# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending October 29, 2021

Published: 29 October 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-october-29-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: CLTV

This metric represents the average revenue that a customer generates before they churn - Customer Life Time Value. ChartMogul has a great [online calculator here](https://chartmogul.com/metrics/ltv/#calculate). Go to 'advanced mode' as this calculator references the traditional formula as well as [the David Skok version](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/ltv/) (which is the advanced one, but viewed as being more realistic)....and [check here for a thought-provoking read](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/why-your-ltv-might-be-higher-or-lower-than-you-think-f35539291701)of why your LTV may be lower than you think.

Link: https://chartmogul.com/metrics/ltv/#calculate

## 2. SECOND ORDER REVENUE

Doubling down on LTV this week and a little contrary to the last link above: Jason Lemkin claims that CLTV isn’t the whole story and often [references a term called "Second-Order Revenue"](https://www.saastr.com/its-not-just-cltv-its-your-trgcltv-that-matters-total-all-in-revenue-generated-by-your-customer/). He states that traditional CLTV analyses underestimate true revenue generated by customers by 50-100% (whaaaaat!!!) in most SaaS models selling to any businesses larger than SMBs.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/its-not-just-cltv-its-your-trgcltv-that-matters-total-all-in-revenue-generated-by-your-customer/

## 3. PERSONALIZATION

Did you know that marketing personalization can [reduce acquisition costs by as much as 50%](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/marketings-holy-grail-digital-personalization-at-scale) and [87% of companies see a lift in key growth metrics](https://venturebeat.com/2015/09/23/new-vb-insight-research-shows-web-personalization-is-not-just-for-amazon/) when they employ personalization? SaaS marketers have been leveraging personalization to increase conversion rates, improve customer success, and increase the quality of sales/marketing funnels for some time so here is a [great article from Chart Mogul](https://blog.chartmogul.com/saas-guide-website-personalization)on the (modern-day) personalization fundamentals.

Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/marketings-holy-grail-digital-personalization-at-scale

## 4. SCALE

This is a must-download. Mark Roberge, the founder of Stage 2 Capital and member of the founding team at HubSpot, has launched [this incredible playbook for scaling](https://www.dropbox.com/s/xf9d6i0map8yt6w/Stage%202s%20Science%20of%20Scaling.pdf?dl=0). In this detailed book, Mark has defined different stages of scale, established a quantifiable measure for each of these stages, structures the sequence and signals of when to move from one stage to the next, and explores the optimal go-to-market design of each one.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xf9d6i0map8yt6w/Stage%202s%20Science%20of%20Scaling.pdf?dl=0

## 5. TRIALS

Are a proven funnel method for a solid go-to-market strategy. Check this article on [9 ways to optimize your SaaS trial](https://cxl.com/blog/saas-trials/) and then take note from Tomasz Tunguz on [how long should your customer trial period be](https://tomtunguz.com/how-long-free-trial/)?: TL;DR: Longer trials do not convert customers at greater rates. Two weeks, two months, same results.

Link: https://cxl.com/blog/saas-trials/

## 6. FINTECH

CBInsights released their fourth annual Fintech 250 earlier this month across payments, insurance, crypto, digital banking, etc. [Excel sheet of members here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/ag8zvemh0j1zjoa/CB-Insights_Fintech-250-2021.xlsx?dl=0) for download, the [pretty infographic version here](https://research-assets.cbinsights.com/2021/09/24154823/Fintech-250-MM-2021.png). About 65% are based in the US, with the UK being home to the 2nd most.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ag8zvemh0j1zjoa/CB-Insights_Fintech-250-2021.xlsx?dl=0

## 7. PRICING

It's been a while - so time for another pricing bit ([because a 1% increase in price can generate up to an 11% increase in your profits](http://web.nchu.edu.tw/~hjlee/files/Pricing_Strategy/03_Managing%20price,%20Gaining%20Profit.pdf)). This one is interesting as the author [explains how his startups approached pricing at the early stage](https://blog.airplane.dev/how-early-stage-saas-companies-can-think-about-pricing/) (for their SaaS product)

Link: http://web.nchu.edu.tw/~hjlee/files/Pricing_Strategy/03_Managing%20price,%20Gaining%20Profit.pdf

## 8. CYBER

According to [this 2021 State of Ransomware Survey & Report](https://www.dropbox.com/s/lasd2ckyjiuq3u2/ThycoticCentrify_2021_State_of_Ransomware_Survey_and_Report.pdf?dl=0), 64% of those surveyed had been victims of a ransomware attack in the last year, 83% of those paid the ransom and 50% experienced a loss of revenue. Ransomware is [everywhere](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sinclair-tv-stations-crippled-by-weekend-ransomware-attack/) and has got the [CEO of Google to ask governments to do more](https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-calls-for-government-action-on-cybersecurity-innovation-11634580600) at a Geneva Convention for Cybersecurity.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lasd2ckyjiuq3u2/ThycoticCentrify_2021_State_of_Ransomware_Survey_and_Report.pdf?dl=0

## 9. $100M ARR

I know - weird title. But [this article from Bessemer Ventures](https://www.bvp.com/atlas/scaling-to-100-million) is cool (and honestly also a little depressing). It's a benchmarking report, complete with a [downloadable PowerPoint](https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlvoc58ewgi74wb/bessemer-benchmarks_downloadable_template_final.pptx?dl=0) for what it takes to reach $100m ARR - asking the big questions: What should your gross margin be? How much should you be spending on R&D as a percent of revenue? How does your companies growth rate compare to peers?

Link: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/scaling-to-100-million

## 10. CASE STUDY

This one is for all of you interested in Product Led Growth - How [Ahrefs](https://ahrefs.com/) (an SEO product) [scaled to $100M ARR with a team of 69 and 0 salespeople](https://www.btw.so/blog/ahrefs-product-led-content-marketing-strategy/). (hint - it required a team of 10 marketeers)

Link: https://ahrefs.com/

## POD OF THE WEEK

[An interview from Profitwell with Mark Roberge](https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/6575667/Stage%202s%20Science%20of%20Scaling.pdf?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=86037264&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_RykTuwqH4RSUInwncyBMUVNsieoluuy7qbzlzhrEDNRvref1fFm1WqsLgu2uMwfL9kti49MWJBBszSrYhNrT4jel-iQ&utm_content=86037264&utm_source=hs_automation) - creator of the playbook listed in #4 above - The Science of Scaling.

Link: https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/6575667/Stage%202s%20Science%20of%20Scaling.pdf?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=86037264&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_RykTuwqH4RSUInwncyBMUVNsieoluuy7qbzlzhrEDNRvref1fFm1WqsLgu2uMwfL9kti49MWJBBszSrYhNrT4jel-iQ&utm_content=86037264&utm_source=hs_automation