# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending September 9, 2022

Published: 8 September 2022
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-september-9-2022

## 1. SaaS METRIC OF THE WEEK: PQL vs. Activations.

The try-before-you-buy approach to software subscriptions is the best way to get my money. This is pretty much what PLG is, so put away your SQL and MQL metrics for a second and focus on the newer cousin, [PQL (Product Qualified Leads](https://productled.com/product-qualified-leads)). PQLs track potential customers who have exhibited buying intent based on product interest and usage. Now you know that - [measuring PQL vs. Activations are the two metrics to measure in unison](https://openviewpartners.com/blog/activation-product-qualified-leads).

Link: https://productled.com/product-qualified-leads

## 2. EMPLOYEES

Here is a great question: How many employees should you have based on your ARR? David Sacks has [a great slide](https://317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/davidsackssaastr2021slide1-980x543.png) from his SaaStr presentation on optimal SaaS Org Charts - Series A is 40-50 at 1m ARR. Yup, that's only $20-$25k ARR per employee - [full report here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/anwkwh0g17qd5mm/dsacks-211016174402.pdf?dl=0) which expands into what roles you should hire and what the org chart looks like.

Link: https://317xq71m28aj1nmtwnk3egnl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/davidsackssaastr2021slide1-980x543.png

## 3. REVENUE PER EMPLOYEE

As an operator, ask the real question to #2 above. What should my annual recurring revenue (ARR) be per employee? [Here is the chart in one TL;DR visual,](https://www.saas-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2021-Revenue-Per-Employee-Benchmarks-for-Private-SaaS-Companies.png) but if you want to read the whole article, you can [check it out here](https://www.saas-capital.com/blog-posts/revenue-per-employee-benchmarks-for-private-saas-companies/) and also [here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/4djka6qce8u0h60/2021-Benchmarking-Private-SaaS-Company-Growth-Rates.pdf?dl=0) (PDF).

Link: https://www.saas-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2021-Revenue-Per-Employee-Benchmarks-for-Private-SaaS-Companies.png

## 4. OPTIONS and ESOP

Talking of employees...Stock options are necessary for hiring and retaining the best talent in this hyper-competitive StartUp Land, so how can companies build an effective and compelling option plan? During a call not so long ago, I was referred to [this great site](https://www.indexventures.com/optionplan) that has compiled benchmark data, comprising over 20,000 option grants from more than 1,650 startups across the US and Europe sorted by Seed or Venture stage.

Link: https://www.indexventures.com/optionplan

## 5. HAMBURGER MODEL

A Nom Nom one for the Tech Dictionaries this week. It's [a modern go-to-market strategy in this PLG (Product Led Growth) SaaS era](https://caryn-marooney.medium.com/the-hamburger-gtm-the-winning-go-to-market-strategy-cb553cb105b9). The bottom bun is self-service PLG, and the top bun is enterprise sales. Your product is the meat in the middle. Want an example? Check this week's Case Study on Vimeo - 75% bottom Bun - 25% top bun.

Link: https://caryn-marooney.medium.com/the-hamburger-gtm-the-winning-go-to-market-strategy-cb553cb105b9

## 6. CRYPTO

Massive Crypto event is happening later this month with Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in the metaverse, moving to a [proof-of-stake network](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/technology/crypto-ethereum-the-merge.html), which will result in a [reduction of carbon emissions by 99%](https://www.techvisibility.com/2022/08/29/ethereum-aims-to-improve-to-reduce-carbon-emissions-by-99/). TL;DR? This update will eliminate the "miners'" function in the Ethereum ecosystem, which significantly lowers network-based power demands.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/technology/crypto-ethereum-the-merge.html

## 7. CAPITAL

Good little nuggets from Carta's [State of Private Markets for Q2 '22](https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q2-2022): The median capital raised in a seed round is $3M, Series A is $9M, and Series B is $20M.

Link: https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q2-2022

## 8. CLOUD

I love the new quarterly cadence of [Battery Ventures](https://www.battery.com/) Cloud reports since they switched from annual starting this year. Take a read of the [Q2 '22 version here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/1r02x566p6gsfdb/Battery%27s%20Cloud%20Quarterly%20-%20Q2%202022.pdf?dl=0). It covers a lot in just 42 slides: State of SaaS funding so far, ARR per employee benchmarks, valuations, and even [Rule of 40](https://www.top10in.tech/top-10-in-tech/top-10-in-tech-what-to-know-for-the-week-ending-august-20-2021) benchmarks.

Link: https://www.battery.com/

## 9. DATA STACK

This is a cool one for those on the platform side covering t[he evolution of the modern data stack](https://preset.io/blog/modern-data-stack), mainly away from ETL (extract, transform, load) to ELT (extract, load, transform).

Link: https://preset.io/blog/modern-data-stack

## 10. CASE STUDY

Figma came out of nowhere for me in 2022 to become one of my go-to daily platforms of use. The weird thing is that you have either very much heard of them, or you very much haven't. It's a great study in Community-Led-Product-Led-Growth (I totally just made that term up). First Round Capital has [broken Figma's growth down (from stealth to enterprise) into 5 phases](https://review.firstround.com/the-5-phases-of-figmas-community-led-growth-from-stealth-to-enterprise).

Link: https://review.firstround.com/the-5-phases-of-figmas-community-led-growth-from-stealth-to-enterprise

## POD OF THE WEEK

With [Yuriy Timen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuriytimen), former Global Head of Marketing and Growth at Grammarly, [discusses the ever-changing world of growth, emerging growth tactics](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/transform-your-subscription-growth?utm_source=podcast-email&utm_medium=email#details), and how to find your growth engine.

Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuriytimen