure user engagement](https://andrewchen.co/dau-mau-is-an-important-metric-but-heres-where-it-fails/). Rule of thumb: Apps over 20% = good, if you have 50%+ - you’re world-class.

Link: https://andrewchen.co/dau-mau-is-an-important-metric-but-heres-where-it-fails/

## 2. MARKETING

In early-stage start-up land, often time marketing is an after-thought. The Founder Coach lists[seven things he wished he knew about Marketing](https://medium.dave-bailey.com/the-secret-formulas-behind-great-marketing-da190571d459) early on and HeavyBit has a great article and video on [early-stage positioning](https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/early-stage-positioning-for-b2b-startups-with-justin-warren/) - one of the best things you can do starting up. Not sure how you rank? [Go take the Tomasz Tunguz Marketing Scorecard](https://tomtunguz.com/saas-marketing-scorecard/).

Link: https://medium.dave-bailey.com/the-secret-formulas-behind-great-marketing-da190571d459

## 3. VENTURE part 1

The State Of Venture Q3’21 report was released by CBInsights late last week - [PDF version here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/icvut4m5req1spy/CB-Insights_Venture-Report-Q3-2021.pdf?dl=0). The run continues! Global venture funding reached $158.2B this quarter which is a 105% increase YoY compared to Q3’20 ($77B). The last 2 quarters have been the best ever in terms of total venture funding. The average deal size is up from $16m in '20 to $25m in '21.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/icvut4m5req1spy/CB-Insights_Venture-Report-Q3-2021.pdf?dl=0

## 4. VENTURE part 2

Crunchbase analysis shows that [Tiger Global and the SoftBank Vision Fund are ahead of the rest of the field by a wide margin in terms of capital contributions for Q3 2021](https://news.crunchbase.com/news/tiger-global-softbank-top-startup-investors/). SoftBank led 48 rounds and participated in 16 more. Tiger led 53! and participated in an additional 29. US VC firm a16z was the most active multi-stage investor in the U.S., yet with 46 investments (8 of which were outside of the US).

Link: https://news.crunchbase.com/news/tiger-global-softbank-top-startup-investors/

## 5. VALUATION

The public SaaS valuation listing a [couple of weeks back](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-october-1-2021) created a bit of forward-multiple discussion - so I'm adding practical-private valuation-value this week 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 for a privately-held SaaS business (from the SaaSCFO). 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-q2-2021-update/). From a forward multiples perspective, [the gap is widening between public and private SaaS](https://www.saas-capital.com/blog-posts/public-private-valuation-gap-widens-for-saas-company-multiples/)- it sits currently at 50% on average.

Link: https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-week-ending-october-1-2021

## 6. SEO

If you are new to SEO you can consume [this comprehensive starter-guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide) from Google on the topic but if you are just looking for a comprehensive guide of SEO best practices (like 180 of 'em) - take a bookmark (as it's constantly updated) and [read of this page](https://seosly.com/seo-best-practices-from-google/).

Link: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide

## 7. GROWTH

Back in 2017 I attended a HeavyBit conference with [a mind-changing presentation](https://www.dropbox.com/s/iyvvohthpee1g9g/BASiS_2017-patrick-Campbell.pdf?dl=0) from Patrick Campbell of Profitwell. I reference it all the time in this newsletter. This data has been updated for 2021 and the perspective hasn't changed too much: Acquire users, monetize them, keep them around as much as possible. [This updated article re-iterates the point of the original pre-Covid presentation](https://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/saas-growth-focused-too-much-on-acquisition) - SaaS companies seem addicted to solely acquisition-based growth, which is dangerous as competition is getting harder and more prevalent.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/iyvvohthpee1g9g/BASiS_2017-patrick-Campbell.pdf?dl=0

## 8. 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)”, well OK fine, I do: 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.

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

## 9. 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 as we head toward 2022? 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

## 10. CASE STUDY

Upwork - I have awesome full-time staff that came from shorter term gigs on [Upwork, who is now worth $6 billion and at $400m+ in ARR](https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-upwork-at-400000000-in-arr/). 2020+2021 gave them a chunky Covid boost and they are only just getting started with the good ol' fashioned "move-upmarket" strategy, with an absolute classic 80/20 rule in effect. 80% of clients are SMB's but 80% of the revenue comes from 20% of clients.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-upwork-at-400000000-in-arr/

## POD OF THE WEEK

Customer churn is the bane of SaaS businesses - [data can help understand the causes of churn and take action to reduce it](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4FaTXmRHLSiyfrir3Wzbgl).

Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4FaTXmRHLSiyfrir3Wzbgl