# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending October 7, 2022

Published: 6 October 2022
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-october-7-2022

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: CONCENTRATION

Break out your tech dictionaries again because I'm not talking about my brain's ability to get distracted. Lightspeed Venture Partners' Nnamdi Iregbulem has outlined [a new metric he created called weighted average contract value](https://www.protocol.com/enterprise/lightspeed-vc-saas-revenue) (WACV). He argues this metric provides more meaningful information than ACV (see #1 above). The reason is that B2B SaaS revenue is highly concentrated due to the distribution of companies a SaaS company sells into also being very concentrated - a large number of smaller companies, a moderate number of moderate-scale companies, or a very small number of very large companies.

Link: https://www.protocol.com/enterprise/lightspeed-vc-saas-revenue

## 2. CONVERTIBLE LOANS

They are kind of debt [until they are not](https://medium.com/entree-capital/the-math-challenge-with-convertible-notes-safes-8352d250e43). But Convertible Loans are a quick way to access money quickly via an interested investor. Point Nine Capital [describes what is involved in a convertible loan](https://medium.com/point-nine-news/convertible-loans-what-to-look-out-for-404e888ea0c2) and what to look for.

Link: https://medium.com/entree-capital/the-math-challenge-with-convertible-notes-safes-8352d250e43

## 3. M&A

According to [this new report, Merger and Acquisition deals in the enterprise software sector are on track to pass last year's records](https://www.dropbox.com/s/6yw0fvpkxlriwgv/2022%20IT%20Technology%20Sector%20Report.pdf?dl=0) and have already reached $104.7 B for the year, and the report doesn't even include Adobe's $20 B Figma deal. Many larger firms stepped up their M&A transactions hoping to scoop up cashflow-strapped companies as venture funding deals continue to pull back.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6yw0fvpkxlriwgv/2022%20IT%20Technology%20Sector%20Report.pdf?dl=0

## 4. ESTIMATION

Estimating effort in Software projects is mega hard, and we're all terrible at it. McKinsey found that IT projects are, on [average, 45% over budget and 7% over schedule](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/delivering-large-scale-it-projects-on-time-on-budget-and-on-value), and the larger a project gets - the worse these stats become. So you should definitely bookmark this series (or share with the person you know that needs to bookmark) - [Estimating Software Projects by Jacob Kaplan-Moss](https://jacobian.org/series/estimation/) (and what to do when you mess up).

Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/delivering-large-scale-it-projects-on-time-on-budget-and-on-value

## 5. DEADLINES

Adding to #3 above, Author Douglas Adams once wrote, *"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.".* It's funny because it's true. So, how do you make peace with that whooshing noise when it comes to software development? Check [this article from Free Code Camp that discusses the art of managing the deadline](https://medium.com/free-code-camp/how-to-make-peace-with-deadlines-in-software-development-6cfe3e993f51) - part of it is complementary to a reference to the [sub-art of saying NO](https://medium.com/free-code-camp/the-most-important-skill-a-programmer-can-learn-9d410c786baf)from a while back.

Link: https://medium.com/free-code-camp/how-to-make-peace-with-deadlines-in-software-development-6cfe3e993f51

## 6. SATELLITE

In the latest hardware release from Apple, they have [added Emergency SOS capabilities](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213426) using satellites to the iPhone, and apparently, it's [coming to their Smartwatches](https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/12/apple-watch-eventually-gain-satellite-connectivity/) too. Open signal [break down this announcement](https://www.opensignal.com/2022/09/07/sizing-the-satellite-connectivity-opportunity-for-smartphones-i) into what it means as a new opportunity space.

Link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213426

## 7. BENCHMARKS

Did you know more diverse teams grow faster? From Capchase, [learn more about this benchmark in this report listing the metrics lenders, and investors care about most](https://www.dropbox.com/s/dgfmif1xedh6t0h/Capchase_SaaS_Benchmark_Report_final-1.pdf?dl=0). In addition, there is a complimentary [SaaStr presentation (Slideshare)](https://www.slideshare.net/saastr/the-state-of-saas-global-data-trends-from-1000-companies-with-capchase)and [video here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGHspua4M-4).

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dgfmif1xedh6t0h/Capchase_SaaS_Benchmark_Report_final-1.pdf?dl=0

## 8. GROWTH LOOPS

Elena Verna is Head of Growth at Amplitude and has [an excellent presentation from their Amplify 2022 event about predictable and defensible Growth Loops](https://amplitude.com/amplify-sessions?wchannelid=emyjmwjf79&wmediaid=kw6vg3wrgr) and how to make money from them. Elena makes the interesting argument that revenue is an outcome and should not be a KPI in Growth.

Link: https://amplitude.com/amplify-sessions?wchannelid=emyjmwjf79&wmediaid=kw6vg3wrgr

## 9. MARKETING FOR ENGINEERS

For all of you technical entrepreneurs who have built something and trying to figure out how to get it into the wild, check this [GitHub-based curated collection of marketing articles and tools](https://github.com/goabstract/Marketing-for-Engineers) to grow your product. It's the ultimate GTM Repo!

Link: https://github.com/goabstract/Marketing-for-Engineers

## 10. CASE STUDY

Speaking of Repos, JFROG is a publicly traded Code Repository (same as GitHub and BitBucket), and, full disclosure, I had never heard of this company until I saw the write-up from SaaStr/Jason Lemkin. This is surprising as the company generates $270m in ARR and has 132% NDR and [97% Gross Dollar Retention](https://317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-11-at-2.43.30-PM-980x552.png) - those metrics are crazy - but [learn more here.](https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-jfrog-at-270000000-in-arr)

Link: https://317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-11-at-2.43.30-PM-980x552.png

## POD OF THE WEEK

Complimenting #2 above. The content pumping out of Y-Combinator is always good. YC Partner [Carolynn Levy details the basics of startup financing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qWZALyGSmg&feature=youtu.be&t=7s) and how modern early-stage financing rounds are done using convertible securities, like the SAFE note.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qWZALyGSmg&feature=youtu.be&t=7s