# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending September 26, 2025

Published: 25 September 2025
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-september-26-2025

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK - VC MATHS

IRR vs Return Multiple — they sound similar but measure totally different things. [This post breaks down the math VCs actually use](https://www.thevccorner.com/p/irr-vs-return-multiple-the-vc-math) to rank funds, justify exits, and explain why speed sometimes beats size.

Link: https://www.thevccorner.com/p/irr-vs-return-multiple-the-vc-math

## 2. CHIP WARS

After the [US government took a 10% stake in Intel](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-economic-and-policy-experts-think-about-the-u-s-governments-stake-in-intel) last month**,** Intel and [NVIDIA](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-and-intel-to-develop-ai-infrastructure-and-personal-computing-products) just announced a major partnership. Intel will manufacture NVIDIA's next-gen AI chips — a move that could [reboot Intel's foundry biz](https://www.reuters.com/business/how-intels-nvidia-deal-could-help-intels-next-generation-chip-manufacturing-2025-09-18/) and reshape the AI infrastructure race. Huge signal bringing together two of the biggest players in the industry.

Link: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-economic-and-policy-experts-think-about-the-u-s-governments-stake-in-intel

## 3. M&A

Navigating some kind of acquisitions process is a relatively unexplored topic in this newsletter, so check this [guide to running an M&A process as a Founder from First Round Review.](https://review.firstround.com/how-to-sell-your-startup-the-complete-guide-to-running-an-manda-process-as-a-founder)

Link: https://review.firstround.com/how-to-sell-your-startup-the-complete-guide-to-running-an-manda-process-as-a-founder

## 4. LANDING PAGES

Want to get better at creating effective landing pages? Scrapbook's [SaaS landing page optimization checklist](https://www.getscrapbook.com/landing-page-checklist?) provides a guide to creating compelling headlines, using high-quality visuals, optimizing for mobile, indexing, and, of course, including strong CTAs to boost conversions. BONUS: [How to write killer CTAs](https://www.marketingexamined.com/blog/how-to-write-killer-ctas?ref=saas-weekly).

Link: https://www.getscrapbook.com/landing-page-checklist?

## 5. PITCH DECK

A great [pitch deck resource from Alexander Jarvis](https://www.alexanderjarvis.com/resources/collections/pitch-deck-slides-collection/), who hosts almost 540 of them (and 10,000 pages)! The cool feature here is that you can search/filter startup decks by stage, topic, and country.

Link: https://www.alexanderjarvis.com/resources/collections/pitch-deck-slides-collection/

## 6. SALARIES

Want to retain startup talent? Their pay still matters. [This breakdown shows how overall compensation mix](https://www.newsletter.datadrivenvc.io/p/startup-salaries-equity-and-their-impact-on-employee-retention) (cash vs equity) impacts retention, with really clear data points by role, stage, and geography. Bookmark this for your next comp review for sure.

Link: https://www.newsletter.datadrivenvc.io/p/startup-salaries-equity-and-their-impact-on-employee-retention

## 7. DATA MOATS

The idea that data creates a durable moat? It may be overhyped. [The Platforms Substack argues most pure "data moats" leak](https://platforms.substack.com/p/the-data-moats-fallacy) — fast. Unless you've got proprietary generation and tight reinforcement loops, someone else can out-model you.

Link: https://platforms.substack.com/p/the-data-moats-fallacy

## 8. BOTS

One-third of the internet is now bots (see the [live feed of that here](https://radar.cloudflare.com/traffic?dateRange=52w#bot-vs-human)) — and we have some very good bots out there, but most of these are not the good kind. [Vice digs into how fake traffic, scraped content, and automated engagement are distorting the web](https://www.vice.com/en/article/yep-one-third-of-the-internet-is-just-bots-now). It's not just noise, it's business models built on BS that's enshittingifying what we have.

Link: https://radar.cloudflare.com/traffic?dateRange=52w#bot-vs-human

## 9. MANAGEMENT

Ever feel weird running a startup like it's a friggin' classroom? If you nodded your head, you're not alone. [This piece unpacks "educational trauma"](https://staysaasy.com/management/2025/09/14/educational-trauma.html) — why many leaders default to teacher mode, and how to build an adult-to-adult culture instead.

Link: https://staysaasy.com/management/2025/09/14/educational-trauma.html

## 10. CASE STUDY

OpenAI isn't just building models — it's building a distribution machine. [This breakdown shows how ChatGPT's product, pricing, and plug-ins mirror some classic SaaS GTM](https://www.thevccorner.com/p/openai-ai-distribution-strategy)… but it all moves faster than traditional SaaS ever could. And it's publishing [how people use their products](https://openai.com/index/how-people-are-using-chatgpt/).

Link: https://www.thevccorner.com/p/openai-ai-distribution-strategy

## POD OF THE WEEK

Complementing number 2 in this week's newsletter is from [a16z on the Chip Wars](https://a16z.substack.com/p/dylan-patel-on-the-ai-chip-race-nvidia). A Deep dive into the AI chip race, TSMC choke points, and why NVIDIA's real moat isn't just hardware.

Link: https://a16z.substack.com/p/dylan-patel-on-the-ai-chip-race-nvidia