# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for the week ending September 17, 2021

Published: 17 September 2021
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-september-17-2021

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK

TTV - Time To Value: Time to value is similar to ROI (return on investment), but instead of realizing the financial success of an investment, it implies[achieving the effectiveness of an investment](https://baremetrics.com/academy/time-to-value-ttv) or for a customer to realize value out of your product. There is also a corollary “[trough of disillusionment](https://blog.nellofranco.com/2013/08/25/time-to-value-a-key-metric/)” your customers may need to navigate before they get there though.

Link: https://baremetrics.com/academy/time-to-value-ttv

## 2. DEADLINES

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 when it comes to software development, how do you make peace with that whoosh? 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 couple of months back.

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

## 3. VALIDATE

I'm sure you have heard it time and time again that validating a product is a make or break part of a startup's product process - but how do you do that properly? Check [this list of techniques and tools](https://www.indiehackers.com/post/validate-your-product-19-market-testing-and-market-validation-tactics-plus-7-tools-for-validating-df82ddf259) - starting with Market Research - but get more into that [starting here](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/market-research-buyers-journey-guide).

Link: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/validate-your-product-19-market-testing-and-market-validation-tactics-plus-7-tools-for-validating-df82ddf259

## 4. MVP CANVAS

OK - this is interesting (because visual frameworks are my jam). Y’all have heard of the [Lean Canvas](https://leanstack.com/lean-canvas) and the [Business Model Canvas](https://www.productplan.com/learn/business-model-canvas/) right? Well [check out this spin on applying the framework focused on designing and launching MVP’s](https://bramkanstein.com/mvpcanvas/) (just don’t [burn the Pizza](https://firstround.com/review/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products))

Link: https://leanstack.com/lean-canvas

## 5. UN-SCALE

Sometimes, while building a repeatable scalable business model, there are things that have to be done that are un-scaleable. [This article highlights three specific non-scalable things sales teams should be doing right now](https://www.forbes.com/sites/steliefti/2020/08/14/why-doing-things-that-dont-scale-is-a-must-in-b2b-sales/#2d7e0b1e3992).

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steliefti/2020/08/14/why-doing-things-that-dont-scale-is-a-must-in-b2b-sales/#2d7e0b1e3992

## 6. TRUST

According to Godard Abel (Co-Founder and CEO at G2, who know a few things about trust), [SaaS buyers are increasingly more skeptical, suspicious, and unconvinced](https://www.saastr.com/the-saas-trust-crisis-with-godard-abel-video-transcript) in this current post/current pandemic world, making it harder to market and sell software and services than ever before.

Link: https://www.saastr.com/the-saas-trust-crisis-with-godard-abel-video-transcript

## 7. USAGE-BASED PRICING

[Many SaaS Companies are shifting to usage-based models](https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/29/subscription-based-pricing-is-dead-smart-saas-companies-are-shifting-to-usage-based-models/?utm_campaign=General%20Marketing&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=109933002&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8WJkZIcuVeFvdwcCxTLeQW31JV1DmBlHZwrVPjms4AUpRKhgBi1iDD1iwWpWonuSKiCbSj7hvWb53168UwIv49JHfE4w&utm_content=109543480&utm_source=hs_email&guccounter=1) (Including me!). Charging per-use makes the product more affordable and accessible (and take advantage of the features they need), so check out this [usage pricing guide from Baremetrics.](https://baremetrics.com/blog/usage-based-pricing) Usage-based pricing is not a good fit for every SaaS business though - so [here are 6 questions to ask yourself](https://adilaijaz.medium.com/6-questions-to-ask-before-adopting-usage-based-pricing-77bf2a669309) before adopting usage-based pricing.

Link: https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/29/subscription-based-pricing-is-dead-smart-saas-companies-are-shifting-to-usage-based-models/?utm_campaign=General%20Marketing&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=109933002&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8WJkZIcuVeFvdwcCxTLeQW31JV1DmBlHZwrVPjms4AUpRKhgBi1iDD1iwWpWonuSKiCbSj7hvWb53168UwIv49JHfE4w&utm_content=109543480&utm_source=hs_email&guccounter=1

## 8. ENTERPRISE SALES

Moving upmarket into larger organizations is a [pretty standard SaaS growth strategy](https://tomtunguz.com/when-to-move-up-market/). Increasing ARPU (Average Revenue Per Customer) is good! But there is [a lot to learn](https://www.proposify.com/blog/saas-moving-upmarket) and a bunch of time, learning, and effort required to be successful in this market segment. It's not easy, but it can be done. [Here is a great guide from Outreach](https://www.outreach.io/blog/how-to-close-enterprise-sales-deals) on breaking into deals over $100k ARR.

Link: https://tomtunguz.com/when-to-move-up-market/

## 9. GETTING STARTED

There are plenty of SaaS ideas out there and getting started is hard. Take a read of [this article on experiences starting a SaaS company from scratch](https://www.kracov.co/writing/the-first-90-days) and [here are some great startup advice and Essentials from Y-Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4D-yc-s-essential-startup-advice).

Link: https://www.kracov.co/writing/the-first-90-days

## 10. CASE STUDY

Expanding on #1 above Time to Value is something that is front of mind for me right now - so of course I found [a case study on it](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6835549088218447872/) (its' a LinkedIn post) - but gives great examples of what quality TTV looks like.

Link: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6835549088218447872/

## POD OF THE WEEK

Selling into Enterprise is no joke (see #8 above) and for this week's podcast, Asana's head of engineering has some great tips for ta on how to manage infrastructure needs to support those big old Elephants. [Video version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u03xsFDAfB4) (with Slides) or [audio version](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/saastr-481-cloud-first-clarity-evolving-infrastructure/id1089973241?i=1000535186413).

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u03xsFDAfB4